Rigs going down briefly because . . .

[Fire$torm]

I got my own, (yesterday) Hoping with I fire my rig up next week it doesn't burn the house down. I've never run 3 gpu's before hell i have never ran 2 gpu's. If it works i'll order my 2nd one the same. I just don't see my 850w handling it.

Depends on the video cards. Any GPU with a single 6 pin PCIe cable can draw a max of 150 Watts. That's 75W for the PCIe slot + 75W for the PCIe power cable. Now a GPU with a 6-pin and 8-pin PCIe power cables can draw a max of 300W. That's 75W (slot) + 75W (6-pin) + 150W (8-pin).

[Dandasarge]

Depends on the video cards. Any GPU with a single 6 pin PCIe cable can draw a max of 150 Watts. That's 75W for the PCIe slot + 75W for the PCIe power cable. Now a GPU with a 6-pin and 8-pin PCIe power cables can draw a max of 300W. That's 75W (slot) + 75W (6-pin) + 150W (8-pin).

1 5850 and 2 470's

[Fire$torm]

1 5850 and 2 470's

OK, the 470 uses two 6-pins. That means a max draw of 225W x2 for 450W. The 5850 uses the same setup which equals 675W max total for all three cards. 850W (PSU) - 675W leaves you with 175W for the rest of the system. But since you should not load a PSU over 80% of max capacity, Due to PSU degradation over time, I would recommend a 1000W or better PSU.

Edit: These GPU power draw numbers do not factor in OverClocking.

[DrPop]

Yeah, F$ is right. You could do it if the 850W is a strong one, and you weren't worrying about the longevity of it...kind of like just "running it till it dies" mode.

If you have plans for the future of that 850W, better to throw it in another rig with only 2 GPUs, and get the 1KW PSU for the 3 GPU rig. That's why I got the 1KW PSU too...someday I will be able to fill that 3rd slot on the DrPop rig!

[Dandasarge]

Yeah, F$ is right. You could do it if the 850W is a strong one, and you weren't worrying about the longevity of it...kind of like just "running it till it dies" mode.

If you have plans for the future of that 850W, better to throw it in another rig with only 2 GPUs, and get the 1KW PSU for the 3 GPU rig. That's why I got the 1KW PSU too...someday I will be able to fill that 3rd slot on the DrPop rig!

some day? is that the same as next week? I'm pretty stoked about this build They will be over clocked whats the point of buying the 470's over the 460's if your not going to?

[Fire$torm]

Yeah, F$ is right. You could do it if the 850W is a strong one, and you weren't worrying about the longevity of it...kind of like just "running it till it dies" mode.

If you have plans for the future of that 850W, better to throw it in another rig with only 2 GPUs, and get the 1KW PSU for the 3 GPU rig. That's why I got the 1KW PSU too...someday I will be able to fill that 3rd slot on the DrPop rig!

some day? is that the same as next week? I'm pretty stoked about this build They will be over clocked whats the point of buying the 470's over the 460's if your not going to?

You could say that not OC'ing is just poor form. Which is all the more reason to go 1KW or better. The sucking part about going high power is the "Premium" price attached to such PSUs. Although once your committed to that level, the price difference between a 1000W unit and say a 1200W unit isn't too extreme. At least for the most part....