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[rolling blackouts] What can I do with a 900 W PSU?
Synthesis
Honda Today!Registered User regular
Honda Today!Registered User regular
I purchased a gaming desktop some time ago (yes, I know, give me a break I had money to burn and less time on my hands), and I've been contemplating how to upgrade it.
The setup is quite upgrade-friendly (tool-less case, separate compartments, water cooling only on the CPU, etc), but it really seems as though I have one practical upgrade path. I have an Intel Core 2 Duo, at 3.0 Ghz, but after shopping around NewEgg, there don't seem to be a lot of steps up for that presently. I pretty much have zero quad-core applications. I could probably overclock it anyway. Usual 4 GB RAM (though I'm still running Vista Premium 32-bit).
Here's the point: my motherboard is currently holding a pair of 8800GT cards, with 512MB RAM each. They're fine, but I'd like to know how far I could go with a 900W power supply. I can't say for certain, but by any accounts, this looks like a upper-quality PSU (modular, quiet, no problems whatsoever). I have 2 SATA hard disc drives and two optical drives. Nothing else really power-consumptive at all.
If I wanted to upgrade now, or in the near future, what would be the farthest I could safely push my system without a PSU upgrade? I'm running Dual SLI now, but my motherboard also supports Crossfire through modified firmware, so either setup is acceptable. I'm basically tired of staring at the 'recommended requirements' cryptically detailed on the back of GPU boxes and on NewEgg. What are the highest-end cards that my PSU could hold?
The setup is quite upgrade-friendly (tool-less case, separate compartments, water cooling only on the CPU, etc), but it really seems as though I have one practical upgrade path. I have an Intel Core 2 Duo, at 3.0 Ghz, but after shopping around NewEgg, there don't seem to be a lot of steps up for that presently. I pretty much have zero quad-core applications. I could probably overclock it anyway. Usual 4 GB RAM (though I'm still running Vista Premium 32-bit).
Here's the point: my motherboard is currently holding a pair of 8800GT cards, with 512MB RAM each. They're fine, but I'd like to know how far I could go with a 900W power supply. I can't say for certain, but by any accounts, this looks like a upper-quality PSU (modular, quiet, no problems whatsoever). I have 2 SATA hard disc drives and two optical drives. Nothing else really power-consumptive at all.
If I wanted to upgrade now, or in the near future, what would be the farthest I could safely push my system without a PSU upgrade? I'm running Dual SLI now, but my motherboard also supports Crossfire through modified firmware, so either setup is acceptable. I'm basically tired of staring at the 'recommended requirements' cryptically detailed on the back of GPU boxes and on NewEgg. What are the highest-end cards that my PSU could hold?
Synthesis on
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Since you already have water cooling you might as well overclock your CPU as far as it goes. I'm running a 1.8ghz core 2 duo at 3.0ghz on the stock cooler with no problem.
Is there a lot of money burning a hole in your pocket right now or what? I'm still using a 8800 GTS 320 and can play almost any game on high-max settings.
SC2 NA: exoplasm.519 | PA SC2 Mumble Server | My Website | My Stream
Never!
To be honest, I keep meaning to overclock my CPU (put that fancy cooling block to work), but for the life of me, I never get around to do it. To tell you the truth, it's still something of a mystery of me....I really have to guess how to access the BIOS in Vista. Can anyone link a site that might elaborate on overclocking in Vista?
Anyway, I guess I should be glad with my decision to go with the 900 W instead of the 1.1 KW. I thought it sounded like overkill.....I was basically wondering if I should consider Crossfire HD 4850 in the future, or just rule that out (until I ordered a very expensive new PS that would work with my case--it's hard since the cables are built into my case, and it would take a modular design).
One of Anandtech's articles for the 4850 showed an increase of 26 watts under load over a 8800 GT. A 8800 GTX used 55 watts more than an 8800 GT (hence more power than the 4850). My 750W PSU is SLI certified for dual 8800 GTXs, so I would hope that your PSU could handle two 4850s. If not then you got screwed on that deal :P
Yes, well, there's really only one way to find out, isn't there :P
Anyway, after a small amount of work, I found how my PSU is a Topower Powerbird, Top-900W.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817342012
Apparently, they're more expensive than the usual PSUs, but a lot of sites seem to suggest they've very much higher end.
(Unrelated note: great Zetsubo-sensei avatar)
Just press DEL or F2 or F10 (depending on your BIOS) when you turn on your PC. You should see a screen briefly when you first turn it on that tells you this at the bottom. Most commonly it is the DEL (or Delete) key.
SC2 NA: exoplasm.519 | PA SC2 Mumble Server | My Website | My Stream
Yeah, I figured that out...my computer was set to show the brand screen, which basically meant it went directly through the brand image to the boot menu. I experimented a bit with FSB to my limited experience, and while I did raise it to 3.3 and 3.5 GHz, it basically caused all WMP application to foul up, so no go.
Curiously enough, it still thinks I have a recovery partition (which I don't). Not sure how to remove that.
There's more to it than just the FSB. I have it easy on my motherboard where it automagically changes all the necessary settings when I bump up the FSB (though I have to manually tweak the memory bus because it thinks it should run at DDR3 speeds).
I think if a BIOS is aware of a recovery partition, it will always display that option because by definition everything is hard-coded into the BIOS.
SC2 NA: exoplasm.519 | PA SC2 Mumble Server | My Website | My Stream
Yeah. My skill is limited to the point where I can only modify the FSB...I still can't figure out how to properly change RAM settings to avoid memory errors. That's pretty much where my limited experience ends. I've seen explanations, but I pretty much think I need to find someone who had my processor speed, my motherboard BIOS (Phoenix) and above all, my type/speed of RAM.
I think you can actually modify the boot-up options (it's surprisingly easy, you can do it in the selection menu). I took that old SATA out because it was emitting a high-pitched whine that was driving me insane. Partition (and original boot drive) are still there.