Cutting it Close for GTX 470 SLI?

[DkRk]

So in the new year, I'm aiming to jump onto the nVidia Surround wagon. However, having poked around, I'm reading some conflicting opinions and information on whether or not my Corsair 750TX would handle a pair of GTX 470's. From what I've seen on charts, including the one from HWC's 470 SLI review, a pair of 470's can pull about 540/560 watts on load, leaving ≅ 190w for my system, which has a mildly overclocked 955, soundcard and a couple HD's.

Right now, my 470 runs at 800/1600/1950 at 1.087v so naturally, I'd be aiming to eek out similar numbers from a second 470, which would really drive up the wattage. Tweaktown's chart pegs two OC'd 470's at 777 watts, so perhaps I'd be in way over my head.

Any input or first hand experience would be appreciated.

[_dangtx_]

HIS Radeon HD 6970 2 GB Review - Page 27/33 | techPowerUp

im thinking 400-450 wtih oc onthe gpus..you should be fine.

the psu wont blow if you load it up

Corsair TX750W Power Supply Review | Hardware Secrets

[jigglylizard]

SLI GTX470 is tight but might be ok. I think gtx 460 is fine and in fact what I plan to do on that PSU ;)

[draemn]

I'm not a huge fan of pushing your PSU to your limit like that. Having o/c GTX 470 SLI + o/c CPU + 30-40w per HDD + rest of system will be cutting it close. I'd be comfortable if you didn't o/c your GTX 470s. You really should have 850w at a minimum for what you suggest.

[Arinoth]

From personal experience i found that 2 MSI 465 GEs, which are essentially 2 470s (as they were flashed and running as such) had no problems running on my psu which was exactly what you are using along with a i7 940 overclocked to 3.8GHz. I could never really overclock them due to the poor air flow my case had which would cause the primary card to overheat and artifact quickly on air.

[DkRk]

Thanks for replies. I'm still on the fence, although the overload figures in dangtx's are a bit of a relief. However, numbers from Anand's neck of the woods, and an independent test on Overclock.net have SLI'd 470's pegged at about 730/740 watts; granted, those are based on numbers generated from Furmark or 3Dmark benching, but if I'm aiming to push a 4800x900 resolution, the cards will be working pretty hard.

I'm in no rush, so I'll see how power supply, or even AMD 6xxx-series prices fare on Boxing Day, and into the new year.

[_dangtx_]

when a good manufacturer makes a decent unit, there is always a little bit of overhead, in this case a bit more.

i had the 750 pcpower and cooling, and i can put my hand in fire that its a restickied 800 something.

[DkRk]

Well so far, both 470's at 1087mV, and 800/1600/1950 haven't caused my Corsair 750 to go up in smoke while running the Heaven Benchmark, so things should be A-OK! Thanks for all the help!

[Phill]

IMO a corsair tx750 will have no issues with your setup. If you had a crap quality psu then it would be a different story.

[ToXic]

Originally Posted by _dangtx_

HIS Radeon HD 6970 2 GB Review - Page 27/33 | techPowerUp

im thinking 400-450 wtih oc onthe gpus..you should be fine.

the psu wont blow if you load it up

Corsair TX750W Power Supply Review | Hardware Secrets

You relise he wants to do Nvidia 3D surround, yes? So uh, ATI may be out of the question.

On a side note id recommend trying it, the stuff you can sneak out of corsair PSU's...

Originally Posted by DokkRokken

Well so far, both 470's at 1087mV, and 800/1600/1950 haven't caused my Corsair 750 to go up in smoke while running the Heaven Benchmark, so things should be A-OK! Thanks for all the help!

Bump that memory up to 2000Mhz Gotta have then nice clean numbers