GeForce 6800 power supply questions

[TheHelpful1]

Sending out an order to newegg as i type this. NVsilencer 5, dl pioneer DVD burner, and oh yeah, the OCZ.

[ekotan]

If money is no object, the best PSU I've ever used is the SilentMaxx 503W fanless model:

http://www.pcsilent.de/enpd_silentma...s_power_supply

Voltages never dip below their nominal levels even under extended periods of 100% load - that's impressive and there is no noise whatsoever. The problem with so-called quiet fan-cooled PSUs is that the fans spin faster and faster under load as the temperature inside the PSU rises and very quickly, they get loud enough to annoy me. I went through at least 5 PSUs from Zalman, Enermax, Akasa, Antec and Q-Technology before finding my SilentMaxx which has been absolutely superb. But yeah, it's expensive. Then again, I hate noisy computers so for me, it was money very well spent. The only way I can tell my PC is on is by checking to see if there's a picture on my monitor. There's no fan noise whatsoever.

I use this in my extremely power-hungry P4EE system which is watercooled by the fanless Zalman Reserator and in conjunction with a Danger Den 6800 waterblock, I run my 6800U all day at 450/1200. I could go even higher, but I didn't experiment much. With this config, I played all the way through Far Cry and Doom3 with not a single problem. No lockups, no crashes, no slowdowns, no weird on-screen artefacts. Smooth like silk, silent as a mime. Case ambient and CPU temps never exceed 40C degrees.

SilentMaxx also produces a water-cooled PSU, but a water-cooled PSU sounded too scary even for me.

E@

[subbo]

Originally Posted by ekotan

If money is no object, the best PSU I've ever used is the SilentMaxx 503W fanless model:

http://www.pcsilent.de/enpd_silentma...s_power_supply

I use this in my extremely power-hungry P4EE system which is watercooled by the fanless Zalman Reserator and in conjunction with a Danger Den 6800 waterblock,
E@

Thanks for the insights! I've been looking at the reserator for over a month and had already decided to get one. That fanless power looks great too.

But where did you buy the Danger Den waterblock, and did you have problems fitting it to the reserator hoses?

Also, why silentmaxx and not yesico? Clearly the yesico psu seem better built just looking at them?

[ekotan]

I got my Danger Den 6800 block from http://www.dangerden.com/mall2/more_...asp?fmmore=237

This huge and beautifully-made beast cools both the GPU core and the VRAM chips. Works wonderfully well (but not cheap). There are two versions for different-sized pipe fittings, if you order the version with 3/8 inch barbs, it will fit the Zalman perfectly (Reserator uses 3/8 inch piping).

The Yesico fanless PSU does look like it might be better-built but it wasn't available to buy (pre-order only) when I went on my computer-silencing shopping spree and the SilentMAXX looked great, so I bought it as a test and it surpassed all my expectations. In actual life, the unit is very solidly built, so don't judge it by its photos. The power it outputs is very very stable on all rails (tested with voltmeter and also MBM). My system devours vast amounts of wattage with its P4EE CPU, a GF6800U and 6 hard drives along with all the usual trimmings, so I actually needed a 500W PSU. This SilentMAXX PSU never falters and I experience no problems or instability. Its heatsink is huge though, so you may have to modify your case to slot it in. But it's worth it. It really is totally and completely silent, there is a Pabst fan in there if you want active cooling, but it's not necessary to ever activate it. There's also an auto mode for the fan if you're paranoid. This ensures the fan will kick in when the PSU is getting too hot inside. Best of all, even when the fan kicks in, you can't hear it unless you put your ear next to it. Pabst fans rock (quietly)!

E@

[subbo]

Thanks alot mate, that was very informative! Silent PSU and cutting edge waterblocks are hard to find good information on.

And people who think they know it all about watercooling dismiss the reserator as underpowered and incapable, even though your setup and almost all the reviews out there prove it is highly capable of cooling even the fastest stock setups with ease.

[rthom]

Hello all... Got a psu question...

I just purchased a new Aspire 500W ATX-AS500W-BK PSU and I got it home and realized it only has 2 molex lines. Doh! The following outlines my system:

P4 3.2e @ stock
1 gig PC 3200 in dual channel
Soyo P4i865PE Dragon Plus mobo
100 gig HD
1 dvd rom drive
1 dvd r/rw drive

And soon to be... an eVGA 6800 Ultra

My question... can I possibly run the Ultra on a single dedicated molex line (psu is 500 watts with 34 amps on 12v rail) and the hard drive, and two optical drives on the second line? If not, this goes back to the store...

Thanks for the help.

[kahloq]

Originally Posted by rthom

Hello all... Got a psu question...

I just purchased a new Aspire 500W ATX-AS500W-BK PSU and I got it home and realized it only has 2 molex lines. Doh! The following outlines my system:

P4 3.2e @ stock
1 gig PC 3200 in dual channel
Soyo P4i865PE Dragon Plus mobo
100 gig HD
1 dvd rom drive
1 dvd r/rw drive

And soon to be... an eVGA 6800 Ultra

My question... can I possibly run the Ultra on a single dedicated molex line (psu is 500 watts with 34 amps on 12v rail) and the hard drive, and two optical drives on the second line? If not, this goes back to the store...

Thanks for the help.

Well no the Ultra will not run well on only ONE molex line and you will most likely get a low poer error message. However, if you use ONE molex line ONLY for the Ultra and then use the other molex line to power the HD and opticals, you can Y split it off to power the 2nd molex connector on the ultra. You should be fine that way. You didnt mention if you have any case fans. Im assuming you do, so you would need to connect the HD, opticals, 2nd molex connection on Ultra as well as the fans through the one molex line with y splits. In any case, you DO NOT want to y split the line that goes to the primary on the Ultra. How much did you pay for that PSU btw?

[rthom]

How much did you pay for that PSU btw?

Umm... 70 bux! Should have kicked in the extra 50 and gone high quality.

[TheHelpful1]

Ok, OCZ installed and rail tweaked to the following
12V 12.281-12.342-12.403
5V 5.107 (stable)
3.3V 3.344-3.36-3.328
Vcore 1.568 (stable)

After installing the OCZ, i noticed my Gcard temps jump 4* from 56 to 60.
I also got an NV silencer from newegg sitting in the box but i'm going to wait on that install. time to test FarCry and see if i go all loopy or get stuck.

[THX152]

Hi Guys,

I am getting spontaneous reboots only in Far Cry. Specs as follows:

XP 2800
1gb Kingston PC3200
PNY 6800
Creative SB Live!
2 LED fans
2 CCFL's (turned off)

I was using a crap 350 watt PSU that came with my case but now am using an Antec TruBlu something or other, 350W with 16A on the 12v.

All other games run fine, BF42, OFP, Doom3, etc.

Any ideas? I thought the Antec PSU would solve my problems and it just rebooted. CCFL tubes are off but 2 led fans are on. The 6800 is on a dedicated molex.

Thank you!

THX152

[kahloq]

Originally Posted by THX152

Hi Guys,

I am getting spontaneous reboots only in Far Cry. Specs as follows:

XP 2800
1gb Kingston PC3200
PNY 6800
Creative SB Live!
2 LED fans
2 CCFL's (turned off)

I was using a crap 350 watt PSU that came with my case but now am using an Antec TruBlu something or other, 350W with 16A on the 12v.

All other games run fine, BF42, OFP, Doom3, etc.

Any ideas? I thought the Antec PSU would solve my problems and it just rebooted. CCFL tubes are off but 2 led fans are on. The 6800 is on a dedicated molex.

Thank you!

THX152

16a on the +12 rail is too low. However, seeing as its a 6800 non ultra I cannot say for sure. The consensus is that the PSU needs to output at LEAST 18a on the +12 for 6800 series cards. Another problem might be with the PSU itself and it isnt generating the power it claims to(could be a poor performer..meaning that specific PSU you have might not be producing what the most antec's of that model usually do). Im guessing here tho. If you have access to a PSU that has 18a or better, you should try it and see.

[azanon]

How will i do with an ultra, using a PC Cooling & Power supply Turbo-cool 350 ATX. It does 15A on the +12V, but its "supposedly" a higher quality PS (cost me 100 bucks). When i bought it a year ago, i thought i was insane to pay that since you could get a generic for 15-25 bucks. Now, even that one isnt good enough???

BTW, is the 18A on +12V "consensus" coming out of folks asses, or did nvidia say that? No offense intended.