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Minimum PSU for dual 8800GT?

H

HottSauce

Weaksauce
Joined
Jun 26, 2005
Messages
109
What do you think is the minimum size PSU needed for running two 8800GTs in SLI? I just bought a Corsair 520W and I'm wondering if that is enough. Besides the two video cards I have an E6750 cpu, two gigs of memory, 2 hard drives, one dvd/rw drive, and an X-Fi sound card.
 
Hmmm. I'm confused. First it looks like my PSU is not on the SLI Certified PSU list. Everything on that list seems to be 600W and up.

Second, the eVGA website says you need 400W for one card and 450W for SLI. How can the second card only require an extra 50W? That doesn't seem right.

Anyone else have any insight on this? :confused:
 
That's really just padding. If you had a 400W PSU that provided the proper amperage on the +12V rail, you'd have enough wattage.
 
HottSauce said:
Hmmm. I'm confused. First it looks like my PSU is not on the SLI Certified PSU list. Everything on that list seems to be 600W and up.

Second, the eVGA website says you need 400W for one card and 450W for SLI. How can the second card only require an extra 50W? That doesn't seem right.

Anyone else have any insight on this? :confused:
Click to expand...


Remember the PSU is powering the entire computer - 400W is the baseline (in this case) assuming you're already powering you HD's, DVD's and other misc stuff off of 400W and arent already on the bleeding edge of what your PSU can handle then an additional 50W of padding is just to make sure the 2nd card will be getting what it needs.

My guess is if you only have 1 HD, 1 CD/DVD drive and arent running a sound card etc you could probably get away with even less - they just have to make some assumptions about what type of things someone running SLI might have in their case in terms of HD's, fans and other junk, then pad it up a bit and offer up a number.

I'm always amazed when I read the reviews of a 1200W PSU - my mind can not wrap itself around someone needing that much power - Im not saying SOME people dont but how many people are running 4 video cards, 8 HD's while simultaneously burning multiple DVD's??? You can heat a fair sized room on 1200W of electicity :)
 
HottSauce said:
Hmmm. I'm confused. First it looks like my PSU is not on the SLI Certified PSU list. Everything on that list seems to be 600W and up.

Second, the eVGA website says you need 400W for one card and 450W for SLI. How can the second card only require an extra 50W? That doesn't seem right.

Anyone else have any insight on this? :confused:
Click to expand...

Funny, I don't see the 8800GT listed anywhere when I go to that link from OldGamer. Which power supply list are you looking at by the way? If you clicked on the one for Other SLI Configs, your Corsair is there, you just need to scroll down the alphabetical list to get to it.
 
honestjohn said:
Funny, I don't see the 8800GT listed anywhere when I go to that link from OldGamer. Which power supply list are you looking at by the way? If you clicked on the one for Other SLI Configs, your Corsair is there, you just need to scroll down the alphabetical list to get to it.
Click to expand...

Look at the third drop-down box which is for Dual GeForce 8800 GTS, GeForce 8800 GT, or Dual GeForce 7950 GX2.
 
HottSauce said:
Hmmm. I'm confused. First it looks like my PSU is not on the SLI Certified PSU list. Everything on that list seems to be 600W and up.

Second, the eVGA website says you need 400W for one card and 450W for SLI. How can the second card only require an extra 50W? That doesn't seem right.

Anyone else have any insight on this? :confused:
Click to expand...

I've been told the "Certified List" is a list where you pay to get certified. So just because it isn't on the list doesn't mean it can't support SLI, it just might mean the company didn't want to pay for that sticker.
 
hungryJonJon said:
I've been told the "Certified List" is a list where you pay to get certified. So just because it isn't on the list doesn't mean it can't support SLI, it just might mean the company didn't want to pay for that sticker.
Click to expand...

This PSU is on the certified list for smaller (less power) cards, but it's not on the list for the 8800GT. As I mentioned before, everything on the certified list for the 8800GT is at least 600W. This seems to contradict eVGA which is saying that 450W is enough.
 
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