Power for gtx460's in SLI

[anonymous6366]

Quick question for you guys, how much power would I be needing with my desktop as it appears in my info plus another 460? I've been looking around and getting mixed answers some say sli460s with a core 2 quad will need 600 some say more like 700.

The problem is that my psu now is only 600 so I'm guessing if I want to run sli I'm going to have to upgrade that. Another thing to consider is that my video card and processor are both overclocked.

Thanks in advance!

[newtekie1]

I wouldn't risk it, when I ran SLI GTX460s with my X3370 Xeon(which uses less power than your Q6600) the setup popped a Thermaltake Toughpower 750w with better specs than your 600w. Those Fermi cards just suck down the juice. I wouldn't consider SLI on your setup with anything less than a decent 850w unit, or a really good 750w(like an HX750).

[Frick]

Originally Posted by newtekie1

I wouldn't risk it, when I ran SLI GTX460s with my X3370 Xeon(which uses less power than your Q6600) the setup popped a Thermaltake Toughpower 750w with better specs than your 600w. Those Fermi cards just suck down the juice. I wouldn't consider SLI on your setup with anything less than a decent 850w unit, or a really good 750w(like an HX750).

That might not have been because the PSU was underpowered, it could just have been defective. The 460 pulls about 160W in Furmark, so a 750W unit would be just fine (if it's a decent unit).

[DarkOCean]

@newtekie1. +1
Besides that 600w psu only have 1 six pin +1 eight pin cable.

[cdawall]

This is consumption at the wall with a 3.75ghz 965XE



Should be fine. This is however coming from the guy getting ready to toss 3 watercooled GTX 470's on his 850w

Edit:

Turns out guru3d tested dual GTX295's with that unit and mention it working with GTX 460 SLi

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages..._review,8.html

I do have to say though that for an 600W power supply, the cabling was a bit of a concern. On average I found cabling too short and especially for graphics cards to have only one 6-pin and one 6/8-pin PEG power connector ... that's just shy. To be able to connect our cards we had to use all kinds of converter cables. And especially with cards like a GeForce GTX 460, which you could setup in SLI with a PSU like shown today, we really feel the need for more PCIe GFX PEG headers.

[sneekypeet]

While I have run my 2600K and 460s in SLI off a old Corsair HX520 PSU, everything was bone stock and I wasn't overclocking.

@ CD....I was throwing the crowbar in my HX1000 with three of them OC'd, could have been the PSU though too.

[[Ion]]

I run GTX460 SLI and a Core i7-860 @ 3.4GHz on an Antec TruePower New 650w.

I also have a system with a Core i7-2700k @ 4.4GHz and GTX470 SLI running on another TruePower New 650w. So I think you'll be totally fine with a quality 650w PSU

[cdawall]

Originally Posted by sneekypeet

While I have run my 2600K and 460s in SLI off a old Corsair HX520 PSU, everything was bone stock and I wasn't overclocking.

@ CD....I was throwing the crowbar in my HX1000 with three of them OC'd, could have been the PSU though too.

For mine I don't plan to clock them to much being under water drops the consumption way down anyway.

[anonymous6366]

See, this is why im asking already people aren't agreeing haha

[cdawall]

Originally Posted by anonymous6366

See, this is why im asking already people aren't agreeing haha

The physical numbers say it can...Would I trust it forever? Probably not capacitor aging is a pain. Mine will only be on an 850W until I can afford grabbing a second unit.

[Feanor]

Originally Posted by anonymous6366

See, this is why im asking already people aren't agreeing haha

Remember the quality of the unit is almost more important than the wattage. My Corsair TX850 powered a i7 970 oced to 4,2ghz, and five different gpus (a gtx 275 co-op, a 9800gx2 and a gtx 260) also oced for over a year 24/7 before giving up in sparks and smoke. Some 1000w psu would have not last this long.

So choose yourself a 750w of good quality, the psu will run at its best at around 50% load. Less heat, less noise and a better and longer life.

Just my 2 cents.

[anonymous6366]

^that being said I've had this psu for three years now so maybe an upgrade is in order

[NC37]

Running dual 460s with an overclocked AMD FX on a 750w here. No issues so far. Haven't seen the telltale GPU throttling when it is in need of power. I do have a 5.25in 250W GPU PSU I can drop in if needed.

As always, buy quality when you buy PSUs. I bought a lot of crap before I got my first Antec. Never went back since. Suckers are solid and last well. All my Antecs are still in use. My old, think it was a 530w, is still going strong in a friend's PC.

[newtekie1]

Originally Posted by Frick

That might not have been because the PSU was underpowered, it could just have been defective. The 460 pulls about 160W in Furmark, so a 750W unit would be just fine (if it's a decent unit).

I think it was a combination of low quality and aging. It ran fine for 3 years with Dual-9800GTXs Folding, but popped within an hour of putting in the GTX460s.

I just wouldn't risk it, IMO getting a good 750w would be wise. Heck even a CX750 would do and is only $65 right now.

[anonymous6366]

If i do get a different psu ill probably get an 800-900watt from the sell section on here.