Question about power supply capability

[mike678]

I'm not an expert at calculating watt requirements is it at all possible to fit 5x5830's and a 5770 in one server with a 1200 watt power supply? What about if they are overclocked? Will doing this destroy the life of any of the parts?

Thanks in advanced

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[deslok]

You will be approaching the limits depending on the rest of the system but assuming you have a quality power supply it should be fine. Your motherboard may struggle with 6x75w running through it though I would recommend risers with a molex adapter built into them to reduce the stress on the motherboard.

[mike678]

Yea I'm not building anything right now but this theoretical machine would be slim with a low consuming cpu, 1 stick of ram and a flash drive. It would also use risers because I doubt you could keep 6 gpu's cool otherwise

[deslok]

for your reference the design power of a 5830 is 175w that's the number to use for their power consumption when selecting a psu.

[BkkCoins]

This active thread has some real world power measurements.

http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=30523.0

Seems 4x5830 runs between 160-200 each Watts at wall. Some of that variance is going to be PSU efficiency.

[mike678]

This active thread has some real world power measurements.

http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=30523.0

Seems 4x5830 runs between 160-200 each Watts at wall. Some of that variance is going to be PSU efficiency.

The reason I chose a 5770 in staid of a 5830 was because it consumed less watts. If I use a corsair 80 plus gold (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139014) would I be able to squeze 6 5830's onto that?

[deslok]

the 160-200 each at the wall would be within what i would expect if the boards maximum power is 175 since at the wall includes psu inefficencies plus miscelanious hardware. if you were you try for 6 5830s you would need 6*175=1050w just for the graphics cards 150w would be enough for a low power cpu (tdp not about 45w) your ram (5w per stick) an optical drive and harddrive as well as the motherboards own requirements (Varies based on the chipset but the highest i've seen is 45w for the northbridge+southbridge) totaling that all up assuming you're using dual channel memory you're going to be within 50w of that 1200w limit closer than i'd consider comfortable but still possible. i would consider a more powerful psu or a psu dedicated to the graphics cards at that point however

*edit*
power supplies like this one
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5681047&CatId=1078
are designed to suppliment the primary psu and may be more cost effective than finding a psu beyond 1200 watts.

[mike678]

*edit*
power supplies like this one
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5681047&CatId=1078
are designed to suppliment the primary psu and may be more cost effective than finding a psu beyond 1200 watts.

The problem is the extra cost of that doesn't make 6 5830's better then 5 and a 5770

[deslok]

No cost wise it adds 70 dollars to your 280 dollar recertified psu! however at 450 watts each you could install 2 of those at 450w and a single 450-600w psu in the 100 dollar price range and then save 40 dollars which would make up the price difference between the 5770 and 5830

[mike678]

No cost wise it adds 70 dollars to your 280 dollar recertified psu! however at 450 watts each you could install 2 of those at 450w and a single 450-600w psu in the 100 dollar price range and then save 40 dollars which would make up the price difference between the 5770 and 5830

That's true I suppose but seems like it would make for a messy build.

[deslok]

The wonderful thing about theoretical builds is you can be as messy as you want ;] regardless requiring 3 plugs instead of one does seem somewhat kludgy but power strips are cheap. i've personally had good luck with rosewill and if you're looking to stay with a single supply this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182063
is the same price and energy efficency as the corsair you selected while supplying 1300w which would provide your breathing room.