How much power is needed ???

[MitchMan31]

Hi,

How much power will I need to run the following:

• Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450
• 3 x 9800GTX Black Editions
• XFX 790 SLI Motherboard
• 500GB Western Digital WD5000AAVS Caviar Green
• Razer BARRACUDA™, AC-1 7.1 Gaming SoundCard
• Maybe a watercooling system or heavy fan cooling system

I estimated around 1000w, please advise. Thanks everyone

 

[MoeDaKilla]

I would suggest a little bit more especially if your oc'ing, but a quality 1000 W PSU will be fine. How much are you looking to spend on a PSU, and have you already bought all your parts already.

 

[MitchMan31]

Hi,

I'm not going to be overclocking, no this is a planned system build at the moment The psu I was going to purchase was a

-1000W Zalman ZM1000-HP Dual Heatpipe Cooled Modular PSU

Let me know what you think.....Thanks

 

[MoeDaKilla]

Considering many of the 1000 Watt PSU's on the market are in the $300 range, I'm going to recommend 2 1200 Watt ones. And they are both modular, so it will help reduce cable clutter

Silverstone 1200W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256041

Xigmatek 1200W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817815005

And I recommend you stay away from that Zalman because it only has 4 PCI-E connectors and and you need six for your setup. Since you are in the UK look around for the Xigmatek one because its a popular brand in Europe and that PSU is made by Channel Well Technology. Just my two cents, and I'm sorry about pricing, I don't know many e-tailers in the UK.

 

[largon]

A good 800W unit would do fine if you're not going to OC.

CPU: ~100W
3x GPUs: 3x 130W
MB: ~20W
HDD: 10W
Add-in cards: 10W
Cooling 5-15W

 

[MoeDaKilla]

largon, you may be right, but it would be very difficult to find a 800 W PSU that has 6 PCI-E connectors and I doubt those figures you have are for three 9800 GTX's under load. Mitchman dont cheap out on your PSU, the last thing you want to do is underpower your system. Think of how long that PSU will last you, and how much mileage that will give you if you decide to overclock. That's my two cents and for a triple SLI setup, ask anyone on this forum, if they even tried with an 800 W PSU, some are squeamish about running a regular SLI setup with anything less than an 800 W PSU.

 

[wtf8269]

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

 

[Damian^]

Dam 6 pci-e connectors...
a quality 800w power supply would do, the only thing messing this is up are the connectors.
Well if you can afford a rig like that im sure a $250+ power supply is no problem. In your case i suggest the Corsair HX1000W power supply this thing is a beast and will have no problems with your computer.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139007

Also just wondering why 3 9800GTX's? Are you playing on a 30inch monitor? I'm sure even at a resolution of 1920X1200 that is still overkill. You could probably go for a cheap X48 motherboard such as the DFI LanParty DK X48 motherboard and two 4870's for sure that would do you wonders.

Thats just my opinion though.

 

[MitchMan31]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies ppl, to damian>> I'll be playing on a 32" screen and when I purchase gaming systems I tend to keep them for around 5 years. So I'm looking for a durable system that will last, the most powerful system on the planet contains 3 of those 9800gtx Black Edition bad boys!. Using three on Very High in crysis wont give overkill lol Are the X48 boards better then ??? Thanks