Power Supply for 6990+ 1-2 6950?

SaViOr-

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Sep 10, 2004
Messages
1,479
Hey guys,

Going to be doing some upgrades in the coming month or two in order to run BF3 on Ultra Settings in eyefinity, which will require me to get more graphics horsepower. To power that extra graphics horsepower I need the help of the PSU Experts of [H] :D.

Going to be going with one of the following three options:

1. Buy another 6950 and run tri-fire with 3x 6950s
2. Buy a 6990, sell one 6950 and run tri-fire 6990+6950 OR
3. Buy 6990 and run Quad-fire 6990+6950+6950.

Rest of the system is going to be:

Intel i5 2500K @ 5.0GHz 1.36v under Noctua NH-D14
ASUS P8P67 WS REVOLUTION - Going to get rid of the Pro Board I currently have in my rig, need that NF200.
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1600
Powercolor AX6950 2GB Crossfire @ 875/1380
ASUS VH238H x3 Eyefinity 5932x1080
WD Black 1TB HDD (Might get an SSD drive or 2 around Black Friday)
ASUS Xonar DX w/ Audio Technica ATH-AD700

What would you guys recommend to get? I love my TX850 so Corsair PSUs are great, but I'm always open to suggestions if there are other companies out there with reliable PSUs.

Thanks! As always, all comments and/or suggestions are appreciated
 
Yeah, my 850 definitely wouldn't be enough, but my knowledge of power supplies is very limited. How is OCZ in terms of reliability nowadays? I only owned one other OCZ power supply back when I had my Phenom II 965 and that thing crapped out on me in less than 6 months :(.
 
If you're already breaking the piggy bank, you could get the Corsair AX1200. Especially if you're going for four GPUs.
 
Yeah, my 850 definitely wouldn't be enough, but my knowledge of power supplies is very limited. How is OCZ in terms of reliability nowadays? I only owned one other OCZ power supply back when I had my Phenom II 965 and that thing crapped out on me in less than 6 months :(.

the ocz zx are quite good the 1250 is worth a look at $177 after rebate and promo

http://www.kitguru.net/components/power-supplies/zardon/ocz-zx-1250w-power-supply-review/

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/OCZ/ZX_1250W/
 
Low end OCZ models range from mediocre to "avoid at all costs." High-end models are decent to very good. ZX models are quite good.

3 6970's use at most 650-700 watts unless you're going for max overclock with overvoltage. Your processor uses about 150. Rest of system is about 50 watts. If you don't run bench/stress programs all day on everything, your TX850 could possibly pull it off. However, you want at least a 950-1000 watt power supply for tri-fire. Quad-fire you want a 1200 watt.
 
Hey guys,

Going to be doing some upgrades in the coming month or two in order to run BF3 on Ultra Settings in eyefinity, which will require me to get more graphics horsepower. To power that extra graphics horsepower I need the help of the PSU Experts of [H] :D.

Going to be going with one of the following three options:

1. Buy another 6950 and run tri-fire with 3x 6950s
2. Buy a 6990, sell one 6950 and run tri-fire 6990+6950 OR
3. Buy 6990 and run Quad-fire 6990+6950+6950.

Rest of the system is going to be:

Intel i5 2500K @ 5.0GHz 1.36v under Noctua NH-D14
ASUS P8P67 WS REVOLUTION - Going to get rid of the Pro Board I currently have in my rig, need that NF200.
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1600
Powercolor AX6950 2GB Crossfire @ 875/1380
ASUS VH238H x3 Eyefinity 5932x1080
WD Black 1TB HDD (Might get an SSD drive or 2 around Black Friday)
ASUS Xonar DX w/ Audio Technica ATH-AD700

What would you guys recommend to get? I love my TX850 so Corsair PSUs are great, but I'm always open to suggestions if there are other companies out there with reliable PSUs.

Thanks! As always, all comments and/or suggestions are appreciated


I just got an AX850...try the next one up for sure.

I have a 6990...you trying to build a monster there...wow.
if money is no object just get 2 6990's and xfire those suckers. and put 2 psu's in your pc. problem solved.

oh...and get a fire extinguisher it case that sucker catches fire. lol
 
Ax1200 is what I would say great power supply's and corsair is the best so lol
 
I'm powering a Quad-Fire set-up 6990+6970+6970, all overclock, with i7 2600K at 5.3 24/7, 32 Gentle Tythoon fans (yes 32), 3 SSD, 3HDD, 4 MCP655 pumps, 16 GB of RAM.

All this on a Corsair AX1200. :)
 
Yeah I say go for the AX1200, it powers my trifire setup without breaking a sweat.
 
there is another 1200 out folks are saying is even better than the corsair...the antec I think

that said the corsair is an outstanding piece of hardware and I run it here

OP, do not skimp on PSU, it is the foundation of your whole system and if chosen well will outlast all other component's obsolescence
 
Corsair AX1200 is the best choice. The ZX 1250 by ocz has an issue which seems to affect all oczs, it squeels/whines really loudly when you go above 850watts.
 
Best 1200 watt power supply is the Enermax Platinum 1200 watt. The Antec HCP1200 is superior to the AX1200 in terms of voltage regulation and ripple suppression. However, the difference is marginal at best.

Once again, 1200 watt for quad-fire, 1000 watt for tri-fire.
 
I am running a 6990+6970 on my antec 850 watt Signature Series.

AND i have my i7 920 at 4ghz, and I have 9 fans in it as well.

No issues running anything here
 
Read this thread and can't help but wonder if half the people in this forum aren't working for Corsair..

@ OP,
For trifire stick to what you have, the TX850 is enough.
If you want a fourth card and budget is no issue go with the HCP 1200, is simply the best PSU in that wattage range that you can buy at the moment.
 
Read this thread and can't help but wonder if half the people in this forum aren't working for Corsair..

@ OP,
For trifire stick to what you have, the TX850 is enough.
If you want a fourth card and budget is no issue go with the HCP 1200, is simply the best PSU in that wattage range that you can buy at the moment.

Lol no we dont just corsair makes amazing stuff and there CS is the best compared to other companys. There cs is why i buy there parts.
 
Here is 1 thing to think about.

My 850 watt PSU can handle 2x580 GTX in SLI.

The 6990+6970 use the same amount of power as 2x580 GTX in SLI.
 
i posted the ocz deal it got shot down

the enermax not fully modular

the coolermaster 1200 aint worth that price for the average performance it puts out
 
I think I've narrowed it down to one of the following:

CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX1200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139014&Tpk=ax1200

Antec High Current Pro HCP-1200 1200W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371043

ENERMAX MAXREVO Series EMR1350EWT 1350W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194092

SILVERSTONE Strider Gold ST1200-G 1200W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256069

Personally, I'm leaning more towards the AX1200 over the other 3. Any other comments and/or suggestions? Prices are virtually all the same & they're all Gold Certified so I just want the best, most reliable and stable out of the four PSU above.

Thanks again for all the comments! :cool:
 
This may sound like overkill, but you may want to consider the 3gb 580s if your goal is to truly "max it out" at that resolution.

Im constantly hitting my 1500mb VRAM barrier at only 2560 at low AA no deferred AA and no SSAO/HBAO, and you are looking at 50% more pixels.
 
This may sound like overkill, but you may want to consider the 3gb 580s if your goal is to truly "max it out" at that resolution.

Im constantly hitting my 1500mb VRAM barrier at only 2560 at low AA no deferred AA and no SSAO/HBAO, and you are looking at 50% more pixels.

But he's using 6990's? Which have 4 GB of VRAM, so how is the 580 getting in the picture?
 
I think I've narrowed it down to one of the following:

CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX1200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139014&Tpk=ax1200

Antec High Current Pro HCP-1200 1200W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371043

ENERMAX MAXREVO Series EMR1350EWT 1350W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194092

SILVERSTONE Strider Gold ST1200-G 1200W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256069

Personally, I'm leaning more towards the AX1200 over the other 3. Any other comments and/or suggestions? Prices are virtually all the same & they're all Gold Certified so I just want the best, most reliable and stable out of the four PSU above.

Thanks again for all the comments! :cool:
I would still recommend this OCZ unit, since it performs about as well as those other units while being quite a bit cheaper: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341046

However, if you're set on one of those four, the MAXREVO is the best deal.
But he's using 6990's? Which have 4 GB of VRAM, so how is the 580 getting in the picture?
6990s effectively have 2GB of RAM, not 4GB. RAM isn't shared between GPUs.
 
6990s effectively have 2GB of RAM, not 4GB. RAM isn't shared between GPUs.

Ah yes ofc /facepalm. I stand corrected.

I didn't see which resolution he was going to play at. Come to think of it, QuiteSufficient might have a point on the RAM.
 
I think that 2GB of vram per card should be plenty for eyefinity. The res I'll be playing at is 5932x1080 w/ bezel comp & according to [H]'s SLI 580 vs 6990 + 6970 review on BC2 http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/04/11/amd_radeon_69906970_crossfirex_trifire_review/6 the 580s with 1.5GB didnt hit a vram barrier until they tried to enable 16xQ AA, while the 6990 + 6970 setup with 2GB per GPU ran perfectly fine at up to 24x CFAA.

If I can run High/Ultra settings with HBAO and like 2xAA/16xAF on trifire 6950s at >60fps I'll be perfectly happy :). If not then I'll tone it down a notch until next series comes out.

Thanks for all the useful info guys! I always learn something new while I'm on here :D.
 
I'm playing with 3X30'' Eyefinity with a Quad-Fire set-up. No problems with VRAM. :)

So with 3X24'', 2Gb is plenty enough. ;)
 
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