Using an Ati HD 7870 sapphire in a generic case?

Ricko · Feb 18, 2013

Hi guys, I have a question that's very critical for what I'm planning to do, I want to upgrade my PC so I can get a fully gaming performance.

The idea was to change my HD 5670 video card for a 7870, For that I'm planning to buy a new PSU to handle the job, It will be a "Sentey SDP-750-SS solid power", with a maximum of 750 watts.

Now the real bother in this is that the 7870 is quite big, and I'm seeing if I can install it in my generic case, "Over case", model: "OV-811"

I took some measures, and it seems to fit a little tight, it has like 26 cm of length though, some people told me that I needed a case with a good cooling design, and in any case bigger for the Video card to enter easily.

What do you think about this? Is there any danger on using this card with this case?

Mod-R · Feb 18, 2013

What I think is you hardly need a 750W PSU to power a 7870... though if the system is old, it might be eating more power than what I'm guesstimating. What is it?

You could probably use 500-600W, save some money, and invest it towards a new case?

Nebulous · Feb 18, 2013

I dunno, but the power supply you posted: "Sentey SDP-750-SS solid power" is pretty dated. I mean the only specs I found still showed it having a floppy connector and supposedly 54amp on the +12v line. If this is the unit , then I suggest something a bit more modern. Corsair makes some really good units.

In my sig I have a 1350 watt powering my system. Everyone here can tell you I've gone mad with powa

, but I've always had larger than needed power supplies in my system. It's like having a big V8 under the hood of a Chevy Vega.

Ricko · Feb 18, 2013

So installing the card in this case isn't really a problem? I was researching about what could I buy to make sure the video card to work, and the best solution was this PSU, It's really good, and will surely handle this card and more, I thought about buying something cheaper, but just in case I'll get this one, besides other PSU's cost little less than this one in my country so there won't be much of a cohange.

What I really need to know is about the case and if it is able to contain a 7870

Mod-R · Feb 20, 2013

The fact that it can perhaps fit in doesn't make up for the fact that it will obviously create ill airflow. Buy another case if you want to go that route. And buy a better PSU with less power, you'll be okay. You could probably get a Corsair CX500 under 60$, and some Thermaltake gamer case for under 70$.

EarthDog · Feb 20, 2013

Please check out the PSU sticky thread (link in my sig) for quality PSU's. The last thing you want is a POS PSU.

A Corsair CX500 will power any single CPU and GPU overclocked.

Mod-R · Feb 20, 2013

Nebulous said:
I dunno, but the power supply you posted: "Sentey SDP-750-SS solid power" is pretty dated. I mean the only specs I found still showed it having a floppy connector and supposedly 54amp on the +12v line. If this is the unit , then I suggest something a bit more modern. Corsair makes some really good units.

In my sig I have a 1350 watt powering my system. Everyone here can tell you I've gone mad with powa , but I've always had larger than needed power supplies in my system. It's like having a big V8 under the hood of a Chevy Vega.

Floppy Drive connector x1 is pretty much standard across smaller PSUs, in my experience. Perhaps because you always used higher standard/power PSUs you are used with units that doesn't have it?

Ricko · Feb 20, 2013

Guys, I know you are trying to help, but the more I learn about this, the more confused I get.

One says one thing, the other says another, "yes, no, too much, not enough, bad brand, good brand"...

I've seen the PSU's in the power supply's guide, but most of them are not available where I live. Searching here and there I found the sdp-750ss, I can get it easily, and it is WAY better that the one I have, I mean I just want to change the video card, how can it possibly not work? is it good? is it bad?

What kind of case should I get now? In fact, how can I even know what kind of case to buy?? Is there a list? a catalog?, heck I also don't know how much is it going to cost in here, everything looks so expensive, with all those LED lights, fans and air flowing holes.

So, can someone please tell me:

1) This Sentey's PSU... can it handle my pc (look at my sig) with a 7870 instead of a 5670? YES or NO?
2) Which case do you recommend for this video card AND PSU?
3) The 7870 will at least run decently with the specs I have?

||Console|| · Feb 20, 2013

There is a reason most people are harping about a PSU because it supplying the power to every thing in your PC if it is junk you risk losing the whole thing ( not just your shiny new GFx Card )
can you fill us in on
-Where you live or the sites where you will be shoping
-your system specs
and do you have a link of your case so we can look in to the size question .

Ricko · Feb 20, 2013

||Console|| said:
There is a reason most people are harping about a PSU because it supplying the power to every thing in your PC if it is junk you risk losing the whole thing ( not just your shiny new GFx Card )
can you fill us in on
-Where you live or the sites where you will be shoping
-your system specs
and do you have a link of your case so we can look in to the size question .

I know, but that doesn't change the fact that it is very difficult to see if a PSU is good enough for something. :bang head

In any case I'll just tell you:
-I live in Argentina, South America, here In my city we don't have that much of tecnology with the gaming hardware, I cant find the 7870 of most of the PSUs you say because none of the stores in here have them. For that I buy in "Mercado libre" which is exactly like Ebay, It was in there where I found the hardware I told you all about.

Here's a link of the site I use to buy: http://www.mercadolibre.com.ar/
(you can tell because it's in spanish)

Here are the links of the products I want to buy:

The Videocard: http://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar...n-hd-7870-oc-edition-2gb-gddr5-hdmi-video-_JM

The PSU: http://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar...50w-reales-sdp-750-62a-80-plus-nuevas-box-_JM

My specs are always in my signature, take a look at them.

And for my case, seems that nobody cares of the measures of a generic case on the internet so the only thing I can do is post a photo of my case.

Robert17 · Feb 20, 2013

It looks like you've done some homework on your upgrade path. So far, so good.

What is your budget? This would be helpful as the mercado you shop has various cases that may fit your needs. I can't find any dimensional specs for the case that you own so can't advise about how well the 7870 may fit, or not. You could simply use a ruler or measuring tape to measure the distance between the left edge of the motherboard to the drive bay enclosures and compare that with the card length, which I don't see on AMD's website.

Mod-R · Feb 20, 2013

Robert17 said:
It looks like you've done some homework on your upgrade path. So far, so good.

What is your budget? This would be helpful as the mercado you shop has various cases that may fit your needs. I can't find any dimensional specs for the case that you own so can't advise about how well the 7870 may fit, or not. You could simply use a ruler or measuring tape to measure the distance between the left edge of the motherboard to the drive bay enclosures and compare that with the card length, which I don't see on AMD's website.

And then you'd have to be sure that no drives or power/sata cables would be in the way. So it means that if your drives are aligned with the side of the case (like most generic cases) you have to calculate how much space you need there if any. Also, to make sure that no important connection you're using (like Sata ports) are just beside the PCI-e slot, or you may very well find there's just no place for the cables, or for the GPU to be fitted properly.

Hence why a new case, but also, careful planning. So what you have to do is go on the source website of your GPU and your to-be-bought case, and see measurements. Most gamer cases have a 12-14 inches clearance that'll make your day, and some have side mounted drives so that drive wiring is out of the way.

Ricko · Feb 20, 2013

Robert17 said:
It looks like you've done some homework on your upgrade path. So far, so good.

What is your budget? This would be helpful as the mercado you shop has various cases that may fit your needs. I can't find any dimensional specs for the case that you own so can't advise about how well the 7870 may fit, or not. You could simply use a ruler or measuring tape to measure the distance between the left edge of the motherboard to the drive bay enclosures and compare that with the card length, which I don't see on AMD's website.

yea I'm awesome :thup:

Ok so I have like 3430 Argentinian Pesos, which would be like 683 U$S, as for the case... that's not a bad idea :eh?:

I'll do some measurements, and then I'll upload an image with them so It can be easily understood.

Mod-R · Feb 20, 2013

Just take a measure of the total height, width, and lenght, and post a picture of the inside, that's all we need to know.

Ricko · Feb 20, 2013

Finished, I did all the measurements and these are the photos of the case, take a look:

From the outside:

EDIT: the width is 17,5 CM

And from the inside:

...sooooo what's the veredict? :shock:

Mod-R · Feb 20, 2013

S'not so bad, a little cable management and it should fit right in. I think the upper sata connection on the board will have to be moved lower.

Measurements of the exact same card on Sapphire website is : 22.5cm x 11.5cm x 2.9cm.

There are some modular Thermaltake there on your mercadolibre. They aren't the best out there, but this one is modular, Bronze certified, only 150 pesos more than the Sentey, and at least comes from a brand we know can make good PSUs.

http://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar...ake-tr2-rx-750w-fan-120mm-modular-80-plus-_JM

Ricko · Feb 20, 2013

Mod-R said:
S'not so bad, a little cable management and it should fit right in. I think the upper sata connection on the board will have to be moved lower.

Measurements of the exact same card on Sapphire website is : 22.5cm x 11.5cm x 2.9cm.

There are some modular Thermaltake there on your mercadolibre. They aren't the best out there, but this one is modular, Bronze certified, only 150 pesos more than the Sentey, and at least comes from a brand we know can make good PSUs.

http://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar...ake-tr2-rx-750w-fan-120mm-modular-80-plus-_JM

Yeah... about that... I was thinking about it when I saw this: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Thermaltake-TR2-RX-750-W-Power-Supply-Review/902/9

I got scared.

And now that I think about it, no one answered me if the SDP-750ss was a good PSU for my build.

Mod-R · Feb 21, 2013

You know what worries me even more... there ain't no review AT ALL about the Sentey from reputable sources, or so it seems.

The TR2 wouldn't push its 750W, but running under 500W it will be okay. A single GPU system runs much lower than that half of the time. If not Thermaltake, there are a couple of Cooler Master, too. Might be worth checking which and looking out for reviews?

Mod-R · Feb 21, 2013

Silent Pro Gold seems pretty solid, but quite expensive. Perhaps Solid Pro M700 (80+) will do the trick.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/psus/2008/08/12/cooler-master-silent-pro-700w/7

Ricko · Feb 21, 2013

Mod-R said:
Silent Pro Gold seems pretty solid, but quite expensive. Perhaps Solid Pro M700 (80+) will do the trick.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/psus/2008/08/12/cooler-master-silent-pro-700w/7

Hmmm, that's overbudget... If I buy that then I won't be able to afford the HD7870

I'll search for some PSU's out there, but now I'm starting to think about giving the sdp-750 a chance, many are saying that is good, there are a few reviews, some are awful, but others are pretty well done
Anyway, any good PSU should be able to mantain a single VGA, even if it is a 7870, and if I have cooling issues then I'll just take out the lateral sheet of the case to get some airflow.

EDIT: Also, I don't really care much about the modular or not modular PSU's I can get along with some extra cables

Using an Ati HD 7870 sapphire in a generic case?

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