Need some help on my power supply! -R9 290

[Skwoad]

Hey guys, 

I'm in the process of upgrading my GPU soon and recently the R9 290 was brought to my attention.

It seems like a really good GPU for the price. However, I have heard it draws alot more power than the Nvidia cards.

I have a Corsair HX520W Psu, and my current pc specs are:

Cpu: i7-920 Bloomfield with Noctua D-14 cooler (two 120mm fans)

Mobo: Asus p6t

Storage: 1ssd and 1 Hdd

Other fans: One 120mm at the back, one 140mm at the front and one 200mm on the top.

gpu: HD 7950 currently

I was wondering if the psu could handle the r9 290 safely?

I would love any help as I'm really no that familiar with Psu's.

Thanks in advance,

Skwoad

[Skwoad]

It'll work. R9 290 has a TDP of 275W. 200W for everything else.

 

Made a post in your original thread.

Ok, and yea I saw your post. The card I have at the moment is equivalent to the r9 280, so it doesnt seem like that much of an upgrade...

If the r9 290 will work, that seems to be the best option...

[Skwoad]

It'll work. R9 290 has a TDP of 275W. 200W for everything else.

 

Made a post in your original thread.

Yea ok, I just did a couple of PSU calculators and it seems I should be fine. 

Thanks for your help and have a good Xmas.

[SuperPug]

It'll work. R9 290 has a TDP of 275W. 200W for everything else.

 

Made a post in your original thread.

 

 

Ok, and yea I saw your post. The card I have at the moment is equivalent to the r9 280, so it doesnt seem like that much of an upgrade...

If the r9 290 will work, that seems to be the best option...

 

Its not guaranteed that it will work! That psu has 3x +12v rails each rated at 18amps = 216Watt. You will definitely have to use both separate gpu power cables and hope that they each hang on a different rail otherwise it wont work. In that case you'd have to use one of the gpu power cables and a adapter on the 4pin molex.

[Guest]

It will work but upgrading the PSU is required later for sure as soon as you can afford it.

Look at my PSU with a 290

[Skwoad]

It will work but upgrading the PSU is required later for sure as soon as you can afford it.

Look at my PSU with a 290

It's definitely going to be my next upgrade,

So you reckon it will work? Because the other person doesn't think so.. I looked on a couple of psu calculators and they all reckon i should be fine...

[Skwoad]

Its not guaranteed that it will work! That psu has 3x +12v rails each rated at 18amps = 216Watt. You will definitely have to use both separate gpu power cables and hope that they each hang on a different rail otherwise it wont work. In that case you'd have to use one of the gpu power cables and a adapter on the 4pin molex.

Do you reckon it would be better to just go for a GTX 770 that it will run for sure? And upgrade the psu?

[SteveGrabowski]

R9 290 may have a TDP of 275W, but it can spike up to about 340W, especially for the out the box overclocked aftermarket cards.

 

 

 

On the plus side, 215W average sounds a hell of a lot better than 275W average.

[SteveGrabowski]

That PSU only does 480W on the 12V rail. I wouldn't run a 290 on that personally, especially with an overclocked CPU that's already rated at 130W TDP at stock.

[quan289]

Its not guaranteed that it will work! That psu has 3x +12v rails each rated at 18amps = 216Watt.

 

Another case where a PSU has been misleadingly labeled today. The OCP of each individual +12v rail of the HX520 has never been set and as such is a single rail unit

 

Edit: Here's a response from Redbeard (Corsair Rep): http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showpost.php?p=101058&postcount=11

"the label ratings are mislabeled on the HX520/HX620 because the individual OCP wasn't enabled."