Enough to power an 8800GTX?

[Burner127]

If you look at my sig, you can see my rig (hehe)

I currently have a PC Power and cooling Turbo 510 Deluxe express (single PCIe connection) and I am going to be purchasing an 8800GTX card in january. I have two questions:


1)Is the PSU strong enough? (34amps on the 12v line should be enough)

2)Since it only has 1 PCIe power connection I will have to buy an adapter to convert 2 molexes to a single PCIe connection for the second power supply connection for the card. Is there any problem with this?

Thank you.

[Super Nade]

Hi and welcome to the forums. :)

Apart from having to purchase an adapter for the connectors, I see no problem in using your unit for the 8800GTX setup. Just make sure that you buy the right kind of connectors. The 8800 series require different PCI-E connectors from the usual 6 pin stuff. Make sure that the adapter electrically matches the card's pinout. Other than that, you should have no problems.

[dominick32]

Let me give you my feedback when using a similar PSU.

I am using the very well know Etasis built Silverstone ST56ZF.. It is a 560 watt unit with 38amps on a single 12v rail.

It powers a heavy overclocked 660/1040 EVGA 8800GTX along with an E6700 Conroe overclocked to 4.22 GHz for every day usage. I have never had one single problem with this PSU, nor have I ever had any fluctuations in voltage more than .04 volts on the 12v line.

Your unit does have 34amps vs. the 38 on mine, but my honest opinion is that you will be absolutely fine with that PSU as it is a very comparable grade compared to Etasis or Zippy/Emacs.

Kind regards and WELCOME TO OCF.
Dominick

[Burner127]

Thanks for the replies. Could you tell me why you chose the EVGA 8800GTX over the other brands? What is the warranty on their cards?

Thank you.

[Super Nade]

EVGA offer a step-up program, where you can turn in your old card and step-up to the newest model. They also have good cutomer support and a 3 year warranty (if I'm not mistaken).

[torin3]

Hi and welcome to the forums. :)

Apart from having to purchase an adapter for the connectors, I see no problem in using your unit for the 8800GTX setup. Just make sure that you buy the right kind of connectors. The 8800 series require different PCI-E connectors from the usual 6 pin stuff. Make sure that the adapter electrically matches the card's pinout. Other than that, you should have no problems.

Could you point to a source on the connectors being different? I had no problem pluggin in the PCI-E connector on my 8800 GTS.

[Super Nade]

I'll dig up the exact link when I find it, but my source would be JonnyGURU's forums. There is another thread about this which I can't find, but this one started the speculation:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1577&postcount=12


Maybe Wolf or Jon can elaborate on this.

[dominick32]

Let me clarify on this. The 8800GTX has two seperate standard PCIe power connectors on the card vs. one (which was the standard before the 8800 gpus were released)

http://www.overclockers.com/articles1388/card3.JPG

Every new PSU unit usually comes equipped with two PCIe connectors so the only way I see this being a problem is if you had an 8800 SLI setup. Because you would essentially need 4 X PCIe power connectors(2 per card). But every 8800 GPU also comes with 2 X PCIe to molex adaptors so basically you guys will be absolutely fine with any wattage/amperage capable PSU. (with or without PCIe connectors)

Regards,
Dom

[Super Nade]

Thanks for the clarification mate. I may have gotten my facts mixed up with what ATI/AMD are going to do with their cards. If you noticed, the x1950 series of cards seem to have increased the draw from non-12V line(s). This is a good move as it may help in alleviating crossloading problems to some extent, especially is somebody is running a CF setup.

[torin3]

Ok, it is what I'd heard about before. The GTX cards are set up for an 8 pin power connector on the board, but they went with 2 6-pin PCI-E standard connectors instead. One of them has the spots on the board where two more pins could have been added.

This is only for the GTX cards and I haven't heard of anybody actually having a functioning 8-pin connector on a retail card yet. The GTS cards, (I have an ASUS GTS) only have a single 6-pin connector and no evidence of 8-pin plans on the card.

[Burner127]

EVGA offer a step-up program, where you can turn in your old card and step-up to the newest model. They also have good cutomer support and a 3 year warranty (if I'm not mistaken).

I read on their site that it is a "one-time" option to step up to a new card. Does that mean one time per person or one time per card?

I am considering the BFG and XFX versions of the 8800GTX as well as they both have lifetime warranties. Thoughts?

[Super Nade]

Well I am mistaken with my warranty claims, EVGA offer a lifetime warranty as well. :)

http://www.evga.com/support/lifetime/