oc'd e6600 and 8800GTX powered from 380W PSU - why not?

[burebista]

You'll be fine. Pretty on edge but it will work with EarthWatts (or any good brand single +12V rail). With a EW 430 it will be more comfortable.
From here:

Core 2 Extreme X6800 @ 2.93GHz, 4x512MB DDR2-800, 1*GF8800GTX, 2*SATA + 1*SAS (15k RPM) -- 280W DC (350W AC with 80% PSU efficiency -- HEC 460W) under 3DMark'06.

 

[mcoleg]

yep, i am a member there as well.

good place, lots of valuable info. though, to be honest, i do get scared over there sometimes. once i mentioned that "yes, it is possible to make raptors quieter, i did it myself" and was called names as a result

 

[RollingThunder]

OT a little

yep, i am a member there as well.

good place, lots of valuable info. though, to be honest, i do get scared over there sometimes. once i mentioned that "yes, it is possible to make raptors quieter, i did it myself" and was called names as a result

MC,

Tell us about quieting the Raptors. No one will insult you here. I have one, and yes, it does sit there "clucking" like a chicken from time to time. I am assuming it's inherent to the product.

 

[Super Nade]

I am assuming it's inherent to the product.

An intermittant clicking noise usually points towards internal thermal recalibraton to ensure optimum working of the drive actuator mechanism. It is common among all drives, not just Raptors.

 

[nookuwn]

Nice write up. This is the same question I was wondering myself. I just couldn't get myself to write enough to prove the point and get a discussion going. For a system mcoleg listed, I would imagine ppl would recommend the same same caliber as the PSU he listed (PCP&C 750W Silencer). Where as I think a quality 500w psu would do fine. Not that I know anything about PSU, all my understandings are from PSU requirement calculators .

Theoretically , why can't the system bellow be ran from a 380W PSU?

First, the system:

1. 8800GTX alone = 132W full load, 70W idle.

2. e6600 @ 3.6GHz with 1.47v vcore actual = 135W @ 100% utilization.

source: http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

3. 4x1GB DDR2 RAM.

4. 2xSATA 7200RPM HHD and DVD burner.

5. P5W64 WS Pro motherboard.

6. 4 pretty low-power fans, including yate-loon slow inside the tuniq and whatever is inside of the 8800GTX.

7. misc. extension cards that come and go

8. PCP&C 750W Silencer


1 and 2 are the biggest draw of power, 3 to 7 really don't consume all that much. CPU and the video card then are the parts to worry about.



How much power does the whole system use? According to the Kill-A-Watt gadget from P3 International, PSU draws form the wall (I am rounding up):

At idle:

250W with 2A

Running CSS video test (I tried to spice things up by running orthos at the same time but the load didn't change):

380W with 3.2A

The 750W Silencer hits 80+ efficiency above 150W and keeps it till 600W load according to this review:

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=374&type=expert&pid=5

Round up the efficiency to 80% and that will give us:

380W/5*4=304W of real power being consumed by the system under full load.

Give it a bit of a buffer to stay on the safe side and it looks like all I need is a 380W PSU for that system.


So, lets pick a modern 380W PSU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371005

let's see now. 2x12v rails, each at 17A.

the juice the components need to run at full load:


8800GTX - 132W/12V=11A

e6600 @ 3.6GHz - 135/12v=11.25A


Seems to be plenty left for whatever the rest of the system needs.

The PSU is rated to draw up to 6A form the wall. All my system needs is 3.2A at full load. So we seem to be safe there as well.


OK now, am I making a mistake somewhere? Or tell me some other reason why the system above cannot be ran from a 380W PSU .

 

[mcoleg]

thanks for the replies guys.

i was going to get ew380 from amazon (trying to save on tax and shipping ) but they won't ship it for like 3 weeks.

so i am canceling that order and will get one from some other place.

too bad i put a foot in my mouth saying i'll get the 380... there's a really good deal on 430 at zipzoomfly:

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=273511

well, i'll keep looking

Thunder, Nade, i didn't really do anything special to the raptors, simply suspended them with some bungee cords. i got the idea from here:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8240

i'm attaching a pix (sry for the quality, i suck with pictures but you'd get the idea, hopefully). the raptors are mounted in the super lanboy. those who have it know that the thing is pretty much paper-thin so the vibrations were unbelivably loud. now the 2xraptors are merrely puuring like kittens during seeks. it might not be spcr-quiet but it's sure is a step in the right direction.

 

[mcoleg]

the plans for testing are back on track - i am getting a ea380 from circuitcity.com. apparently they have the same price online as in the store...

 

[Super Nade]

The very mention of spcr on these forums is blasphamous!

 

[mcoleg]

that's what they say about this place

 

[mcoleg]

an interesting article about power consumption:

http://legionhardware.com/document.php?id=635

 

[mcoleg]

an update:

got the psu

now i'm gonna take the system out of the case (too small to swap psu's without breaking something) and mount it on my test bench. need to think of a good way to arrange it all for taking pix...

 

[El<(')>Maxi]

Have fun with the RMA

 

[burebista]

It's not the case. It will be fine.

 

[mcoleg]

we'll see

i put it all on the test bench, with the old psu for now to make sure it's all still working.

while i was at it, i decided to check if the speed step and c1 options work with the current overclock. they do, actually. this board is sure something. now i am saving a couple of watts while idling, yay...


an interesting thing i noticed. do you know how much energy it takes to run a screensaver on my system with vista?

45 watt.

i kid you not. that's more than the total of all the lights i have going. that's ridiculous. so, i disabled the screensaver and made the monitor switch off instead.

 

[mcoleg]

a question - does enabling C1 state have any adverse effects on cpu performance?

 

[Alexhk]

Have fun with the RMA

Well I did like I said I would and my main rig has been running just fine with my EA 380W for over a week now. Should have some good results to post this weekend when i can get my hands on a decent camera.

E6600 @ 3.1 (1.4125 V) went to summer overclock when it got hot last week
x1900 xt
4 HD drives + an optical
2 x 1 GB memory
4 Case fans
X-fi

 

[mcoleg]

good going Alex, looking forward to it.

update: it booted up

i'll run some easy tasks on it first to see how it handles then try something more intensive, like encoding a movie or something.


_________________________________________
it's idling around 220w with speedstep and c1 on (screen on, in vista).

 

[Super Nade]

Brother, post some pics and hook up with Alex and myself to prepare a write up for the front page.

 

[mcoleg]

auwww, do i have to?... kidding

lets see how it goes.

i tried some pix, they look parc. i need to capture the screen, the psu and the watt-meter. not as easy as it sounds, apparently. i'll play with the camera some more.

_____________

update: encoded a vid. with DVD Shrink. i'll run some css loops next.

 

[mcoleg]

ran css video test several times. max load is 353w. first full screen then in a window so i can take a pix. anyone knows how to loop it, btw?

i really sux with pix, looks like. here's an example:

p.s. i am going to do some priming now, tried tat, doesn't work on my vista for some reason.