chiquita

I currently have a Radeon 7500 64mb DDR and I am getting a Sapphire Radeon 9700nonpro, but I am going to flash the bios on it to make it a pro. My PSU is virtually maxed out these days because of all the equipment I have, and I was wondering how many watts the Rad7500 uses and how many watts the Rad9700 uses so I can get an idea of if my PSU can keep my system powered.

jcarkeys

Quote: RADEON 9700 PRO requires connection to your PC's internal power supply for operation. Consult your system builder or OEM to ensure your system has an adequate power supply. Otherwise ATI recommends a 300 watt power supply or greater to ensure normal system operation where a number of other internal devices are installed.

That's from ATI's website. Considering how much stuff you have running, i would say that would not be enough

chiquita

okay. What PSU do you guys recommend. I need something beefy, reliable, has headroom for me to OC even more cuz right now im stuck @ 1.75ghz , and that is cheap.

Kage

Enermax 430W would be a good choice, but I see that you have alot of hard drives, so a 550W might be a better choice. www.mpcparts.com has lower prices on PSU's than most other places, so check there for other options and deals.

Stealth_Avenger

Power Consumption of 9500/9800 ATI cards is 50-60w max.
Seeing your long list of components, go with 420w or higher.
My good brand list:
1)Antec
2)Enermax
3)PC Power & Cooling
4)Vantec
5)Kingwin**
6)Sparkle
7)Thermaltake
Hope this helps

** = Kingwin was a so/so maker producing iffy PSU's in the past but they're new line is quite good and I havent seen a bad review yet .

chiquita

Alrighty. I will go with atleast a 430watt PSU of either Enermax or Antec. Thanks for the help guys.

neotheducky

Is there any hardware changes on the nonpro that would make your "upgrade" to a pro not really a full upgrade?

I hope that makes sense

chiquita

Nope. The Sapphire 9700 nonpro and pro is the same card but the nonpro has a different bios that underclocks the CPU and RAM, all you gotta do is download the Pro bios and your on your way.

Quote: Power Consumption of 9500/9800 ATI cards is 50-60w max.

Ummmm ouch. Then I'm ****ed. Hey that uses 10 more watts than my CPU for christ's sakes.

GlitterKill

I use a Vantec Stealth 520watt PSU and it has been great.

Stealth_Avenger

Overkill is good if you have the money, but if you don't Chiquita, a 400w-500w would be suitable.
If you go with Antec get a "TruePower", because it has indepentant rails as opposed to there standard "SmartPower" line which has dependant rails.
(These PSU's are good all the same)

chiquita

The thing I noticed about the 430truepower is the following:

+5V @ 36amps
-5V @ 0.5amps
+12V @ 20amps
-12V @ 1amp
+3.3V @ 28amps
+5V SB @ 2amps

Well first off what the ****??? is my question. My PSU does the following:

+5V @ 32amps
-5V @ 1amp
+12V @ 17amps
+12V @ 1amp
+3.3V @ 32amps
+5V SB @ 2.2amps

What rail does the CPU get its power from, what rail does the mobo get its power from? I need to know this guys. Why is the amps less on the 3.3volt rail?

Stealth_Avenger

More amps are on the 12v and 5v rails.
I believe the CPU gets its power from the 3.3v and 12v but I may be mistaken.

Even 20amps would be sufficent for your 3.3v line, your concern is 5v and 12v if you really have as many hard drives as you say you do in your signature.

This 9700 your getting draws 40-50 of its watts from the 12v/5v line (This is LOAD not idle watt draw), the Antec Truepower 430w will cover your power needs with ease.

vladimir

its 5volt and 3.3 volt rails


i would recomend the Allied 420watt psu..it would run you about 42$ on newegg

chiquita

Okay thanks very much guys. Hey Clown thats a pretty good deal. Now I can't decide between that one or the 430truepower. Oh well I got another week to decide before I get that Radeon 9700. For now I will have to suffer with this Enermax. Thanks alot guys.

Stealth_Avenger

Allied is not a good power supply manufactuer. That and:
1-The dead giveaway, its weight , and the low price.
2-"Good" deals like that are always to good to be true.
Go with the Antec you will not be disappointed.
Go with the Allied if you like blue screens of death due to bad voltage and low amperage

chiquita

Okay thanks you made my decision. I'm going for atleast a 430truepower. So is it 3.3v for the CPU and 5v for the motherboard? I'm still confused over which thing draws from which rail.

vladimir

Quote: Originally posted by Stealth_Avenger Allied is not a good power supply manufactuer. That and: 1-The dead giveaway, its weight , and the low price. 2-"Good" deals like that are always to good to be true. Go with the Antec you will not be disappointed. Go with the Allied if you like blue screens of death due to bad voltage and low amperage

i dont care if its not a good manufacturer but its very suppurb

its great craftsmanship and design

its medium heavy .....just like all other good psu's

its has thermally controlled fans

its great psu i would recomend it to anyone

Stealth_Avenger

Do you have one of there PSU's personally clown?
The fact is Allied is NOT a good PSU, I'm not going to go on and argue with you so lets end this now.

drwho

Quote: Originally posted by chiquita Nope. The Sapphire 9700 nonpro and pro is the same card but the nonpro has a different bios that underclocks the CPU and RAM, all you gotta do is download the Pro bios and your on your way. Ummmm ouch. Then I'm ****ed. Hey that uses 10 more watts than my CPU for christ's sakes.

Correction Not All Shapphire 9700 non-pros are the same as the 9700 pro... the one with 9 fins on the fan and red pcb is the same... if you get the fan with 12 fins the ram sucks and won't work with the bios upgrade... and if you get the black pcb its thinner and won't handle the upgrade...

the only difference in the 9 fin fan red pcb card and the pro version is the bios...

if you want more info on this send me an PM ill e-mail you everything you want to know.