Question: since i have alot of my unit overclocked 20% or more and have a 800 Watts - XtremeGear Gaming Power Supply, i need to know that if i add another gtx 470 and overclock that if it's going to create a problem power wise? My last unit with a 900watt supply was overkill so i tried not to have as much power this time, now i'm wondering if i shot myself in the foot. Let me know please!
 
so here are my specs...
 
CAS: CoolerMaster 690 II Advanced Mid-Tower Gaming Case
CD: Sony 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive
CD2: LG BR Player
CPU: Intel(R) Core™ i7-950 3.06 GHz 8M Intel Smart Cache LGA1366(OC'd 20%)
FAN: Asetek 570LX Liquid Cooling system w/ 240MM Radiator and Dual Fans
HDD: 1TB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD
HDD2: 1TB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD
HDD3: 1TB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 32MB Cache 7200RPM HDD
HDD4: 1.5TB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 32MB Cache 7200RPM HDD
MEMORY: 6GB (2GBx3) DDR3/1800MHz Triple Channel Memory Module Kingston Hyper-X (OC'd 20%)
MOTHERBOARD: (2-Way SLI Support) Asus Rampage III Gene Intel X58
OS: Microsoft(R) Windows(R) 7 Professional
POWERSUPPLY: 800 Watts - XtremeGear Gaming Power Supply - Quad SLI Ready
VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 1.2GB 16X PCIe Video Card (OC'd)

Here is a review of 470's power usage
http://www.guru3d.com/art...-2-3-way-sli-review/23

At load 2 470's use almost 600W alone and thats without the overclocks you want to do. That wouldnt leave very much room for the rest of your components

sigep

Many thanks for the replies!!!
I'm just wondering if it's better to just keep the 800w and wait for it to die or replace it now. everything is wired so perfectly and i havnt replaced a psu before. oh the joys of gaming computers!

If you are SLIing then im not sure I would suggest it. If you look around the forum there are way too many psu blow ups that destroy whole systems. Its not that the psu would be in danger its the rest of the computer that I would worry about. Another option is to leave the 800 and get another psu and wire one or both cards to that. Its not the best of options but it is one

Is replacing the PSU a difficult challenge? i payed for professional wiring on my unit and i'm worried about having to undo all those wires? i do have a 900watt unit in my other PC and i could potentially swap them out if it isnt a really hard issue

i guess the problem is i have never had a problem with the PSU, i guess i'll upgrade when i buy the second gpu, but it's running fine as it is. and since i dont usually have a computer longer than 3 years it's never been an issue. I appreciate all the help!

It was a good move.  Not top of the line but very good, and a very affordable power house right there.  Cable management will be a nightmare though.

I have that same psu dedicated to 3 470's.  Its a great psu for the money.  Single rail too.

d1eseL

I have that same psu dedicated to 3 470's.  Its a great psu for the money.  Single rail too.

You say that like it has real benefits.

HeavyHemi

boredgunner

d1eseL

I have that same psu dedicated to 3 470's.  Its a great psu for the money.  Single rail too.

You say that like it has real benefits.

Well one real benifit is you don't need to balance the load on the rails.

You don't have to do that on power supplies with well thought out rail distribution anyway.  Sadly there isn't a large number of these units, and that benefit is the only one.

HeavyHemi

Great_Shovel

Here is a review of 470's power usage
http://www.guru3d.com/art...-2-3-way-sli-review/23

At load 2 470's use almost 600W alone and thats without the overclocks you want to do. That wouldnt leave very much room for the rest of your components

In that review they show each GTX 470 as using 227 watts peak. I arrived that that by subtracting the TRI SLI peak watts at 794 by the dual SLI of 567 watts. That is at stock clocks. With clocks over 800 on the core and higher memory clocks you could easily exceed 275 watts per GPU. In any event, I don't understand this continual discussion in thread after thread (not you) of advising 'just enough' to get by. The fact is running your PSU in the range of 50-70 percent is in its most efficient range. With the power draw of high end computers going with a larger more efficient PSU will pay for itself in reduced electrical costs and a cooler running system will likely last you longer as heat causes deteriorating function over time.

If you look in sigep's original post he says he likes to overclock stuff by 20%. That could possibly put him in the danger area on power usage depending on his psu. I dont remember if the review the usage graphs were the whole system or just the cards but either way when your talking that kind of hardware its better to be safe than sorry

Edit:
Just looked and the review was the power draw of the whole system but either way I would still worry

Is this clean enough? :)


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Yea thats really good considering its all in front of the tray. If you dont feel like hassling with it any more it wont cause any problem

Here is another build in the same case.