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#11
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SLI and power suppliy
Larry Stone wrote:
I have an 8800GTX and plan to add another. How critical is the power supply. What happens if the PS is insufficient? The certified PS's at slizone all cost at least $150. WHY ON GOD'S GOOD EARTH WOULD SOMEONE SPEND 550+ DOLLARS FOR A VIDEO CARD AND TALK ABOUT ADDING ANOTHER ONE AND COMPLAIN ABOUT A $150 POWER SUPPLY. THE CHEAP POWER SUPPLIES THAT PEOPLE BUY ARE THE CAUSE OF AT LEAST 60% OF THE OF THE "MYSTERIOUS" PROBLEMS THAT ARE REPORTED ON THIS AND OTHER SITES. IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT TWO OF THESE CARDS I WOULD CONSIDER LOOKING AT SOME OF THE POWER SUPPLIES IN THE 1 KW RANGE. |
#12
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SLI and power suppliy
'Paul' wrote:
| While I don't have a reference that lists the exact part number for the | PCI Express 2x3 power connector, pictures of it do suggest it is a member | of the Mini-Fit Jr. family. Mini-Fit Jr. is used for a lot of the ATX power | connectors. The pins on Mini-Fit Jr. are rated to carry more than 4 amps, | and the details are in a table here. Which raises the question as to why | the 8800GTX has two 2x3 power connectors. _____ Thanks for the additional information. I looked at the web page you cited, and I agree that the 'Mini-fit Junior' looks to be what is used rather than the Molex line that includes connectors like those used for ATA Parallel drives (those connectors can't accept wires larger than 18 gauge, while the 'Mini-fit Junior' can accept 16 gauge). Like the 'Mini-fit Junior', the 8800 graphics board 6-pin power connectors have solid pins of smaller diameter than the hollow pins on the Molex connectors used for ATA Parallel hard drives, I don't think the two 2X3 pin connectors for the 8800 GTX boards are to annoy us, but a case of the reference board designer (nVidia) covering its ass. If nVidia set the bar really high for power supply capacity and for pin count, then there is somewhat less of a chance that marginal power supplies will cause problems, manufacturing standards can be relaxed, and improperly plugged cables will be less of a problem. Sort of like Intel making CPUs that, with decent cooling, can be overclocked by a large percentage. Intel builds in the extra margin to take care of minor quality control problems and marginal system resources like power and cooling. Also, look at the durability for the 'Mini-fit Junior'; 30 plug/unplug cycles! I just got in the parts to build a system for overclocking Core 2 Duo CPUs; I'll probable go through 30 cycles in the first week! Extra pins are going to extend the practical limit through redundancy. If a few pins no longer mate well the others take up the slack. I don't play games that need intense 3D acceleration and am more interested in CPU/memory overclocking so my new overclocking system parts include just one 8800 GTS. I like the power consumption report xBit Labs wrote up a few years back. It's time for a new one. With the new ATX 12V rev 2.2 power supplies with modular cables it should be fairly easy to measure the power consumption through the graphics 6-pin power connections; just cut the + 12 VDC leads on an extra modular cable and insert a low value resistor across the cut (say 0.005 Ohms rated at 5 Watts) and measure the voltage difference across the resistor. Phil Weldon "Paul" wrote in message ... | Phil Weldon wrote: .. .. .. | Molex connectors are specified for up to 4 Amps per pin. The 6-pin Molex | connector is limited to 12 Amps ( three + 12 VDC pins and three earth/ground | pins). .. .. .. | | While I don't have a reference that lists the exact part number for the | PCI Express 2x3 power connector, pictures of it do suggest it is a member | of the Mini-Fit Jr. family. Mini-Fit Jr. is used for a lot of the ATX power | connectors. The pins on Mini-Fit Jr. are rated to carry more than 4 amps, | and the details are in a table here. Which raises the question as to why | the 8800GTX has two 2x3 power connectors. If it really does average around | 12 amps total of consumption, then one 2x3 connector should be plenty. Now, if | current software and applications cannot drive 8800GTX to the wall, then | maybe we haven't seen the worst of it yet. It would almost seem two connectors | were used, to impress us (or annoy us), rather than solve a real problem. | I'm still waiting for Xbitlabs to get of their duff and do some measurements. | They are the only enthusiast web site to have a clue. | | http://www.molex.com/catalog/pdf/5566VW.PDF | | Paul | | | | "Andi Cole" wrote in message | ... | | My 8800GTX's requires two 6-pin PCI-e connectors each, that makes the | | picture clear as to how much power is required. I'm using an Etassis 850 | | which has four 6-pin connectors so no need for the adapters. I really | | wouldn't skimp on the PSU. | | | | Andi. | | | | | | | | | | "Larry Stone" wrote in message | | newsZsQh.28585$oV.8460@attbi_s21... | | I have an 8800GTX and plan to add another. How critical is the power | | supply. What happens if the PS is insufficient? The certified PS's at | | slizone all cost at least $150. | | | | | | | | |
#13
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SLI and power suppliy
'DaveW' wrote:
| Running TWO 8800 GTX cards in a computer requires a massive, expensive PSU. | They are not kidding. If you choose to use an economical lower power rated | PSU you can plan on burning out your cards due to low voltage. _____ Please explain how "burning out your cards due to low voltage.' can happen. Phil Weldon "DaveW" wrote in message . .. | Running TWO 8800 GTX cards in a computer requires a massive, expensive PSU. | They are not kidding. If you choose to use an economical lower power rated | PSU you can plan on burning out your cards due to low voltage. | | -- | | DaveW | | ___________ | "Larry Stone" wrote in message | newsZsQh.28585$oV.8460@attbi_s21... | I have an 8800GTX and plan to add another. How critical is the power | supply. What happens if the PS is insufficient? The certified PS's at | slizone all cost at least $150. | | | |
#14
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SLI and power suppliy
"DaveW" wrote in message
Running TWO 8800 GTX cards in a computer requires a massive, expensive PSU. Utter bull****. Any decent PSU with 40A or so on the 12v rails will cope with SLI 8800GTX quite happily. It's been done. |
#15
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SLI and power suppliy
"lkboop" wrote in message ... Larry Stone wrote: I have an 8800GTX and plan to add another. How critical is the power supply. What happens if the PS is insufficient? The certified PS's at slizone all cost at least $150. WHY ON GOD'S GOOD EARTH WOULD SOMEONE SPEND 550+ DOLLARS FOR A VIDEO CARD AND TALK ABOUT ADDING ANOTHER ONE AND COMPLAIN ABOUT A $150 POWER SUPPLY. THE CHEAP POWER SUPPLIES THAT PEOPLE BUY ARE THE CAUSE OF AT LEAST 60% OF THE OF THE "MYSTERIOUS" PROBLEMS THAT ARE REPORTED ON THIS AND OTHER SITES. IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT TWO OF THESE CARDS I WOULD CONSIDER LOOKING AT SOME OF THE POWER SUPPLIES IN THE 1 KW RANGE. So sayeth the tech guru in caps lock. |
#16
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SLI and power suppliy
Thanks to the group for the advice. My single 8800GTX runs fine with the no
name 550W PS that came with my case. I was pretty sure it would not be good enough for the second card. I went to slizone.com and found a list of PS's that are certified for two 8800GTX cards. I will buy one of them. What a great thread! "Larry Stone" wrote in message newsZsQh.28585$oV.8460@attbi_s21... I have an 8800GTX and plan to add another. How critical is the power supply. What happens if the PS is insufficient? The certified PS's at slizone all cost at least $150. |
#17
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SLI and power suppliy
Larry Stone wrote:
Thanks to the group for the advice. My single 8800GTX runs fine with the no name 550W PS that came with my case. I was pretty sure it would not be good enough for the second card. I went to slizone.com and found a list of PS's that are certified for two 8800GTX cards. I will buy one of them. What a great thread! What this thread has demonstrated is that the industry has failed to produce meaningful yardsticks for the consumer as it relates to PSU's and their applications, resulting in rampant misinformation even among DIYers who are generally better informed. Measuring a PSU's utility by Watts is as meaningless as measuring a Vacuum cleaners suction power by Amps. Both are tangentially related to the amount of 'work' they will be required to do. The problem of amperage on rails is something that the industry has to address, and a possible solution is to modify the packaging and marketing materials to display what devices the PSU is meant to power. SLI, RAID, a range of CPU's and memory configurations, even down to specific models of video cards that a specific PSU is designed for. This is what the consumer needs to know to make an informed purchase and avoid costly returns which benefit no one. |
#18
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SLI and power suppliy
'Mr.E Solved!' wrote, in part:
| What this thread has demonstrated is that the industry has failed to | produce meaningful yardsticks for the consumer as it relates to PSU's _____ It does nothing of the sort, and what you pose as a problem does not exist. It is not the POWER SUPPLY specifications that need clarification, but rather the DISPLAY ADAPTER specifications for power consumption. Read the spec for ATX 12V rev 2.2; it is crystal clear. Phil Weldon "Mr.E Solved!" wrote in message . .. | Larry Stone wrote: | | Thanks to the group for the advice. My single 8800GTX runs fine with the no | name 550W PS that came with my case. I was pretty sure it would not be good | enough for the second card. I went to slizone.com and found a list of PS's | that are certified for two 8800GTX cards. I will buy one of them. What a | great thread! | | | | What this thread has demonstrated is that the industry has failed to | produce meaningful yardsticks for the consumer as it relates to PSU's | and their applications, resulting in rampant misinformation even among | DIYers who are generally better informed. | | Measuring a PSU's utility by Watts is as meaningless as measuring a | Vacuum cleaners suction power by Amps. Both are tangentially related to | the amount of 'work' they will be required to do. | | The problem of amperage on rails is something that the industry has to | address, and a possible solution is to modify the packaging and | marketing materials to display what devices the PSU is meant to power. | | SLI, RAID, a range of CPU's and memory configurations, even down to | specific models of video cards that a specific PSU is designed for. This | is what the consumer needs to know to make an informed purchase and | avoid costly returns which benefit no one. | |
#19
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SLI and power suppliy
'Larry Stone' wrote:
| Thanks to the group for the advice. My single 8800GTX runs fine with the no | name 550W PS that came with my case. I was pretty sure it would not be good | enough for the second card. I went to slizone.com and found a list of PS's | that are certified for two 8800GTX cards. I will buy one of them. What a | great thread! _____ Enjoy the results! The Xbit Labs report on graphics card power consumption that 'Paul' mentioned is at http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/vid...ption2006.html . The report is now a year old, but the information is still valuable. I'd expect Xbit Labs will soon post an update to include the 8800 series. Phil Weldon "Larry Stone" wrote in message news:sQPQh.32675$oV.22865@attbi_s21... | Thanks to the group for the advice. My single 8800GTX runs fine with the no | name 550W PS that came with my case. I was pretty sure it would not be good | enough for the second card. I went to slizone.com and found a list of PS's | that are certified for two 8800GTX cards. I will buy one of them. What a | great thread! | | "Larry Stone" wrote in message | newsZsQh.28585$oV.8460@attbi_s21... | I have an 8800GTX and plan to add another. How critical is the power | supply. What happens if the PS is insufficient? The certified PS's at | slizone all cost at least $150. | | | |
#20
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SLI and power suppliy
"Larry Stone" wrote in message
news:sQPQh.32675$oV.22865@attbi_s21 "Larry Stone" wrote in message newsZsQh.28585$oV.8460@attbi_s21... I have an 8800GTX and plan to add another. How critical is the power supply. What happens if the PS is insufficient? The certified PS's at slizone all cost at least $150. Thanks to the group for the advice. My single 8800GTX runs fine with the no name 550W PS that came with my case. I was pretty sure it would not be good enough for the second card. I went to slizone.com and found a list of PS's that are certified for two 8800GTX cards. I will buy one of them. What a great thread! What is your PSU's real 12v capacity? It may well have more than enough. |
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