Seasonic S-12 430 and SLI?

jurrasstoil · Post by **jurrasstoil** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 3:58 am

Hi,

i'm currently running my system with my 5 years old Enermax 350W Gold. It delivers 17A on the 12V Rail.
But since my upgrade system is petty silent, my old PSU is getting on my nerves (2 loud 80mm fans).

I read a lot of reviews and nearly every thread in this and other forums about SLI and the real power needs of modern PCs. But i'm still not sure!

The Seasonic S-12 430 got my attention, but i'm wondering, if it will do SLI.

My current System:
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium
AMD A64 3200+ @ Zalman 7700AlCu
2x OCZ 512 Platinium EL
Gainward 256MB 6800GS @ VF900Cu
Audigy 4
1x 250GB Seagate 7200.8
1x Pioneer DVD-R/RW
4 system fans (120mm, 3x 92mm)
Zalman Fan-Control

I calculated the needed power to about 346W with TWO 6800GS (one of them needing ~83.5W)

Is the Seasonic able to run this system with 2 6800GS?

Thanks in advance and sorry for my bad english

burebista · Post by **burebista** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 4:34 am

jurrasstoil wrote:I calculated the needed power to about 346W with TWO 6800GS (one of them needing ~83.5W)

6800GS needs ~55W in full load.
Just for testing purpose

our Seasonic reseller made a test with 2 7800GTX 512 in SLI and an Venice 3000+ @2.65 GHz powered by S-12 330 with no problems.
I'd say that, if you are not a hardcore OC-er, S-12 430 will be enough.

Ackelind · Post by **Ackelind** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 5:34 am

Burebista, do you have any more info on that test?

I would love to have some proof, see some videos or just some screens or a website making it "official"

A lot of people at other forums I visit have a real skewed picture of power demands.

stupid · Post by **stupid** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 5:20 pm

jurrasstoil wrote:!

The Seasonic S-12 430 got my attention, but i'm wondering, if it will do SLI.

My current System:
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium
AMD A64 3200+ @ Zalman 7700AlCu
2x OCZ 512 Platinium EL
Gainward 256MB 6800GS @ VF900Cu
Audigy 4
1x 250GB Seagate 7200.8
1x Pioneer DVD-R/RW
4 system fans (120mm, 3x 92mm)
Zalman Fan-Control

I calculated the needed power to about 346W with TWO 6800GS (one of them needing ~83.5W)

Is the Seasonic able to run this system with 2 6800GS?

Thanks in advance and sorry for my bad english

I caluclate less power under 100% load:

20w - ASUS A8N-SLI Premium
48w - AMD A64 3200+ @ Zalman 7700AlCu
10w - 2x OCZ 512 Platinium EL
55w - Gainward 256MB 6800GS @ VF900Cu
55w - Gainward 256MB 6800GS @ VF900Cu
10w - Audigy 4
17w - x 250GB Seagate 7200.8
15w - 1x Pioneer DVD-R/RW
15w - 4 system fans (120mm, 3x 92mm)

245w = Total Power Consumption @ 100% Load

GPU Power Consumption

CPU Copwer Consumption

Note: The A64 3200+ is not list I am using the power consumption of the A64 3500+

Everything else is a best guess.

It is unlike everything in your PC including both GPUs will run at 100% load at the same time.

How much power will 2 GPUs in SLI mode actually use? I don't know. It has never been measured.

BigA · Post by **BigA** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 5:42 pm

These power estimates are consistent with the power draw which MikeC reported in his "PC for Torrid Thailand" article:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article293-page6.html

This PC included:
* Asus A8N-SLI Premium motherboard
* AMD X2 3800+
* Nexus 120 fan (for CPU heatsink)
* 2 Nexus 92mm fans for the front intake
* EVGA eGeForce 6800GS graphics card
* OCZ Dual Channel PC3700 Gold Edition (Rev.2) 2x512MB
* Samsung SpinPoint P120 SP2004C 200GB SATA HDD
* LG GSA-4167B - 16x DVD +/- R/RW/RAM, Double-Layer
* 1.44MB Floppy Disk Drive

Maximum reported power draw was 190W. If we add another 55W for a second 6800GS graphics card, we come up to the 245W estimated by Stupid.

burebista · Post by **burebista** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 8:48 pm

Ackelind wrote:Burebista, do you have any more info on that test?

I would love to have some proof, see some videos or just some screens or a website making it "official"

A lot of people at other forums I visit have a real skewed picture of power demands.

I have some, but in Romanian.
Unfortunately he did not make any screens with 7800GTX 512 SLI setup, but here are some results with an 7800GTX 512 and some words on that SLI, and here a result with X1900XTX.
Some words about those tests: his goal was to test some high-end graphics cards not to measure power consumption, but they are "fresh" Seasonic reseller (and unique in our country) and he was curious about S-12 series, so, just for testing purpose, he replace their Silverstone Zeus 650W used for this kind of tests with an S-12 330. He was impressed by S-12 330 and it's not easy to surprise him because he's member of our best overclockers team...
If it's necessary I'll try to translate his posts in English.

jurrasstoil · Post by **jurrasstoil** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 4:17 am

Thanks a lot guys!

This really helped me, to make my decision.

I ordered the Seasonic S-12 430W. I think it will do more then fine.
If I put in the 2nd 6800GS i will report in here and let you know if it works etc.

Some really interessting things here. Especially the 7900 GTX SLI thing
with just 330W. Sounds pretty close to the edge to me

But well, if it
works: great

A little question:
Is there anything wrong about using adaptors to connect your PCI-e card?
Since everybody is complaining about the missing PCI-e connectors of the
S-12 430W...
Currently using an adaptor for my 6800GS and haven't experienced any
problems..

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 5:17 am

Nothing wrong with the adapter it just wastes 2 of the 5.25" drive connectors that you might need for something else. If you aren't running out of power connectors you are OK.

BTW if you got the sleeved 430 you'll get 1 PCIe connector. I hope for your sake you do. It's always nice to avoid another adapter.

Seasonic S-12 430 and SLI?

Seasonic S-12 430 and SLI?

Re: Seasonic S-12 430 and SLI?

Re: Seasonic S-12 430 and SLI?