Which power supply for SLI / enough to futureproof?

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Nirad9er

2[H]4U
Joined
Feb 18, 2004
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I have been reading and some people are saying that my OCZ gamexstream 700w isn't enough for 8800gtx SLI. If I decided to go SLI which of these power supplies would be a better to get and not be overkill for an SLI setup and future SLI setups (eg. 9800gtx SLI and beyond for a few years)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256006

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256007

Would it be worth to spend the extra on the 850w. My brother has the 750w and a single 8800gtx as well. His power supply is SLI certified for 8800gtx SLI on www.slizone.com but mine isn't.

What do you suggest?

Thanks
 
The OCZ Powerstream 700 watt is based on the FSP Epsilon platform and produces out of spec ripple on the 12v rails at high load, so running a high end SLI rig with it would indeed be a bad idea -- the PSU would kill your components over time.

Either of the Silverstones you linked should be enough for now, but there's no such thing as futureproof. The nearest you can come to that would be something like the Thermaltake Toughpower 1200 watt or Ultra X3 1600 watt. Below the 1KW+ point you may have to get a bigger PSU if you go crazy with the high end cards and processors + lots of drives or something... but it's doubtful.
 
The 650W seasonic built Corsairs should be good, they've been tested and know to be able to crank out a clean 650W of power.
 
I like the idea of the 850 watt model for a couple of reasons:
one, it has 4 PCI-e connectors.....you need two each for the GTX.
second: more headroom for expansion and a safe operating level.

if you look at most PSUs they operate maybe at 80% or a little less at full load, 80% of 850 is better than 80% of 750W.....your PSU is not near its red-line and wont quit on you.

My only thought on the 850W model is it has only an 80mm cooling fan, it will be noisy.

I have a triple-SLi rig and use an Ultra 1000W X3. It is very nice for a bunch of reasons:
1) good reviews all over the place,
2) large cooling fan, very quiet.....I replaced a PCP&C 850W with this and the noise reduction was remarkable.
3) modular flex-force cables are pretty nice to work with. I have connections at the PSU to spare and the cable management is very good.
 
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