Trying to find the cheapest possible psu to run any 8800 card

Check out the Big Giant Power Supply Thread here at the Street.

http://www.diy-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=73137

If they are available in your locale, the Corsair HX620W or OCZ GameXStream 700W are both solid choices.

Corsair HX520 or Antec Trio 550.

They'll both run an 8800GTX on an overclocked C2D system. I'd go a step up if you're running more thana couple hard drives and aC2Q though.

I use these for budget builds, both have nice long cables rather than most cheap PSU's that have 12-18 inch of wire that wont reach the mobo!!!

Cheap Cheap single rail one

http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=307

Better quieter smoother dual 12v rail one

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/EZCool-Tornado-Super...ksid=p1638.m118

Hope this help.

CN

That's a nice card wevsspot. chump it says the 12v rail only has 20a, I thought the 8800's need at least 30a?

As far as I am aware the 8800's require 400w & 26A minimum recomended by nvidia.

I was going to give you the link to the EZ-Cool website http://www.ezcooluk.com but it's down so I just googled the EZ-Cool & the links I posted are what come up.

I think the specs listed on the YOYO Tech site are out as the 600w PSU's I use have a single 36A 12v rail model ATX-600 JSP.

I haven't actually used the 600w dual rail PSU as I just go for the 700w dual rail version as a next step up, its model number is PS-1000 & it has 2 x 20A rails.

http://www.dclstore.co.uk/products.asp?man...=53&product=201

CN

I believe angrygames has used one of these on a rig with an 8800GTS before with no problems: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817189005

I currently have one in the family pc (AMD64 3000+, EPOX S939 SLI board, 6600GT, one hd, one optical), the fan on the thing hardly ever turns on. One of my buddies also has one in a rig I spec'd (7600GT, Q6600-its for coding/compiling and some light gaming). I have as much faith in that psu as my Corsair HX520, which I paid twice as much for.

I've used the XCLIO Goodpower 500W psu on a few builds and it has worked out splendidly. Here is the most extreme system I've used one on - and it is still plugging along to this day.

DFI NF4 Ultra-D
X2 4800
2X1GB Mushkin PC4000
X1900XT
2-Samsung Spinpoint RAID-0
1-DVD/CD Burner

Based on my experiences with that PSU, I say there isn't any harm in giving it a try - especially if you are on a real tight budget.

With that being said, I'd still lean towards TDV's recommendations if there is anyway you can swing either of those.

I just wanted to expand a little on this topic.

Reaper, you have some extreme hardware in your rig. And you've got a sizeable amount of money tied up in it too.

The worst thing you can do is put a low quality or under-powered PSU in there. A good high quality power supply with plenty of watts and amps to power your equipment is a solid investment, both in immediate and long term returns on your investment.

While I can highly recommend the XCLIO Goodpower Series for many midrange builds, I don't think it's the right solution for you. Seriously consider TDV's recommendations - and if I were you I'd be contemplating even more power.

Use this excellent tool for getting an approximation of how much power is enough power for your current rig;

http://www.diy-street.com/forum/showthread...+psu+calculator

I just bought a XCLIO 500w PSU as a replacement for a friend and they are a real nice job, BUT with the 8800 I don't think its gonna cut it. I think we have all learned a hard lesson with PSU's in the past and that is, never buy cheap. I think my PSU is very close to the edge of comfort with my rig so a decent 600-700w should be what your aiming at. The PSU calculator tells me I need a 361w PSU, im not too impressed with that answer.

That's probably not too far off...I saw an article where they hooked up meters to everything and an overclocked system with two 8800Ultras in SLI barely pulled over 500watts at full load...

yeah but not that many sub 400w PSU's come with enough recommended amps for an 8800. To me ( and Im no electronics genius by any means) it seems like a contradiction.

Another thing you guys need to take into account is power draw at a cold start up. This is often overlooked by many people.

Good point wev

Used the Xclio Greatpower 750W on a few builds now and got one myself. Its never let me down. Available in the states for around $140.00. Modular too! I would highly recommend it.

Regards

Paul

Thanks, you guys are all great, I'm looking at your recommendations.

The Rosewill 550W is supposed to be solid PSU according to Johnnyguru. Just make sure it's got the connectors you need.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817182030

Zalman 460W is the cheapest good psu for 8800GT.
But "any" 400W true power psu with 24A is the cheapest possible psu to run it.

OK cool, so I bought the gigabyte 8800 gts 512mb, I will be getting a second for sli, it says it needs at least 28a, do I need a dual rail psu for sli and is modular important for sli?

Skimping on a PSU for an 8 series is like putting a Ford Pinto engine in a Lamborghini. NOT a good idea.

The primary reason for modular cabling is to make cable management easier. If you don't have many drives you'll likely have extra connectors with a standard PSU.

For a pair of 8800GTS 512s I'd probably recommend around a 700W PSU.

No, you don't need a dual rail model for SLi, in fact there is a lot of current sentiment that a high quality single rail unit is actually better than dual or quad rails. You will see that reflected in some of the higher quality units being produced today from Corsair and PC Power&Cooling to just name a few.

Modular doesn't have anything to do with SLi. Pick based on your preference and budget.

Thanks again wevsspot, I noticed the PC Power & Cooling 750W Silencer single rail PSU has 60amp on the rail. lovely. Just gonna look up the Corsair stuff for comp.
Cheers

dont forget OCZ, and Antec

I recently purchased the Corsair TX750W PSU for my personal primary rig. I must say I'm fairly well impressed (enough so that I put my trusty OCZ GameXStream 700W unit aside and into backup status for now).

The Corsair unit has solid power rails, plenty of watts and amps on the 12v line and just looks pretty industrious. Nothing fancy here, no nice led fan, no fancy paint job, no over the edge graphics, just a plain jane great working psu.

When I was considering the purchase it was between the PC&C 750W and this Corsair 750W - I chose the Corsair because of the rebate, and I'm glad that I did.

I have been using this PSU in my HTPC for the past year or so with zero problems. I know you said you are wanting to do SLI, but if decide against it this is a great cheap PSU. For $45 bucks you can't go wrong with this one. There is also a 500W version for another $10.

Rig list....

3800X2
8800GTS640
2GB RAM
1 SATA HDD
1 Optical Drive
A8N SLI MOBO

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx...N82E16817104953

A fact that may or may not hold some weight is FSP made quite a few of OCZ's PSU's like the GX 6 & 700 etc.

Or put another way FSP is as good as OCZ & vice versa.

I've had extremely good luck with FSP units also. I can say the same for xClio units and some Rosewill's if you need to stay in the low budget catagory.

Hi all, just got an email from a company selling psu's among other things pc, I asked what the amp rating on the 12v rail is on one unit and this is his response:

"it has 2 x 12v rails 21a and 18a so its above if you ad them together"

Is that right, how do you add two rails together?

He is just stating that the PSU has a total rated amperage of 39A if you look at the combined total output of both rails.

The rails cannot be paired together to create a single 39A rail, if that is what you think you heard him say.

ah, yes that's what I thought he meant. ok. thanks. just about to purchase a decent psu to run my new card. still not decided on the right one. was amazed at the size of the 8800

Hey newegg has the Antec TRIO 550 for $60shiped good deal, I just ordered one up.

heres the link for the $15off
http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/Feb-0...E0D-_-Moredeals

Dont overlook Silverstone PSU's as they make very high quality single rail choices!

This is what i settled on for my small form factor matx build, No sli for this build. http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=...&rs=1&#cReviews

Thats a quality PSU, should power any single card setup nicely