Required PSU for 5970 with this setup

[THE_EGG]

Hi guys, I am thinking of buying a 5970 second hand as they seem to go for pretty cheap and I will be using it for mining litecoin/dogecoin. It will be going into a system with the following specs;

i3-530
Gigabyte GA-H57M-USB3

4gb 1600mhz g.skill ram
550W Antec TP-550 NEW
320gb hdd
Aerocool M40 case

My main question is; Will the TP-550NEW be powerful enough to run this for mining close to 24/7?

 

[Outback Bronze]

I think so mate. You should be fine. I've seen some where that they are 300 watts max. You might be able to undervolt for better power consumption as well.

 

[RadFX]

I highly recommend undervolting for mining. Your card will thank you for it after experiencing lower temps and less stress.

The easiest way to know if your PS can handle it is to run it. If it's really inadequate your pc will crash ,semi will probably burn out the psu over time. If your not using the pc for much or anything else you could use windows power to set the cpu to stay at it's lowest power state/cpu state. Also, you if you can do with only 1 stick of ram and a flash drive(sd card) as your main storage and also less small fans in favor of a big box fan blowing in the side of your case would be best.

Also Radeon 7950's (R9 280) 7970's (R9 280x) are your best bet for mining, easier on power and similar hash rates (at least with the 7970ghz). I have a Gigabyte Radeon 7970ghz underclocked from 1.1ghz to 1ghz and Ram at stock 1.5ghz, voltage down to 1.094v from 1.256v and hashing 701k. I picked up 2 new lifetime warranty R9 280's for $315 each last week. They should be good to hash at least 600K each if not a bit more. There's a good guide here -https://litecoin.info/Mining_hardware_comparison

 

[THE_EGG]

I highly recommend undervolting for mining. Your card will thank you for it after experiencing lower temps and less stress.

The easiest way to know if your PS can handle it is to run it. If it's really inadequate your pc will crash ,semi will probably burn out the psu over time. If your not using the pc for much or anything else you could use windows power to set the cpu to stay at it's lowest power state/cpu state. Also, you if you can do with only 1 stick of ram and a flash drive(sd card) as your main storage and also less small fans in favor of a big box fan blowing in the side of your case would be best.

Also Radeon 7950's (R9 280) 7970's (R9 280x) are your best bet for mining, easier on power and similar hash rates (at least with the 7970ghz). I have a Gigabyte Radeon 7970ghz underclocked from 1.1ghz to 1ghz and Ram at stock 1.5ghz, voltage down to 1.094v from 1.256v and hashing 701k. I picked up 2 new lifetime warranty R9 280's for $315 each last week. They should be good to hash at least 600K each if not a bit more. There's a good guide here -https://litecoin.info/Mining_hardware_comparison

Yes I agree however they cost 2-3 times as much. And 5970s only seem to use 10-30w more at max load so I don't think that it will make up the difference in cost imo. Also I need a card that is no wider than a PCI bracket for my Aerocool M40 because of limited clearance (I can get away with an extra 1 or 2 cm but no more.

I do already have 2X 280xs mining away in my main rig. I picked up a second one brand new for $300AUD ( a guy bulk purchased them in America and brought them over) which is cheap as chips considering from a shop they are $400+ for the same model. I do agree they are great miners. I have my 280xs at 1080mhz, 1500mhz and 1.094v (Asus DC2 TOPs) - ~740kH/s each.

 

[RadFX]

Yes I agree however they cost 2-3 times as much. And 5970s only seem to use 10-30w more at max load so I don't think that it will make up the difference in cost imo. Also I need a card that is no wider than a PCI bracket for my Aerocool M40 because of limited clearance (I can get away with an extra 1 or 2 cm but no more.

I do already have 2X 280xs mining away in my main rig. I picked up a second one brand new for $300AUD ( a guy bulk purchased them in America and brought them over) which is cheap as chips considering from a shop they are $400+ for the same model. I do agree they are great miners. I have my 280xs at 1080mhz, 1500mhz and 1.094v (Asus DC2 TOPs) - ~740kH/s each.

Thats a good price for 280x's. How much are you getting the 5970's for? I know they are too expensive on ebay here in Canada to be worth the bother. My Gigabyte 7970ghz would do 740k too, but there is something wrong with it. I'm working on an RMA for it. It had this weird page glitch when scrolling down webpages for a while now as well as not turning the monitor on after turning it off for power saving. Now it's turning off the monitor in 3d (confirmed it's not the monitor) and requires the pc to be rebooted. Also, I'm getting 3d artifacts.

 

[THE_EGG]

Thats a good price for 280x's. How much are you getting the 5970's for? I know they are too expensive on ebay here in Canada to be worth the bother. My Gigabyte 7970ghz would do 740k too, but there is something wrong with it. I'm working on an RMA for it. It had this weird page glitch when scrolling down webpages for a while now as well as not turning the monitor on after turning it off for power saving. Now it's turning off the monitor in 3d (confirmed it's not the monitor) and requires the pc to be rebooted. Also, I'm getting 3d artifacts.

I'm planning on getting a 5970 for under $140AUD maybe under $150 (they seem to sell between $90 and $200) it depends on the photos on eBay and the sellers reputation lol. But yeh damn good price for my second 280x.

The issues you have with your 7970 sound like what happened to my ancient GTX 260 and it turned out the VRAM chips had gone bad even though I hadn't overclocked it. Too bad mine was outside of warranty.


Edit: 1 000 posts!

 

[RadFX]

I'm planning on getting a 5970 for under $140AUD maybe under $150 (they seem to sell between $90 and $200) it depends on the photos on eBay and the sellers reputation lol. But yeh damn good price for my second 280x.

The issues you have with your 7970 sound like what happened to my ancient GTX 260 and it turned out the VRAM chips had gone bad even though I hadn't overclocked it. Too bad mine was outside of warranty.


Edit: 1 000 posts!

Nice. At that price I would buy more than a few. They are $400+ Canadian here. I meant 2d artifacts btw, no 3d ones yet. Yeah I never overclocked mine either. It was a warranty return on a Radeon 6990. I suspect they gave me an improperly tested refurb for the 7970.