SLi and PSU

[milomak]

What recommendations for PSUs if I am thinking of building a PC that runs SLi? Would be either an 8 or 9 series setup.

 

[Glordit]

I know that the 9600GT requires a 400watt for Single and 450/500Watt+ for SLi not too sure on 8 series.

 

[QX6700RULZ]

wattage does not matter it is the amps that count

 

[Praeses]

wattage does not matter it is the amps that count

You mean wattage (or amps) over the 12V rails is what counts If amps increase over the 12V rails, so will the wattage. So wattage is important, but the distribution of the wattage output by the PSU is what you should look for with big GFX cards.

 

[QX6700RULZ]

lol yup what i meant in a way

whiskey whiskey where be my whiskey

 

[proximiti99]

Get a 600 watt decent brand, or a 1200 w no name job

 

[Thestealth]

Or something in the middle, like a decent 750w or 800w. Think of longevity as well as price

 

[milomak]

Is Raidmax a good brand ito PSUs?

 

[thisgeek]

I got myself a 700W Zalman. VERY nice PSU.

It's running dual 8800GT cards, 1x dvd-dl, 4x hdd. Should have plenty watts available.

 

[Toxin]

Calculate your PSU requirements here.

 

[milomak]

For those with 500W+ PSUs, what brands do you run?

 

[Sheepbot]

Don't skimp when i comes to purchasing a power supply. Its one of the few parts that you can still use when you purchase a new rig.

Try and get a decent 600w or more psu with plenty amps on the 12v+ rails.

The OCZ StealthXStream 600W PSU seems to be an awesome psu. It has 4 rails of 18amps each, totaling 72amps, and and 80% efficiency rate which is pretty good. Its R812.00 at Prophecy

 

[Computer_Freak]

raidmax not really.

You can get a CM real power Modular 850W for R2000, and it can run 2 GX2's (or so ive read)

YOu can get cheaper ones, but make sure it a good make...

As for the OCZ suggested, rather get a game extreme, there is a reason why that PSU is so cheap compared to the same 600W gameXtream

Here is a good/ bad list (Taken from Computer Forum, List created by ceewi1)
Good:
Acbel Polytec
Akasa
Antec
Astec
Asus
Channelwell
Coolermaster (N.B. eXtremePower 600W & 650W are substantially overrated).
Corsair
Delta
Enermax
Enhance
Etasis
FSP
Gigabyte
Impervio
Lite-On
Masscool
OCZ
PC Power and Cooling
Seasonic
Seventeam
Silverstone
Sparkle
Thermaltake Toughpowers
Ultra
Wintact
Wintec
XClio
Zalman
Zippy

Bad:
Achieve
Allied
Apevia/Aspire
Austin
Can Power
Chiefmax
Codegen
Colors It
Deer
Diablotek
Dynapower
Hairong
Hyena
JPAC
L&C
Leadman
Linkworld
Logisys
MSI
PowerTek
PowerUp (Not to be confused with Power Up)
Powmax
Powork
Raidmax units included with cases
Real Power Enterprise
Rhycom
Sunbeam
Turbolink
YE
Youngyear

 

[The_Techie]

I think a good-quality ~600W PSU should suffice

 

[milomak]

So far it looks liek I'll go with one of the bad boys below. Though I am unlikely to run SLI at least they won't hinder me should I decide to.

Cooler Master Real Power Pro RS-750-ACAA Power Supply - 750W
Corsair TX750W Power Supply - 750W
Zalman ZM750-HP Power Supply - 750W
Gigabyte Odin GT GE-S800A-D1 Power Supply - 800W
Cooler Master Real Power M850 RS-850-ESBA Power Supply – 850W (SLI)

 

[Computer_Freak]

Calculate your PSU requirements here.

this thing is wrong, says you only need a 650W for 2x9800GX2 in SLI

I would go for the CM Real Power M850W

Its modular so no mess, better airflow, six rails, 4 at 18A and 2 at 22A, and the most power, so infuture you will not need to upgrade....

And 850W is Enough for 2 9800GX2's

As for SLI, i would SLI these:

9600GT: they perform just like 2 8800GTs in SLI, but cheaper (but as games become Stream Processor heavy, it will affect the 9600s)
8800GT: Perform good, many SPs, but more expensive
8800GTS: Well this is a killer combo (a 9800GX2 is basically 2 of these...), 2 of these get the same performance as a GX2...
9800GTX: a tiny bit better than the 8800GTS, not worth the price though...
9800GX2: Well you can get one of these for the Price of 2 8800GTS, and SLI later, and by the time you will need SLI, there will be new processors etc so you up your mobo etc, but then SLI your card....


So i would get the 9600GTs for price to performance (at low to med res, 1280x1024 to 1440x900)
GT's or GTS Or GX2 for anything else

my opinion.