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- 31 Mar 2002
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I thought that I would post this and a link. Seeing as how far and how fast graphics cards have progressed and the amount of power these cutting edge cards need to do the wonderful things they do to make our gaming experience a memerable one.
Most of us when we get our systems they have adequate PSUs (power supply unit) for all our normal needs. These being 350 to 400 watt supplies. Most systems now come with 400W supplies and fairly good video cards. But the serious gamer wants/needs the fastest most bleeding edge piece of hardware out there to play the newest games with rich full blow textures for landscapes, water movement, reflections, smoke, etc... that look so damn real you could forget it's only a game.
500W and 600W PSUs don't even cut it for these serious gamers. Now comes the mega power supplies. Those 700 to 850 watt monsters that could light up a small village with the power they put out. Some of these peak at close to 1000 watts! Hell, AMD recommends 700W power supplies (minimum) for high end SLI or CrossFire setups just so ya won't have any problems. I can see it now ya just bought yer super cool SLI system with 2 512MB 7800 GTX cards and the fastest AMD FX CPU and a 650 watt PSU. 650 watts, that should be enough, rite? Ya go and fire it up ya do your burn it everything is going fine. You have your newest game with graphics so smooth and real you think you're in a movie. You install it and you're ready for an "all-niter". But first ya wanna see what this system can do, so ya do your 3DMark testing and... Holy shiit, it up and dies half way through it. your PSU just shut down. Now you're yelling to the sky why oh why, how can this be? It's a 650 watt PSU for cryin out loud and it cost you $150 dollars. Now you have to go out and spend $300 dollars on one that is big enough for your system, plus nVIDIA/ATi certified.
Anyway, no more blah blah. Here is a link to ExtremeTech that has a very good article on these SLI/CrossFire systems and Power Supplies.
SLI and CrossFire Push Power Supplies to the Limit
Most of us when we get our systems they have adequate PSUs (power supply unit) for all our normal needs. These being 350 to 400 watt supplies. Most systems now come with 400W supplies and fairly good video cards. But the serious gamer wants/needs the fastest most bleeding edge piece of hardware out there to play the newest games with rich full blow textures for landscapes, water movement, reflections, smoke, etc... that look so damn real you could forget it's only a game.
500W and 600W PSUs don't even cut it for these serious gamers. Now comes the mega power supplies. Those 700 to 850 watt monsters that could light up a small village with the power they put out. Some of these peak at close to 1000 watts! Hell, AMD recommends 700W power supplies (minimum) for high end SLI or CrossFire setups just so ya won't have any problems. I can see it now ya just bought yer super cool SLI system with 2 512MB 7800 GTX cards and the fastest AMD FX CPU and a 650 watt PSU. 650 watts, that should be enough, rite? Ya go and fire it up ya do your burn it everything is going fine. You have your newest game with graphics so smooth and real you think you're in a movie. You install it and you're ready for an "all-niter". But first ya wanna see what this system can do, so ya do your 3DMark testing and... Holy shiit, it up and dies half way through it. your PSU just shut down. Now you're yelling to the sky why oh why, how can this be? It's a 650 watt PSU for cryin out loud and it cost you $150 dollars. Now you have to go out and spend $300 dollars on one that is big enough for your system, plus nVIDIA/ATi certified.
Anyway, no more blah blah. Here is a link to ExtremeTech that has a very good article on these SLI/CrossFire systems and Power Supplies.
SLI and CrossFire Push Power Supplies to the Limit
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