Will the Single AMD Radeon™ HD 6870 get ruined from a 460 watt power supply?

[scape9819]

Will the Single AMD Radeon™ HD 6870 get ruined from a 460 watt power supply? I am planning to buy a computer with a 460 watt power supply and an AMD Radeon™ HD 6870 graphics card, but I read online that it needs atleast 500 watts...

[Crazyeyesreaper]

depends on the 460w power supply if its a no name brand piece of crap then yes if its a decent unit then you wont have any problems

[Devilmaypoop]

If it's a newer Corsair or Antec then it will be fine, those are known to be able to take several hundred watts over their rated specs. If it's a no name, yes.

[mrmouth]

I dont know about several hundred...

This all started with the HX620 (which I own) when JohnnyGURU reviewed that back in 2006. This was the first real splash that Corsair made in the PSU market. They were using a great OEM base and beefing them up with better capacitors, fans, fan controllers, etc. Upon opening them up and testing them, some were found to be "overbuilt", and that idea has grown until it is now repeated by everyone.

Since then, Corsair has changed it's OEM for most models, so I wouldn't take anything to heart. It used to be that just the HX series was considered a safe bet to be pushed beyond it's continuous rating. Most HX series PSUs were found to have an absolute peak rating of around 100-150w over the continuous rating you would see on the box.

The peak rating being higher than the continuous rating is a good bet for most of the better PSU vendors. While not technically vendors, I have always had trouble calling them manufacturers considering they are most times directly re-badging an OEM, or soldering some new caps. But they use continuous rating for a reason, so it's best to go by that and not assume anything. And two of the same model of PSU can differ a bit. So even if it is tested higher, you might buy one that isn't the same.

So bet on a little headroom if you start reading reviews or forum posts about a particular model being pushed further. Whatever that headroom ultimately is, is not concrete. And personally I see way too many people for my taste, touting the "overbuilt" idea with 400-500w PSUs. From a dollars and cents perspective, I dont understand why anyone would be buying anything in that range anymore when spending $30-50 more can prevent another $100 purchase down the road. These PSUs are so well built these days that there is no reason to not to look at that purchase lasting upwards of 10 years. Ive been running my HX620 for 5+ years and will likely continue to run it until it dies.

At $170 back in 2006, that was a substantial investment that has served me well.

[Crazyeyesreaper]

it depends

all HX powersupplies from corsair are rated for 80+ GOLD by the rating board but there sold as silver,

its not so much brand that matters but if you see its 80+ Silver or better its a safe bet the unit can go higher then its rated my HX850 will deliever 1000w easy no sweat at peak anything higher over current kicks in and shuts down

[mrmouth]

its not so much brand that matters but if you see its 80+ Silver or better its a safe bet the unit can go higher then its rated my HX850 will deliever 1000w easy no sweat at peak anything higher over current kicks in and shuts down

That's efficiency rating, and there is no actual regulation within the system. They can claim whatever they want.

This was actually another reason for Corsair's meteoric rise. They were found to continually understate their efficiency ratings. Something like the HX620 was above 80 plus. Some testers put it at 88% even at high (realistic) loads. That is an 80 plus rated PSU operating above 80 plus gold. And at 620w, that is why it is in the PSU HoF. It is much easier to achieve something like that the higher the wattage. In the 600w range it is crazy.



This is where it gets confusing because it isn't simply a matter of your 850w pulling 1kw from the wall and due to efficiency, leaving you with overhead. The small percentages do not account for your 850w psu to handle a 1kw peak load. You then start getting into power factor and other things.

Point is, there are multiple factors that might allow your 850w psu to have a 150w peak power rating. But again, peak rating is not something that Corsair would put out because it is meant to deal with spikes. It isnt really meant to be factored in on the consumer side.

So my i7/gtx460 build with the HX620 distributing 450-500w under load, I know I can easily add another gtx460 for sli and be around the 620w rating. It is well within the known overhead if I go over. But I wouldn't feel real comfortable adding another 50-100w to that. Probably be ok, but why chance it?

[SonOfCrusader76]

Will the Single AMD Radeon™ HD 6870 get ruined from a 460 watt power supply? I am planning to buy a computer with a 460 watt power supply and an AMD Radeon™ HD 6870 graphics card, but I read online that it needs atleast 500 watts...

Make sure you get a decent PSU - don't make the mistake I made with my X1950XT a few years back: pay cheap, buy twice.

[Hunter Makoy]

Not to take anything away from the thread, but is corsair now considered one of the best? back a few years ago when i bought my psu i was told PC Power and Cooling was the best.

[Devilmaypoop]

Not to take anything away from the thread, but is corsair now considered one of the best?

Yup, it's all about Corsair and Antec now. I prefer Corsair because theirs just seem overall better and cheaper too.

[Crazyeyesreaper]

I understand efficiency and how it works i also know one of the reviews for Techpowerup and Johnnyguru as well as Futurelooks

and if you pay attention to my post i said PEAK, not Continuous corsair isnt really understating there power they are doing the same thing PCP&C started doing years ago, rating the unit at Continuous,

OCZ is known to rate there powersupplies at PEAK so a 600w OCZ stealth extreme is more 500-550w continuous 600w peak

the PCP&C silencer was 750 continuous but could do 820w peak

if anyone really wants to know about powersupplies they can read this
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/...ocking/psu/160

point is an 80+ GOLD powersupply has the parts needed to keep a unit in spec at higher then stated wattage,

example an 80+ basic unit would encouter voltage spikes ripple etc much sooner then a Silver and Gold or Platinum unit

I understand how this works im just not going to state all this information for an end user who will not need the info and most likely wont understand it, all they need to know is if its safe or not and if it will work or not.

and im well aware of the effieciency but i am not testing power consumption at the wall, my unit will hit 1000w FULL LOAD everything maxed out if i wish it to go that far but its extremely stressful on all my parts. but i push for max stability period entire system not just 1 part at a time,

it also takes around 1.7v to the cpu at 4.3-4.4ghz 1.45v to the CPU/NB 1.3v to the NB, then add in overvolted overclocked and 20% power limit to each 6970 in extreme load tests the unit will hit 1000w in most situations the unit would go higher but do to dirty power in this old home of mine it starts knocking things out spec and it shuts down.

and your right its not ment to be factored in consumer side but many power supply manufacturers do it that way regardless

OCZ stealth xtreme and mod xtreme being popular choices that are rated at PEAK output not continuous.

and again my rig wont pull nowhere near 1000w out of the unit itself and thus nearly 1250w out of the wall in regular usage such as games i play it only hits those extreme load numbers under extreme test situations otherwise when just plain gaming its 600w or so power draw.

that said 80+ specification itself is a joke, since they test at 25c most power supplies under load hit 40-50c and as anyone knows with electronics the hotter a component gets the less efficient it is, my 850 is around 88-89% efficienct at 600w load which is around 700-720 at the wall at 1000w usage otherwise 1250 or so from the wall it drops down into the 75% range for me very far from its intended lvls

major point im making is the 460w in the OPS system is most likely a pile of with most of its power rating on the 3.3 and 5v rails when modern PCs use the 12v rail extensively, not to mention a 460w unit will 99% chance not have 2x 6pin PCIE plugs so the card wont even work in his system, and using adaptors is usually not the greatest idea. I know this by frying 3 400w OEM powersupplies with an overclocked athlon II x2 + 8800gs also overclocked i used an adaptor as the unit didnt have a 6pin id did have enough amps according to its rating to power it without issue, but sadly they overated the units and pop pop pop all 3 died, ended up using a silverstone 400w unit that handled it without issue.

eitherway this conversation has no place here the OP is asking about a 6870 and a 460w psu thats most likely rated at 460w PEAK, with adaptors the card will probably work but eventually it will most likely pop and take a few other parts with it,

as for me personally i will chance it in my rig aka the 850w being overloaded as i dont mind it because i know the psu will seldom ever hit its peak, besides with free motherboards and other parts headed my way im free to tweak and push parts to there limits, its a benefit i enjoy. but its not for everyone

that said a decent 450w psu WILL power a 6870 and a quadcore without much issue you just cant overclock it, but it requires again a decent unit

PC Power and Cooling referred to as PCP&C still make very good powersupplies, just after OCZ bought them out they became the premiere PSU for OCZ but many higher ups left PCP&C and there quality suffered for awhile there back to making kickass units but there prices havent been competitive, why pay more for a PCP&C powersupply thats nothing more then Seasonic M12D model with new paint job, when that same seasonic unit can be found in XFX and Corsair units for cheaper.

essentially the name on the powersupply dosent matter at all its the OEM manufacturer that matters, and the platfom there using of which not all oems and platforms are equal lol

basically put a good psu is a good psu, a psu is a psu, and what is deemed good for basic machines is not nearly good enough for high end rigs

[AlfonsoVIII]

have seasonic and FSP sunk in quality compared to Antec and Corsair?

[Crazyeyesreaper]

Seasonic makes

XFX, Corsair, and many other manufacturers psu's essentiall the PSU we recommend are manufactured by Seasonic, essentially Seasonic is the OEM for many other brands, the problem is Seasonic while great is usually higher priced then Corsair or XFX and many other Brands that use there design.

[mrmouth]

I think the conversation was fairly relevant. But I really dont know how to respond to your long post. That just hurts my head.

Corsair also uses CWT as an OEM now. They appear to be very good, but I think they still use Seasonic for the top tier of the lot.

[Crazyeyesreaper]

Seasonic is used for everything now

CWT i believe was behind the vx series and the 1000w HX
but if i remember correctly

Seasonic now manufactures all of the HX and AX line of powersupplies as well as the TX v2 but id have to look up the UL numbers to be sure.

as to my longer post

take it for what it is and with a grain of salt, I was fairly drunk at the time.

[Top-Tier-Tech]

take it for what it is and with a grain of salt, I was fairly drunk at the time.

You typically are it seems....

[Crazyeyesreaper]

hey if im not working my ass off its time to drink, but only if its after 12 noon lol

[teee]

Sorry to bring this message back to life after so long, but I have the same question, although a little more specific, and was wondering if you tech whizzes could help me out. I have an HPE-270F with a 460W power supply, and also am planning on running a single Radeon HD 6870 on it (that's my hope at least). I couldn't find detailed info on the manufacturer of this specific part, though, so thought maybe you could enlighten me. Am I going to fry something? Thanks for any help.

[Shaio]

^ my experience with running things beyond a power supplies ability the psu goes bang, but nothing else gets damaged, ive blown up like 6-7 psu's randomly in such a way and never damaged another part that i was aware of.

Aside from a loud bang and soemtiems mysterious blue smoke you sometimes see theres no longterm damage.

[teee]

^ my experience with running things beyond a power supplies ability the psu goes bang, but nothing else gets damaged, ive blown up like 6-7 psu's randomly in such a way and never damaged another part that i was aware of.

Aside from a loud bang and soemtiems mysterious blue smoke you sometimes see theres no longterm damage.

Thanks. I opted for a 500W Antec as it was only $50 and I didn't feel like bringing out the fire extinguisher. All's well now except that I'm only showing 10 gigs of ram when it should be 16, so maybe I fried something when I was tooling around in there. Ah well, always something.