Scotty I Need More Power

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Custom Computers

Ok here is the deal, I got a bud thats trying to setup Crossfire on
his system. He's got a 1900X Crossfire card and a 1900XTX and we all
know how power hungry this combo is. Now you also have to throw in 7
yes I said seven hard drives and two optical drives, plus his three
case fans and cpu as well.

So with building your own nuke power plant in your backyard here in
the states a prohibitive no no. What can a guy do? His current 650
watt supply worked great with all the drives and one video card but
throw in that second card and it just chokes it and system won't even
power on.

My suggestion to him was, run two power supplys one for the system and
one for the video cards. But the big question with that is how do you
power on the second power supply? We both figure it would required a
jumper on the 24 pin connector but which pins?

Any Ideas on this or a power supply that could handle the load?
 
If you look around on line there are quality PSU companies now selling 1 KW
and 1.2 KW PSU's. They're expensive , but they will do the job in his
EXTREME computer.
 
I haven't done it yet myself but heres a tutorial on the 2 psu

http://www.overclock.net/faqs/15751-info-can-i-use-two-power.html

and heres a list to some psu on newegg

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Order=RATING&Page=1&Cat...

let us know how it goes especially if your friend uses 2 power supplies
Click to expand...

Thanks Zero, thats the info I was looking for. I thought I had the
link to it saved. He has been looking at the bigger psu's; even foung
a 1400 watt unit. It's pricey at $500 but then its also watercooled.
 
Custom Computers said:
Ok here is the deal, I got a bud thats trying to setup Crossfire on
his system. He's got a 1900X Crossfire card and a 1900XTX and we all
know how power hungry this combo is. Now you also have to throw in 7
yes I said seven hard drives and two optical drives, plus his three
case fans and cpu as well.

So with building your own nuke power plant in your backyard here in
the states a prohibitive no no. What can a guy do? His current 650
watt supply worked great with all the drives and one video card but
throw in that second card and it just chokes it and system won't even
power on.

My suggestion to him was, run two power supplys one for the system and
one for the video cards. But the big question with that is how do you
power on the second power supply? We both figure it would required a
jumper on the 24 pin connector but which pins?

Any Ideas on this or a power supply that could handle the load?
Click to expand...

Here's another idea:

Get a fast NAS device. I got a Buffalo NAS that is 400 GB and gigabit
connected. I use that for main storage (about $300). It sends itself into
sleep mode when not being used (adjustable by the user of course). Then get
a 500 GB internal (about $149.00). That's two drives instead of 7. If you
need to stripe your internals for speed gaming get another 500 GB internal.
Your still running 4 less drives and one of them is on it's own power
supply. You even get an FTP, media, and iTunes server that's always on as
part of the deal (the Buffalo).

Your machine will run cooler (more airflow), you're PSU won't be overworked,
your electric bill won't go up and you've spent less than a KW PSU and
water-cooling to make it all work.

Art
 
There is a much cheaper option... and it doesn't involve jumpering two pins
with a paperclip. Probably the most elegant solution if the machine still
has a 5.25" bay available.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153037

--
"War is the continuation of politics by other means.
It can therefore be said that politics is war without
bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."







- Show quoted text -
Click to expand...

Yes he was looking at that to use if the two power supplys worked, he
wasn't looking at doing this as a final solution. He was just trying
to make sure it wasn't some other problem. But the outcome is good,
for some reason it wouldn't work with two psu's as well. Would blue
screen at XP startup just like if he tried using his original 650 watt
supply. So he wiped the operating system and reloaded XP and all is
working fine now in crossfire mode with all drives on the 650 watt
unit.
 
First of One wrote the following on 18/02/2007 20:36:
There is a much cheaper option... and it doesn't involve jumpering two pins
with a paperclip. Probably the most elegant solution if the machine still
has a 5.25" bay available.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153037
Click to expand...
Looks neat but to my way of thinking, you'd need to get your main PSU
running even more fans to exhaust this one?


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You worry too much.

Heat generated by the PSU comes from AC/DC conversion losses. i.e. if the
PSU is 76% efficient under typical load, the remaining 24% is lost as heat.

According to XBitLabs' measurements, at max load an X1900XTX draws 72W from
its 6-pin external connector.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/power-noise_3.html If we
conservatively assume the slower-running X1900CF draws the same amount, then
the 5.25" PSU would need to supply 144W.

If we conservatively assume the 5.25" PSU is 76% efficient (probably closer
to 80%, due to uncomplicated design), then its heat output would be 144 x
24/76 = 45W. 45W is not much of an increase when mixed with the relatively
larger air volume inside the case.
 
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