9800GT And Power Supply Query

[Ritwik7]

Hello everyone.

I've been running an XFX 9800GT for almost a year without any issues. I was going through the video card box right now for some reason and noticed that it requires a 12V current rating of 26A.

I'm using a Cooler Master RP-600-PCAR PSU. I checked right now and I see that it has a +12V current rating of 18A. But there's a +12V1 and a +12V2.

Is my card actually getting the required power?

It's also mentioned that the PSU supports dual +12V1 and +12V2 outputs for higher power usage. What exactly does this mean?

Thanks in advance.

 

[red1776]

That 26A is a minimum suggested rating for the entire system. the psu divides its power into rails, the idea is to limit the amount of power on any single wire, but they are not fully independant from each other as the power comes from a single high current 12v source in the power supply. the value of multiple rails has been debated as the psu manufactures bill the multiple rail approach to add stability to the unit. your PSU (the CM RP 600 has two 12v+ rails of 18A each. your 9800GT draws around 9A so yes its getting enough juice, like i had mentioned, the 26A requirement is recommended for the entire system your are using the 9800GT in.

 

[LinkedKube]

For example, my gtx295 draws a little under 400 watts at peak, but the power supply recommendations for it is a 650 watt psu with 44amps on the 12v rails. Manufactures take other things into consideration like your cpu, hard drives, etc before making a recommendation for power requirements.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

To add to supersmash's post, they usually over-estimate too. Power recommendations are usually made in regards to a high-end quad-core system. The actual system may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer too, which is why the +12V current ratings are differently specified by each video card manufacturer.

 

[Ritwik7]

Well, thank you very much for clearing that up.

 

[Ritwik7]

New GPU, New Requirements?

Hi Guys.

Sorry to renew such an old thread. I have since then purchased a new graphics card, the Powercolor HD 4890.

I would like to know if my PSU, the COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power RP-600-PCAR , still provides enough amperage on the 12V rail for my card.

Thanks.

 

[dustin_ds3000]

i think it will work just fine, one think i do recommend doing is take your PSU out of the case and made sure you blow all the dust out of it so it wont run hot