Are the CPU, Memory and Power Supply on this rig good enough for 3 x HD 5970?

[NISMOkwim]

AMD's website it calls for at least 1GB RAM to run the Radeon HD 5970, but since I am going to be running 3 of them, won't I need more than 1GB RAM? Will I need a better CPU?
Also, AMD calls for at least a 650Watt power supply, and calls for a 850Watt power supply if you plan to use ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode.

Here's the System Requirements from their website: (http://tinyurl.com/27vndvz)

• PCI Express® based PC is required with one X16 lane graphics slot available on the motherboard
• 650 Watt or greater power supply one 75W 6-pin and one 150W 8-pin PCI Express® power connectors recommended (850 Watt with two 75W 6-pin and two 150W 8-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode)
• Certified power supplies are recommended.  Refer to http://support.amd.com/us/certified/power-supplies/Pages/listing.aspx for a list of certified products
• Minimum 1GB of system memory
• Installation software requires CD-ROM drive
• DVD playback requires DVD drive
• Blu-ray™ playback requires Blu-ray drive
• For an ATI CrossFireX™ system, a second ATI Radeon™ HD 5970 graphics card, an ATI CrossFireX Ready motherboard and one ATI CrossFireX Bridge Interconnect cable per graphics card (included) are required

Here is what I have in the setup currently:

Chassis	APEX PC-389-C Black Steel ATX Mid Tower	$19.99	http://tinyurl.com/n9x9ku
Power Supply	APEVIA 650W ATX12V - Crossfire Ready	$54.99	http://tinyurl.com/3vq6r5k
Motherboard	MSI 890FXA-GD70	$175	http://tinyurl.com/6y78afz
CPU	AMD Sempron 130	$29.99	http://tinyurl.com/694lzzz
Memory	1GB DDR3	$11.99	http://tinyurl.com/6b9a3su
Graphics card	3 * Radeon HD 5970	$1,800 ($600 × 3)	http://tinyurl.com/62hxqpl
Storage	Western Digital 40gb Internal Hard Drive	$10	http://tinyurl.com/6838co4
Total	Approximate Mhashes 2011.1754	$2,102 + s/h/t	$1.082437 per Mhash

I'm concerned that the RAM/CPU aren't enough to handle 3 of the Radeon HD 5970's. And that they might need a bigger power supply. What do you guys think?

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[Etienne]

I just finished setting up 2 systems with 2 5970 each.
It ended up being cheaper than getting a mobo for 4 cards!
So I end up having a resilient mining set up with cheaper cpu's and stable performance.
I didn't overclock the cards much, just 825 mhz GPU / 1200mhz RAM.
Good luck

[fabianhjr]

Power supply won't be enough you need at least 1KW and a 1.2KW is recommendable. :/

Each card pulls a max of 300 watts for a total of 900 and you are still missing CPU, HDDs/SDDs, Optical Drives, USB Devices, Memory, and cooling(fans).

[NISMOkwim]

I just finished setting up 2 systems with 2 5970 each.
It ended up being cheaper than getting a mobo for 4 cards!
So I end up having a resilient mining set up with cheaper cpu's and stable performance.
I didn't overclock the cards much, just 825 mhz GPU / 1200mhz RAM.
Good luck

Etienne: Do you mind if ask what all is in your setup? I was looking at 3 systems running 3 x 5770's a piece, but at that point it seems easier to just bump up a card to the 5970 lol

Power supply won't be enough you need at least 1KW and a 1.2KW is recommendable. :/

Each card pulls a max of 300 watts for a total of 900 and you are still missing CPU, HDDs/SDDs, Optical Drives, USB Devices, Memory, and cooling(fans).

fabianhjr: Thanks man!!!! I've been looking for that sort of an answer haha If I was running the dual setup with only 2 cards each, do you think at 850? or even 750 would work?

[Bobnova]

As a sidenote:  Avoid Apevia power supplies across the board regardless.  They're well known for exploding and killing off everything connected to them.
If you want to be damn sure of getting a good power supply, Corsair doesn't make a single bad unit, and the top level Antec units are very good as well.
Other than those two companies, it's a good idea to google both the PSU manufacturer and the model itself and find a review, ideally a review at jonnyguru.com as they do a very, very good job of testing there.
Failing that, find someone else who did actual load tests, not just a plug it into some parts and check voltage output "load test".

If you're thinking about overclocking the 5970s you'll need over 300w per card, I would get a 1200w minimum.  Keep in mind that a fully loaded 1200w power supply will be drawing 1300w or more from the wall, you'll probably want a dedicated circuit for that computer as most house circuits are only capable of 1500-1800w.

[NISMOkwim]

As a sidenote:  Avoid Apevia power supplies across the board regardless.  They're well known for exploding and killing off everything connected to them.
If you want to be damn sure of getting a good power supply, Corsair doesn't make a single bad unit, and the top level Antec units are very good as well.
Other than those two companies, it's a good idea to google both the PSU manufacturer and the model itself and find a review, ideally a review at jonnyguru.com as they do a very, very good job of testing there.
Failing that, find someone else who did actual load tests, not just a plug it into some parts and check voltage output "load test".

If you're thinking about overclocking the 5970s you'll need over 300w per card, I would get a 1200w minimum.  Keep in mind that a fully loaded 1200w power supply will be drawing 1300w or more from the wall, you'll probably want a dedicated circuit for that computer as most house circuits are only capable of 1500-1800w.

Thanks for the heads up on Apevia. I really like the Corsair models as well... I'll stick with those I think.

As for wattage, if I wasn't overclocking, do you think a 1200Watt would be safe? And can you recommend a place to pickup a dedicated circuit?

[Bobnova]

If you aren't overclocking a 1200w (quality) psu is plenty, you'll probably use around 1kw of it, leaving 200 to spare, which is generally a good idea.

A dedicated circuit means a circuit in your house/apartment/whatever that doesn't have anything else plugged into it.
If you aren't overclocking just make sure that you don't use that same circuit for a microwave or hair dryer or other high wattage appliance and you'll be fine.

[bal3wolf]

a good 1200 watt but you will probly need to find a way to handle the heat also thats going to be a ton of heat coming from 3 5970s unless your watercooling them.