6800's PSU Requirements a little high...

Hi all! From what I read recently in a MaximumPC it seems that the 6800 is a little bit of a power hog... It shows that the card requires two 5V connectors and at least a 480Watt system power supply. Should Graphics mfg's be getting this crazy??? I realize that they now are virtually thier own self-contained computer, with more transistors than most CPU's, most with 256MB of ram, etc., but, shouldnt there be a better way to deal with this than running a million wires from a high-end-only psu?

(note to mod: mebe this belongs in the general video and sound section; for people from both the ati and nvidia camps to respond as well)

Well, MaximumPC is wrong. The latest official recommendation is a 350W PSU. If the idea of 2 connectors bothers you so much, the 6800 Ultra is not for you. There are 3 other flavors of the 6800 that only require one connector.

the 350 watt is recommended if your not overclocking. If your are then its still 480watt.

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=16101

Damnit, i cant afford a new PSU aswell :///

~t0m

aNTiChRisT said:

Damnit, i cant afford a new PSU aswell :///

~t0m

Click to expand...

If you can afford the 6800 Ultra, why not get the ATI X800XT? It doesn't need such a bulky PSU, 400 watts is fine.

LOL, fanboi. I never said i was going to get one i've got a 400w truepower and that'll do to overclock my next card, probably an ATi but im waiting for overclockablity/performance scores showing up more.

~t0m

all i have to say is "lol"... when overclockers...hardware enthusiasts...are being served by a piece of new hardware... lol

the 350W enermax will do the trick, because of its uber beefy 12V rail (26A). i would not trust a no-name 350W psu to bear this load though. in fact, even the 350W power supplies from well known names like antec may not have enough power, if the system is loaded up enough (a few hdds, optical drives, fans, OC'ed cpu). Antec's True Power 480W is rated at 22A max on its 12V rail. this gives you an idea of how beefy the enermax 12V rails are.

I saw at least one reviewer claiming that 350W was enough, and he was using an enermax. I've heard that's what others were doing as well, so be aware. the power requirements really seem to be scary on this thing. i guess we'll have to wait until its in people's systems to know for sure.

dreammmatt said:

all i have to say is "lol"... when overclockers...hardware enthusiasts...are being served by a piece of new hardware... lol

Click to expand...

I cuncur, lol