ATI Radeon HD 4870 and power supply problem

[chz435646746]

I am going to buy ATI 4870, but I also need a new power supply for this since my old power supply is a mere 350watt. I am planning to get Corsair TX650W which has 650watt output. But I am worried about that whether this graphic card and this power supply can work well on my current desktop. I have an HP Pavilion Elite e9300z.

The following is my computer info:
Manufacturer's motherboard name: H-RS880-uATX HP/Compaq name: Aloe
Form Factor: Micro-ATX: 9.6 in x 9.6 in
Chipset: AMD 785G
Front-side bus speed: 5200MT/s (5.2 GT/s)
Expansion slots: One PCI Express x16 Three PCI Express x1 One PCI Express x1 minicard socket
Internal Connectors: One opt fan connector One cpu fan connector Four DDR3-DIMM socketsOne 24-pin ATX power connector One front panel header Six SATA connectors One clear CMOS jumper One clear password jumper Six USB headers One IEEE-1394 front port One line-in connectorOne front audio connector One PCI-E x16 connector [J3] Three PCI-E x1 connectors One PCI-E Mini-Card connector One PCI-E Mini-Card LED headerOne SPDIF output header One PC fan connector One 4-pin ATX power connector

Will ATI 4870 and Consair TX650W work well on my computer? or could any one please give me better suggestion especially on the power supply?

 

[g4mer]

I heard HD4870 needs minimum 500W PSU on a gaming system, so you should be able to run it.

 

[chz435646746]

but I talked to an HP technician, he said since my motherboard has 350 watt max power limit, I can NOT go beyond that. So I might not be able to install the Consair TX 650W power supply.
Do you think that a 650 watt power supply will really burn my motherboard? since I heard that I can plug in any power supply as long as the size fits.
thx very much.

 

[g4mer]

Well if that guy said that you can't put PSU over 350W, then you probably can't.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

but I talked to an HP technician, he said since my motherboard has 350 watt max power limit, I can NOT go beyond that. So I might not be able to install the Consair TX 650W power supply.
Do you think that a 650 watt power supply will really burn my motherboard? since I heard that I can plug in any power supply as long as the size fits.
thx very much.

HP technician, lol what a joke. I bet if you asked if you could purchase a powersupply along with a graphics card from HP, they would link you up ASAP.

Corsair 650 is fine, but you could go with a 550 for a little less.
Also, I would go with a 5770 or 5750 over the 4870.

EDIT: and there should be no problems with fitting the powersupply. and the 4870, 5750, and 5770 aren't all that big, but you can measure up just in case.

 

[slh28]

but I talked to an HP technician, he said since my motherboard has 350 watt max power limit, I can NOT go beyond that. So I might not be able to install the Consair TX 650W power supply.

That's BS. I'm pretty sure you can install any mainstream power supply in your computer.

I agree with hk that you should look to get a 5750/5770 rather than the 4870, because they run cooler (which will be significant if you put it in your HP's stock case) and have DX11.
Also even a 450W PSU will prob be enough, unless you want some extra headroom for future upgrades.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

Ahh yes corsair 450 is fine.
Actually corsair 400 would likely run just fine, but that might be pushing it further than you'd want.

 

[red1776]

love them HP techs...

'hellokitty[hk];896264']HP technician, lol what a joke. I bet if you asked if you could purchase a powersupply along with a graphics card from HP, they would link you up ASAP.

what a load of BS. You can put any PSU in there you wish. the only restriction is physical size of the psu. your motherboard is actually a Foxconn proprietary board for HP. it has similar specs as the A85GM.

 

[EpicPie]

HP technician, lol what a joke. I bet if you asked if you could purchase a powersupply along with a graphics card from HP, they would link you up ASAP.

Corsair 650 is fine, but you could go with a 550 for a little less.
Also, I would go with a 5770 or 5750 over the 4870

That's a bad suggestion, the 5770 and 5750 don't have good memory cache compared to the 4870 and in many benchmarks the 4870 is actually better than the 5770 because it's faster.

 

[chz435646746]

thx so much.. right now, I am going for ATI5770 which requires at least 450 watt power supply. shall I consider the 70--90% effeciency rate of power supply and then choose actually 600watt or more power supply? Could any one recommend me a good power for this, please? this would be great.

 

[chz435646746]

and another question is, what is GDDR?ATI 5770 has this but the "hp technician" said my motherboard would not support. So is that really true? I posted my system info at the beginning. thx a lot

 

[EpicPie]

Go for the 4870, the 5770 is horrible.

 

[Archean]

@Epic
5770 is slightly slower when compared to 4870 but it doesn't mean its a 'horrible' choice in any way. So, if the OP want to have bit more performance he have the choice to go for the 4870; but if he wants to last his investment bit further in the future 5770 is just about fine for that.

@chz435646746
GDDR refers to memory of the graphic card, e.g. 1GB GDDR5 in case of 5770 card.

And you can place a graphic card with any amount of memory in your computer; only issue is at which resolution you want to play your games ? Because if you are going to play at lower resolutions you are better off with 512MB frame buffer (i.e. memory).

 

[chz435646746]

I probably play on 1920X1080. So which one is better? and another problem is that my motherboard which was posted above doesn't support GDRR5. So can I run 5770 on my system? what's your suggestion here?
Thank very much.

 

[Archean]

Which games you are going to play at that resolution?

At medium settings you should get reasonable fps at 1920x1080 resolution.

Your board doesn't need to support GDDR5 in order to have 5770 installed in it; e.g. I earlier had nVidia 9600GT with GDDR3 running on this same machine, later on I replaced it with 5770 with GDDR5.

 

[red1776]

Go for the 4870, the 5770 is horrible.

Horrible?
That is a very odd thing to say Eric. I have built several systems around the 5770. It performs very well to 1920 x 1080,crossfires exceptionally well, is much more electrically efficient, and runs far cooler, and trades blows with the 4870 in DX 9/10 .Not to mention is DX11 capable and is the same price as the 4870. and every review I have seen echos the same sentiment.

Here is some research for you chz435646746

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/10/12/amd_ati_radeon_hd_5770_5750_review/9
https://www.techspot.com/review/209-ati-radeon-hd-5770/
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2009/10/13/amd-ati-radeon-hd-5770-review/1
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=383&Itemid=47

I think Eric is referring to the 128 bit bus on the 5770. Check out the end of the HardOCP review, they address it extensively. these reviews as I said show the 5770 trading blows with the 4870, and remember that the 5770 was reviewed at the time of the 9.9 driver set, some nine driver sets ago.

 

[Snailbarf]

dont listen to that guy. i have the exact same set up you want now. i run both the 4870 and the corsair 650 and it works fine. so all i would tell you is to go on and get it

 

[chz435646746]

power supply may not match

dont listen to that guy. i have the exact same set up you want now. i run both the 4870 and the corsair 650 and it works fine. so all i would tell you is to go on and get it

Snailbarf, are you sure you have the exact same setup as mine? Because the power supply tower of this setup has dimension 150 mm width, 86 mm height, and typically 140 mm depth which could probably not fit TX650's 5.9"(W) x 3.4"(H) X 5.9"(L).
Thanks very much.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

and another question is, what is GDDR?ATI 5770 has this but the "hp technician" said my motherboard would not support. So is that really true? I posted my system info at the beginning. thx a lot

Don't waste your time with those n00bz.

GDDR5 refers to the memory onboard the graphics card, and HP is an ***** to think it would effect the motherboard.

Yes the 4870 is in some cases a little faster, but overall I think the 5770 is a better choice.
High efficiency powersupplies just aren't worth the money.
Corsair 450w will do fine. Also, powersupplies are most efficient at maximum load, albeit slightly.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003

 

[Snailbarf]

Snailbarf, are you sure you have the exact same setup as mine? Because the power supply tower of this setup has dimension 150 mm width, 86 mm height, and typically 140 mm depth which could probably not fit TX650's 5.9"(W) x 3.4"(H) X 5.9"(L).
Thanks very much.

oh sorry i was referring to both parts being compatible. i built my rig and its what im using. but yes it may be too big. my friend did the same thing and what ended up happening was that he couldnt close his case after he installed his new PSU.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

oh sorry i was referring to both parts being compatible. i built my rig and its what im using. but yes it may be too big. my friend did the same thing and what ended up happening was that he couldnt close his case after he installed his new PSU.

I've never heard of that happening with modern ATX standards, and find it rather implausible given the standards.

 

[dividebyzero]

@hk
ATX standards require a width of 150mm and height of 86mm(see pages 30, 31) PSU length standard starts at 146mm, but is at the discretion of each manufacturer as to how much longer (e.g. see the number of chassis that feature moveable PSU support rails, or 200mm+ PSU's such as the Antec's Quattro 1200 )
If this is the OP's chassis;

I can well see how a longer PSU might be problematic. I'd suggest a modular version (HX650) to aid in cable management, assuming the extra length of the Corsair PSU can be accomodated.

 

[chz435646746]

oh sorry i was referring to both parts being compatible. i built my rig and its what im using. but yes it may be too big. my friend did the same thing and what ended up happening was that he couldnt close his case after he installed his new PSU.

So how did he deal with the situation? Can he still use that bigger power supply on his setup?
Thanks.