GPU Power Requirements

[kiph]

OK, so I recently purchased a brand new GTX 670. Before purchasing the video card, I checked the power requirements for it here which says that it only requires a 500W power supply. So I was like, great, I've got a 500W power supply, I should be fine and dandy.

Fast forward to today where I've just purchased my new Gigabyte GTX 670, and on the box it says that requires a minimum 550W power supply for it to work. So I'm like WTF, why does it say on the nvidia website that it only needs 500W, yet on the Gigabyte box it says that it needs 550W?

Anyway, my question is, can I go ahead and try to install the 670 in my PC which only has a 500W power supply, even though the box says that it needs 550W? Is there any chance that I might damage components if theres insufficient power? Or should I not take the risk, and fork out the extra cash for a new PSU instead?

 

[Frick]

That entirely depends on what PSU it is. It might kill everything you ever loved or it will run two cards no problem.

In short, what make and model?

 

[torgoth]

is the gigabyte card factory overclocked?
what PSU do you have, list the rest of your specs

 

[micropage7]

wait wait, you need to calculate your other hardware too
its pretty high about 200w on load
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-670-review,3200-14.html

maybe you need to check using psu calculator first
http://support.asus.com/powersupply.aspx

 

[kiph]

I'm using a Silverstone Strider Essential ST50F-ES 500W PSU in my PC.

 

[Jack1n]

is the gigabyte card factory overclocked?
what PSU do you have, list the rest of your specs

+1 most likely because the card runs at higher speeds than stock,is it a windforce card? could also be because of the 3 fans (not that they will take 50 watts).
If you have a quality 500w PSU you have nothing to worry about.

Edit:34 amps on a single 12v rail should have no trouble running a 670 and the rest of your system.

 

[Frick]

wait wait, you need to calculate your other hardware too
its pretty high about 200w on load
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-670-review,3200-14.html

Total system power.

That is a decent PSU, you'll be perfectly fine.

 

[Derek12]

For video cards more amps on +12V is more important than overall wattage as there are cheaper or older PSUS with most of the power spread on +5 +3.3V instead of +12 and modern computers rely mainly on +12V except for USB, hard drives (they use both +5 & +12V, and some internal stuff on the mobo.

Yours have 34A and seems to be good for a 500W PSU. You should also take account the CPU, chipset, hard disks and internal expansion cards as they also take over the +12 rail.

 

[EarthDog]

Total system power.

That is a decent PSU, you'll be perfectly fine.

+1.. glad someone was thinking here.

THat will be PLENTY for your system, even with it oveclocked.

 

[Derek12]

+1.. glad someone was thinking here.

THat will be PLENTY for your system, even with it oveclocked.

He should came back with his/her full specs before giving the nod. Also that GPU has a TDP of 170W, BTW.

Also everyone here was thinking fine.

 

[EarthDog]

I realize the TDP of the card. Thanks though.

Dont need specs honestly. The only way that PSU wouldn't work was if he had a dual CPU system. Hell a quality 500W PSU will handle an overclocked 3930K and an overclocked 760 so long as most of the juice was on the 12v of course. That being said, since that PSU only has ~408W on the 12v, Perhaps I wouldnt want to overclock a 3930K there, but certainly would any SB/IB!! LOL!

 

[drdeathx]

500 watt is pretty generic cause shitty PSU's boast 500 watts but are not really. you have to look at the amps on 12 volt rail.... That said, A quality 500 watt PSU would do the trick like Seasonic. If your concerned get a 650 watt and be done with it

 

[Derek12]

I realize the TDP of the card. Thanks though.

Dont need specs honestly. The only way that PSU wouldn't work was if he had a dual CPU system. Hell a quality 500W PSU will handle an overclocked 3930K and an overclocked 760 so long as most of the juice was on the 12v of course. That being said, since that PSU only has ~408W on the 12v, Perhaps I wouldnt want to overclock one or the other if it was a 3930K, LOL!

You quote that 200W was system load when the card solely can take 170W.
Full specs are always needed when asking PSU questions.

There are more things besides GPU and CPU. Chipset, expansion cards, peripherals, cooling, hard drives, optical drives, fancy mod stuff, dual CPUs who knows, etc, also it's not recommended to load past 80% a PSU and that is a fact.

If he has a GTX 670 GPU, a "XX" CPU, a hard drive, a motherboard, some fans, a optical drive plus a bunch of peripherals, that PSU is good. But I don't know what does he/she has.

 

[EarthDog]

also it's not recommended to load past 80% a PSU and that is a fact.

Feel free to ask Oklahoma Wolf.. A quality PSU damn well better run its rated amp/wattage for the life of its warranty. And again, like I have said once already, its not like those components will be running its max power unless they are on a distributed platform or bitcoin type things.

Let's do some math.

GTX 670 = 170W TDP. ABSOLUTE MAX it can run is ~197W (power limit). I have NEVER seen an NVIDIA card come close to 100% power use at stock speeds. When overclocked, I have seen a couple break 100% (its TDP).
SB/IB/Hw = 77/84W Midrange o/c (air/water) maybe 140W... MAYBE, likely less.

70W is plenty for an average system including - mobo, HDD's are 10W or so (more on spinup but that isnt relevent), same with opticals, ram is negligible (few watts), AICards, most are also negligible.

So if if has a bunch of HDD's, several AIC's, watercooling, a couple of delta fans on high, and runs on a distributed platform, that could be cutting it close 197 + 140 + 70 = 407W (remember that is WORST case) , otherwise, I stand steadfast by my statement. It will be fine, especially at stock no matter what (single) CPU he has in there. We will wait and see what he comes back with specs wise.

For the record, happily running a GTX 690 overclocked with a 3570K @ 4.5Ghz using AIO water, 2 SSD's, 1 HDD, fan controller + 4 fans in total) with a 550W CPU. I should mention I have never seen it break 450W AT THE WALL (90%/Platinum PSU - Seasonic).

EDIT: In my review, using haswell at 4Ghz and a 760 overclocked, I pulled 287W max at the wall while gaming (262W for Unigine Heaven).

 

[Derek12]

Longest. Echo. Ever.


34A on 12v is still fine for any SB/IB overclocked and the GPU clocked to the moon. Perhaps not a 3930K overclocked, but stock ok. With AMD, that may depend too, LOL!

Feel free to ask Oklahoma Wolf.. A quality PSU damn well better run its rated amp/wattage for the life of its warranty. And again, like I have said once already, its not like those components will be running its max power unless they are on a distributed platform or bitcoin type things.

Let's do some math.

GTX 670 = 170W TDP. ABSOLUTE MAX it can run is ~197W (power limit). I have NEVER seen an NVIDIA card come close to 100% power use at stock speeds. When overclocked, I have seen a couple break 100% (its TDP).
SB/IB/Hw = 77/84W Midrange o/c (air/water) maybe 140W... MAYBE, likely less.

70W is plenty for an average system including - mobo, HDD's are 10W or so (more on spinup but that isnt relevent), same with opticals, ram is negligible (few watts), AICards, most are also negligible.

So if if has a bunch of HDD's, several AIC's, watercooling, a couple of delta fans on high, and runs on a distributed platform, that could be cutting it close, otherwise, I stand steadfast by my statement. It will be fine, especially at stock no matter what (single) CPU he has in there. We will wait and see what he comes back with specs wise.

For the record, happily running a GTX 690 overclocked with a 3770K @ 4.5Ghz using AIO water, 2 SSD's, 1 HDD, fan controller with a 550W CPU. I should mention I have never seen it break 450W AT THE WALL (90%/Platinum PSU - Seasonic).

Lets wait. But I still state that you should know full specs. As I said, a regular computer should be fine with that PSU, but we don't know.

Do not understate TDP values, you can even surpass them in some cases, don't know if OCed or not, *cough* Furmark and exploding cards *cough*

Also that PSU is not the top quality (I believe those are Seasonic-based ones).

Also is that 450W in full load, with CPU, GPU hard drive and such maxed? That is very important. Even on unrealistic cases such as OCCT PSU test which maxes everything, those things can happen in some circumstances and should be taken into account even if you believe that won't happen.

I even though a 500W was somewhat short for my system.

 

[EarthDog]

Furmark = Power virus. NVIDIA and AMD both tell you not to use that applications. I mean test that with a 1KW PSU and card goes boom... bad talking point there.

That is a gaming load, yes. HDD's are working with level loads and such in between but not pegged of course. Not entirely sure how one can peg a CPU, GPU and a HDD together in a realistic environment.

Honestly, about the ONLY reason I would be concerned is that PSU is around 5 years old... so even though in the review it easily put out its rated power and then some, perhaps now, it may not. If it was Seasonic based, that is one of the highest quality units.

99% sure the guy will be fine. Let's wait and see to make up that 1% though.

EDIT: 500W for your system is about DOUBLE what it would need even in your worst case scenario.

 

[EiSFX]

Straight and simple and to the point your Silverstone PSU and a very solid 500 watt PSU and is more then enough for your system and video card.

 

[Derek12]

Furmark = Power virus. NVIDIA and AMD both tell you not to use that applications. I mean test that with a 1KW PSU and card goes boom... bad talking point there.

That is a gaming load, yes. HDD's are working with level loads and such in between but not pegged of course. Not entirely sure how one can peg a CPU, GPU and a HDD together in a realistic environment.

Honestly, about the ONLY reason I would be concerned is that PSU is around 5 years old... so even though in the review it easily put out its rated power and then some, perhaps now, it may not. If it was Seasonic based, that is one of the highest quality units.

99% sure the guy will be fine. Let's wait and see to make up that 1% though.

EDIT: 500W for your system is about DOUBLE what it would need even in your worst case scenario.

About Furmark I stated bad, what exploded were the card's VRM's due to GPU surpassing the power design .

Yeah I have never maxed everything aside OCCT, but, well, it could happen. That can happen in servers, for example.

Yeah Seasonic-based (Corsair, XFX and some more) are the top rated sorry if I seemed to state otherwise.

 

[cdawall]

When you start playing furmark let me know until then it is one of the most worthless programs on the face of the earth. WCG and bitcoin mining don't even come close to its power draw. That 500w is plenty to power that system it is a good well built unit and will be able to handle its full load the life of the product. Want to know how I know that? My 450w version is powered an overclocked i7 and GTX470 and watercooling.

 

[EarthDog]

About Furmark I stated bad, what exploded were the card's VRM's due to GPU surpassing the power design .

Yeah I have never maxed everything aside OCCT, but, well, it could happen. That can happen in servers, for example.

Yeah Seasonic-based (Corsair, XFX and some more) are the top rated sorry if I seemed to state otherwise.

Ok, thanks... had about enough at this point.

He will be fine.. you can hang around and wait and see, but, I'm out and others that are also 'in the know', knowing full well this dude is juuuuuuuuuuuust fine.

 

[Derek12]

When you start playing furmark let me know until then it is one of the most worthless programs on the face of the earth. WCG and bitcoin mining don't even come close to its power draw. That 500w is plenty to power that system it is a good well built unit and will be able to handle its full load the life of the product. Want to know how I know that? My 450w version is powered an overclocked i7 and GTX470 and watercooling.

And won't there any software like furmark, but computing something different that a dougnut shape? or that is only furmark-specific computing? the same could be said about folding or something that's the point of Prime95 for example.

Also the only thing we know is GPU. Many people will say. Insufficient data.

 

[Derek12]

Ok, thanks... had about enough at this point.

He will be fine.. you can hang around and wait and see, but, I'm out and others that are also 'in the know', knowing full well this dude is juuuuuuuuuuuust fine.

No I will exit this thread as well I have more important things to do now that talking about PSUs

It's not my problem if he would have a issue in the future with that PSU.

Also many in this forum and use Furmark to check video cards temps and stability don't know you, how is it now become a power virus and worthless, please.

Keep understating PSUs, it can or sooner or later will be very expensive

 

[Frick]

No I will exit this thread as well I have more important things to do now that talking about PSUs

It's not my problem if he would have a issue in the future with that PSU.

Also many in this forum and use Furmark to check video cards temps and stability don't know you, how is it now become a power virus and worthless, please.

Keep understating PSUs, it can or sooner or later will be very expensive

The only reason I can see it not being enough is if he has an FX 8150 overclocked to close to 5 Ghz and a massively overclocked GPU AND runs Prime95 on all cores at once AND Furmark at the same time, 24/7.

My guess is the OP does not have that, or do that.

He will be fine.

 

[EarthDog]

Also many in this forum and use Furmark to check video cards temps and stability don't know you, how is it now become a power virus and worthless, please.

Keep understating PSUs, it can or sooner or later will be very expensive

1. They are misinformed. There are plenty of articles/reviews/threads out stating that AMD and NVIDIA (I have a press deck in my electronic hand now calling applications like Furmark a "power virus" as a matter of fact) suggest NOT to use it. In fact, I believe it was either the 2 series or 4 series from Nvidia that when using applications like those, they are programmed to throttle to prevent damage. It's an incredibly unrealistic load on a GPU, Furmark, and others of the like... in fact, wizzard's reviews even state that...

2. Or you can pay more up front for nothing by drastically overestimating the need. 80% is a good range to run a PSU IMO. Its still in the sweet spot for efficiency, plenty of headroom for additional hardware (perhaps not another GPU of course, but one wouldnt make a purchase like that with a plan to go SLI/CFx...I would hope!), as well as transient response.

With respect, that fact that you thought your listed system would need more than 500W speaks volumes of the knowledge you brought to the table on this subject. Now, I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I am just a bit tired of knowing what is correct to be rebutted against with unrealistic situations in an attempt to make your concern valid. If the OP does that stuff, well than kudos for guessing the exception correctly and accept my apologies in advance!

Again, sorry for the honesty. A bit grumpy today too, LOL!

 

[thebluebumblebee]

Too bad we don't have reviews for both the PSU and the (assumed) GPU right here on TPU. :shadedshu

But wait, we do.

How much juice does the card draw? Lets ask w1zzard: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GeForce_GTX_670_Windforce/26.html

How good is the power supply? Lets ask crmaris:http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Silverstone/ST50F-ES/

In summary, as long as kiph has a "normal" system, no problem.