HD 4770 vs Corsair 400w cx PSU?

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pizzada

pizzada

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Hey guys...another 'will this work?' post:

I have a HD 4770 Sapphire card on the way with a Corsair 400cx 400 watt PSU to power it...and my new system.

the Corsair: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

The official recommendation is a 450w PSU for the card...though the Corsair has 30@ on the 12v rail...

This is what I intend to run:

........................................ ASUS M4A785-M AMD 785G
........................................ .Athlon II 250 'Regor' DUAL-core
.......................................... 2 SATA hard drives
............................................1 IDE disc drive
.............................................2 gig ram, DUAL-channel
..............................................1 USB external HD
...............................................a couple of fans...and of course..the 4770.
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Lastly, I have no intention of OC'ing...but...if you've OC'd this 4770/PSU combo...I'd like the info you can provide...Cheers...
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It should work, but I would shoot for at least a 500W power supply for extra headroom on additional components. The 400CX would probably be fine, but you would be better off with something more powerful anyways. Always better to have more juice available, opposed to coming up short...

I would recommend: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

or for $10 more just get the 650W model TX.
 
The 400CX should be just fine with the HD4770. The card anyway consumes slightly less power than others of the same class.
 
OK

Alright then....what say you to this:

Since I am perhaps at a PSU borderline here......is it possible to underclock this card...and is that going to reduce power consumption enough to bring things back into a 'safe' range until I can get a more 'gorilla-like' PSU in a coupla months?

Also, is there a soft' underclock for the 4770 that can be turned on/off between normal desktop use and heavy 3d stuff?

The one thing Ive been reading is that this card idles relatively, though not worrysomely, high (power-wise) due to the very fast DDR 5 memory....and so Im thinking an easy underclock during 'idle' desktop use would be a fine solution if it can be 'software' managed...is this even possible?

Anyone with knowledge on these matters?

BTW, I'm upgrading from an old socket 939 that Techspot helped me with over four years ago....and it's great to be back here again....in my humble opinion...(and with some fair competition) the best PC tech forum on the net. Well done, folks.
 
Well, if Rit claims the 400CX would be plenty for the card, you shouldn't need to underclock it. I don't see why you would want to anyways, it might not even work. The HD4000 series actually uses separate 2D and 3D power modes so stock settings are fine. In other words, the card isn't going to use as much power @ idle as it does whilst gaming, it adjusts automatically with PowerPlay.

The only reason I recommend getting a slightly heftier PSU is future expansion. You're also better off going a bit overkill to be safe, though not necessary. Like I said, it's better to have the headroom than come up short... now or later.
 
Hey, thanks for taking the time ExcellR8 and Ritwik...

I'm breathing a bit easier about the 400cx....I probably wont be upgrading on anything for at least a year anyway.

Right at this moment I am waiting for the UPS guy to show up and drop off my goodies.....nothing like a new(egg) build knocking at the door...lol.

I even pasted a big note reminding him to knock extra loud....dont want the ol' 'drop the $$$ equipment in the apartment breeze-way so I can get on with my delivery schedule' trick. - Not that I dis-trust my neighbors..I just don't know them well enough to totally trust them yet.

Oh,,,though it's a bit off-topic...I wanted to ask a quick question...While I am planning to do a clean XP install for this new system...I have XP on an old system IDE drive....is it possible to just use that as my OS drive instead of a clean install?
 
You will most likely need to reinstall XP anyways, because the new hardware may cause problems with the OS. It might work, but it's better to just take the time to do a clean install. It only takes a couple of hours and you will be much better off, reinstalling all the new drivers for the new hardware.
 
IT"S HEEEEERRREE!!!!! lol

BTW, good point EXC..particularly regarding the drivers....

Also...did I mention....it's HEEEEEEEEEEERE!!!! :)
 
Well, put it all together lol, and see what happens with the HD4770. My guess is it will probably be fine, but I would test it out on a fairly GPU-demanding game just in case. If nothing happens (i.e. blue screens, freezups, hard resets etc...) than I'd say you're good to go.

A few things I would recommend upon a fresh install of XP... skip installing Catalyst Control Center (install drivers only) and use Ati Tray Tools and RivaTuner only for video software. Also, make sure to adjust the fan speed before gaming and perhaps make note of temps just as a final test. After that, enjoy!
 
Ooooohhh yeeaaaaaAAAHH!

UnBEELEEVABLE!...this thing FLIES!

Remember..I am coming off an old 6600 GT AGP..with a socket 939....

I am stunned. The hardest thing I have run through the card yet is GTR 2 which my 6600 GT could barely even touch...with the Sapphire 4770 I just cranked EVERYTHING up to max....smooth as glass. WOW!

and, so far, not the slightest hiccup from the PSU...it's very quiet...the loudest thing in my case is the CPU fan....the Arctic Cooler on the Sapphire version is WAAY quieter than my 6600 fan, though I only ran the GTR2 for about a half hour.

I was not expecting it to be able to do that.....everything looked excellent!...and just totally smooth....BTW...I was also amazed at how small the card actually is...it felt kinda tiny when I took it out of the box. Very nice for my small ATX board.

Oh,,,,and another thing that caught my eye was that it made my .avi and .wmv files look better for some reason....maybe it was my old card...but they looked 'crisper' and cleaner. I ALMOST got a 9800 GT since I am used to Nvidia...but since the price of the Sapphire HD 4770 Arctic Cooler model was cheaper at Newegg than most 9800 GT's I went for the Sapphire....WOW! wow.

Thanks for easing my worries, RItwik...I never owned a Corsair before but I could tell instantly that it was well made.....even better than my old Antec...though the cables are long....though, that is better than being too short, of course....nice sleeves...nice finish...nice smooth power.....sheesh....even the box was quality.

And lastly, the build went very well...Im using 'XP Home'...everything posted right the first time up. THe only 'ding' I had was that the 24 pin MOBO power connector is RIGHT underneath where the hard-drives go in the case...a very tight fit, ..so I had to take one out to connect ..then put the HD back in....but a small price to pay now that it's up and running...errrm...I mean RUNNING!

I am no 'fanboy...but rather I tend to go for cost effectiveness...and have to say 'well done' to the 'HD 4770' this time. On that note....I am very impressed with the $65 Athlon II 3 ghz Regor DUAL core chip....very inexpensve...powerful with its l2 cache size.

OK,,,Ill shut up now....and get back to drooling....lol.
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thanks again, guys.
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Congratulations!!! Enjoy the build. :)

Just curious, what motherboard are you using with the Atlon II X2? The ASUS M4A785-M AMD 785G?
 
Yeah...here is from the box ---> ASUS M4A785-M

The Newegg title says: AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
 
UpDATE

Just a quick note after a month and a half of solid use....

Not a single issue with the power supply. Very impressed so far with Corsair.

Also with the 4770...it's been great. Though it is a very small 'niche' for this particular video card. Only 3 models available at Newegg.

In any event...not a single regret. This system was the cheapest, and by far the fastest build yet. Research seems to pay off this time.

At the moment I am looking at replacing this old CRT monitor with an LCD...any pointers, .....anyone? - Going to check that section now.

Thanks again.
 
Great news pizzada. Good to hear that the suggestions worked for you. And thanks for the update. :)
 
What is your target resolution? for the LCD you want to have and your budget as well.
 
Well, I'm thinking 1920x1080...or even a 1600x900 depending on cost/quality ratio. I'm using a 17" CRT now but it just isn't wide enough for my needs.

I want it to be at least as tall as my CRT...but definitely wider, and I'm not sure if the 16x9 will be tall enough. The CRT is 9.5 inches tall, by about 13 inches wide actual screen dimensions(not counting the plastic around the edges).

As far as budget goes, I'm looking to stay under 200. I am somewhat familiar with the differences between the IPS, VA and TN panel technologies, so Im assuming I won't be able to afford an IPS, and am not interested in VA. So I guess that leaves me with TN.

I am not at all familiar with brands...which ones may tend to have backlight bleed, dead pixels, reliability etc...more than others, so I'm at a loss there.

My vid card has DVI-I and HDMI outputs which Im guessing is pretty standard for LCD monitors...Is it correct that a DVI-D cable will fit into my DVI-I port?

OH, also...when it comes to widescreen monitors....how are games that dont have widescreen ratios handled...are the sides of the screen just left blank, or what?
 
Well, thanks Archean...I checked out the list you gave and got interested in the Samsung and Viewsonic that you posted. The tiebreaker was that the Viewsonic was 17 miles away...the one I got was only about 5 miles away.

I ran through all the Newegg reviews etc...but I wanted to buy the monitor locally due to the "8 bad pixel" return policy at Newegg. So, after looking at the local offerings I found this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001308 for $179.

Which was actually $10 cheaper...and the ABCwarehouse guy gave me a 20 day return offer if even 1 pixel was bad...plus a free mousepad(I just asked him if he could throw one in, and he went and grabbed one off the shelf for me...payed to ask this time). - It's a SAMSUNG 2233sw...though it's the newer version with the higher 50,000:1 contrast ratio.

Full 1920x1080 resolution...when I first set it up everything was all stretched out...I forgot to change my vid-card settings...then about 3 minutes to get the color exactly where I wanted it.The first thing I noticed was how much easier on the eyes it is...a great LCD over CRT benefit...no longer like staring at the sun...plus it's almost silent.

Tried a few games and just BEAUTIFUL...it really is amazing how crisp everything is compared to my old CRT. Everything I've tried so far has at least some new details in it...and several have a LOT more. Peachy.
The HD4770 has no problems pushing this resolution.

Thanks again for the pointers...
 
Glad to hear that everything worked out just about perfectly for you; take care and happy computing :)
 
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