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Is 700W sufficient for OC'd CF-setup

A

Abductor

n00b
Joined
Mar 15, 2009
Messages
59
Here's the setup I'm building

Silverstone SG03 SFF-case
Intel E8400 E0 (capable @4GHz)
DFI LP JR P45-T2RS
4x 2GB OCZ Reaper 1066MHz
2x Samsung SN-T083A
2x XFX HD4870 XXX 1GB
OCZ CoreV2 120GB SSD
3x WD Scorpio Black 320GB (Raid5)
3x 120mm fans

I reckon 700W (50A) will do while keeping a little headroom, but because of the OC'ing i'm not sure what the extra draw will be.
Thinking on buying the Silverstone ST70F (€110,-) with the additional short cable kit PP05.
Considered Corsairs new HX750 but the cables look too long and the PSU housing is too large.
Cooler Masters Silent Pro 700M is out the picture, not enough PCI-E leads.

Any idea if this is okay?
 
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Abductor said:
Here's the setup I'm building

Silverstone SG03 SFF-case
Intel E8400 E0 (capable @4GHz)
DFI LP JR P45-T2RS
4x2GB OCZ Reaper 1066MHz
2xSamsung SN-T083A
2xHD4850
OCZ CoreV2 120GB SSD
3x WD Scorpio Black 320GB (Raid5)
3x 120mm fan

I reckon 700W will do whilst keeping a little headroom, but because of the OC'ing i'm not sure what the extra draw will be.
Thinking on buying either the CM Silent Pro M700 (€100,-) or the Silverstone ST70F (€120,-)
Am I thinking straight?
Click to expand...
What GPU's?

The Silverstone is a good PSU, I don't know about that CM, a lot of their stuff is sub-par at best.
 
david look he put 2xHD4850

since we have different setups ill let u make the call.

load-1.jpg


this inculdes my modem and router along with 22" LCD full load

 
da... sometimes I think I'm going blind & yes, I do have my reading glasses on!

The Silverstone should be fine for a pair of 4850's.

SILVERSTONE ST70F
Max Combined: +12V@50A
+3.3V@24A,+5V@30A,+12V1@18A,+12V2@18A,
+12V3@18A,+12V4@18A,-12V@0.5A,+5VSB@3.0A
 
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The Cooler Master "Real Power" Series are "Known Good" PSU's with professional reviews to prove it.

But the lower CM series tend to be sub-par units at best, however I do not know about that specific model.

That Silverstone is a "Proven Winner" & has Awards to prove it.
 
ALL4AMD said:
since we have different setups ill let u make the call.
Click to expand...

And I have repost this again:
Paul_Johnson said:
Yes and a quick search would turn up this topic a million times over. Here is the recap:

1) APFC can fool Kill-A-Watts into giving you abnormally low readings (some times giving better than 100% efficiency)

2) Power supplies derate with temperature anywhere from 2w/c above a nominal rated at value to 10w/c.

3) Kill-A-Watt's and most power meters sample too slowly to catch transient loads (the Transient load from our tests is 117w and is COMPLETELY missed by Kill-A-Watts).

4) Power supplies last longer if you stay in the 40% to 60% range of their output.

5) power supplies are quieter if you stay in the 40% to 60% range of their output.

6) Power supplies are cooler if you stay in the 40% to 60% range of their output.

The power meters in UPS software are just as bad. You have to spend some change before you get anywhere near an accurate power meter when your PSU has APFC.
Click to expand...

So that APC UPS reading is more than likely inaccurate.

davidhammock200 said:
But the lower CM series tend to be sub-par units at best, however I do not know about that specific model.
Click to expand...
This review of the 600W version of the CM Silent Pro M700 did fairly well under proper testing:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=134
 
davidhammock200 said:
Good find! Yes, based on that it would seem they are up there with the Real Power series. :)
Click to expand...

Yup that they are.

However the only problem I have with the CM Silent Pro M700 700W PSU and the Silverstone ST70F is that both only have 50A on the +12V rail, which makes it equivalent to a Corsair 620HX in terms of power capability.

So with that in mind, I'd go with the Coolermaster Silent pro M700 due to its lower cost and equivalent quality. And yes a good quality 700W PSU will be enough for HD4850 CF.
 
Danny Bui said:
Yup that they are.

However the only problem I have with the CM Silent Pro M700 700W PSU and the Silverstone ST70F is that both only have 50A on the +12V rail, which makes it equivalent to a Corsair 620HX in terms of power capability.

So with that in mind, I'd go with the Coolermaster Silent pro M700 due to its lower cost and equivalent quality. And yes a good quality 700W PSU will be enough for HD4850 CF.
Click to expand...
Yes, I was noticing that also & frankly I would prefer the Seasonic built Corsair HX620 rated at 50C, I was one of the first ones that Corsair sent the HX520 & HX620 to, back when they first came out & at that time we couldn't find any gaming PC that the HX620 couldn't power!

The HX620 is vastly under-rated.
 
I considered the HX620 aswell, but it only has a 120mm fan. Because of the CPU's HSF (either NT06-E or Ultra-X) being placed directly underneath I'd like the fan as large as possible.
That's what I like about the CM PSU, it shares the same flat modular cabling system.
 
Abductor said:
I considered the HX620 aswell, but it only has a 120mm fan. Because of the CPU's HSF (either NT06-E or Ultra-X) being placed directly underneath I'd like the fan as large as possible.
That's what I like about the CM PSU, it shares the same flat modular cabling system.
Click to expand...
I personally wouldn't consider any PSU to be a major player for my CPU/case cooling solution, regardless of fan size, as these are programed to run slowly & quietly unless really strained. The only real exception might be a PC P&C TC as their fans constantly run at pretty high speeds, but those are 80mm fans, too.
 
davidhammock200 said:
I personally wouldn't consider any PSU to be a major player for my CPU/case cooling solution, regardless of fan size, as these are programed to run slowly & quietly unless really strained. The only real exception might be a PC P&C TC as their fans constantly run at pretty high speeds, but those are 80mm fans, too.
Click to expand...

Well I have to if I wanna keep on using the case, didn't buy for no reason. But it will be supported by an additional 120mm exhaust fan, so I dont' consider that to be a problem.
 
Abductor said:
Well I have to if I wanna keep on using the case, didn't buy for no reason. But it will be supported by an additional 120mm exhaust fan, so I dont' consider that to be a problem.
Click to expand...
I'll try this a different way...

The PSU & its fan(s) are not designed to help cool your CPU, they used to be, way back when & Intel created a spec called the "Thermally Advantaged Design" & it showed the PSU fan helping to cool the CPU, that was totally discredited several years ago. Now the PSU fan's only job is to cool the PSU. The rear case mounted 120mm fan you referenced will help cool the CPU.

This discussion came about because you reject a PSU with a 120mm fan for a PSU with a 140mm fan, stating it would help cool your CPU better, it won't.
 
I ran a PC P&C 610 in my secondary system for over 6 months with no issues whatsoever. And David is right power supply fans make no difference just look for a power supply that most fits your demands and is very efficient.
 
Too bad, I really hoped it would matter.
Is it possible to replace the PSU's fan with a PWM-fan so it could connect it with the CPU-header? Or will that reduce the PSU's performance?
 
Abductor said:
Too bad, I really hoped it would matter.
Is it possible to replace the PSU's fan with a PWM-fan so it could connect it with the CPU-header? Or will that reduce the PSU's performance?
Click to expand...
It is not a good idea. Channeling the hot air from your CPU into the PSU will cause your PSU temps to rise, which will make it run less efficiently and can cause harm to its components over a long period of time. You should deal with the hot air from the CPU with case fans and allow the PSU to intake fresh air in order to prolong its lifespan and allow it to perform better.
 
Abductor said:
Too bad, I really hoped it would matter.
Is it possible to replace the PSU's fan with a PWM-fan so it could connect it with the CPU-header? Or will that reduce the PSU's performance?
Click to expand...

It's possible. However many PSUs don't like it when that's done as it tends to confuse them a bit. It also voids your warranty.
 
Okay guys, little bump here.

Had to postpone the build for several reasons, but I'm back on it again.
Noticed a big pricedrop concerning the Ati cards, so I decided to up the ante and go for 2 XFX 1GB 4870 XXX cards. Unfortunatly this means the planned Cooler Master PSU has to go because I'll need 4 PCI-E power leads.
I've updated the TS with the new planned setup, but the main question still stands.
Also other powerful short cable suggestions are welcome, but I wanna try avoiding the bigger PSU's (7"/18cm+)
 
No limitation, a PSU can make or break a decent system. As long as I think it's worth its price.
 
Honestly, with a dual-core CPU, you'll be good with an HX620 or other PSU with comparable +12V capacity. I would just recommend that.
 
I have to admit that the Antec is a pretty good suggestion. Small and powerful usually don't mix that well. Just not fond of that semi-modular design. It does leave more unnecessary cables inside the case than I wish for.
That's why my initial thoughts went for the Silverstone because of its fully modular design.

One thing I noticed is that both the ST70F and HX620 both deliver 50A, that means I can do with just 50A? I kinda had my doubts.
 
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It probably would do it with 50A on the +12V with your setup. But, I would go for the Antec 750 regardless of the fact that it's semi-modular. It's better than being non modular at all. Plus, you still need to use the PCI-E adapters for the 4870 video cards since the Coolermaster 700 RS & Corsair 620HX only has 2 x PCI-E connectors.
 
Okay, I'm currently running with the Silent Pro M700, CF'ing 2 HD4850's
I was warned that I could experience "issues" with 1080p-gaming when not using the HD4870, and guess what; they're there alright (Told u so anyone?)

Anywayz, I found 2 decent priced HD4870's for my upgrade, but here's the trick/question.
I want to extend/mod the current PCI-E leads with an additional 6pin connector so that I end up using 1 lead per card.
Knowing the single 50A rail can take the load, but will the mod reduce stabilty??
 
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Abductor said:
Anywayz, I found 2 decent priced HD4870's for my upgrade, but here's the trick/question.
I want to extend/mod the current PCI-E leads with an additional 6pin connector so that I end up using 1 lead per card.
Knowing the single 50A rail can take the load, but will the mod reduce stabilty??
Click to expand...
You should be fine. The only concern would be that the pins might not like dealing with the added current, but the cards don't draw enough power for that to be a real issue.
 
Great, I was hoping it would do the trick. It's kinda lame to replace an entire PSU because it misses a couple of connectors.
Just one last question: will this mod void my warranty? I suppose when I need to RMA the PSU (should it ever happen) it's just the unit and not the entire thing; cabling 'n all?
 
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