Bloody hell thats a hike in the old Wattage there, from 450 for an entire system to 750 just for another card? crazy, not complaining though, glad i know lol
and Tim, the stacker 830 can swallow anything cant it? (make sure it doesn't try and eat bindi!)
Originally Posted by DougEdey Based on some quick math, that'll mean that nVidia expect 300W for an extra card. I'm concerned however that the "SLI Certification" scheme for power supplies is merely a way for PSU manufacturers to charge premiums.
well, it may have a bit of that in it, but it's a sure fire way of making sure your system will work with two of these cards installed. The first problem with high end system instability is typically power related, so I think it's a good thing that NVIDIA (and ATI for that matter) are certifying power supplies.
Assuming that 300W / card is about right that leaves 150 watts for everything else. Now consider that some of the shuttles and uATX systems run on 150W PSUs with one hard drive, one optical drive and everything else, it seems at least plausible. 300 Watts for a GPU (600 in SLI) does seem like a lot, but the numbers add up. I'll bet the 750 watt recommendation has some headroom built into it on the basis that someone running dual 8800s in SLI probably has more than 1 HDD and 1 optical drive.
Originally Posted by Cthippo Come at it from the other end...
Assuming that 300W / card is about right that leaves 150 watts for everything else. Now consider that some of the shuttles and uATX systems run on 150W PSUs with one hard drive, one optical drive and everything else, it seems at least plausible. 300 Watts for a GPU (600 in SLI) does seem like a lot, but the numbers add up. I'll bet the 750 watt recommendation has some headroom built into it on the basis that someone running dual 8800s in SLI probably has more than 1 HDD and 1 optical drive.
What would be the problem with that? :|
TDP for GeForce 8800 GTX is 185W - that's why there are two power connectors on the card. It's possible to force 185W through a single power connector, but in doing so the card would not be adhering to PCI-Express specifications. You can draw 75W across the PCI-Express bus and 75W per 6-pin supplementary connector. :)
As you correctly state, the higher wattages are because of headroom for more memory, quad-core CPUs, more hard drives and also add-in cards like a sound card or dedicated RAID card.
Originally Posted by atanum141 i chukkled at the fact in the article, says that the way the card is set out internally that the user gets 2xAA or free default levels.
Really nice card but once can only dream of having one with a huge 30" monitor.
this is because the ROPs are capable of taking 4 samples of whatever (textures? pixels? i dunno, but its 4 samples) where as previous cards could only take 2
so if you wanted 4xAA on previous cards your pixels had to go round the ROP twice, if you want 2xAA they go through once. now with G80 you can take 4 samples so now you can get 4xAA by going through once
2xAA therefore is essentially free (next to no drop) and 4xAA can be had for the price of last gens 2xAA
Originally Posted by specofdust Perhaps I'm being stupid, but I was under the impression that those figures were the entire PC's draw, not just the graphics card. Clarification would be good, although could well make me feel like a right plonker :D
yes it is the entire machines draw
i think the GTX draws 185 watts or something round there
Originally Posted by specofdust I would doubt that - Bit-tech just wrote off most of Nvidias middle range a couple of weeks ago in their X1950 Pro review.
I do see what you point out, but only in the in-page versions of the pictures. If you click for the big versions and look flick between the 8800 and the ATI versions they look near identical. Certainly I couldn't say either had any noticable moire in the big pics. In the small ones it does appear like there is some in the 8800 though. Interesting that it shows in one and not the other.
well if you look on some other sites, (anandtech and techreport) they do AF testers and well the G80 is shown to be better than ATi's
the G80 by default does angle independant AF, and then improves further on it when you switch to HQ mode.
Ati's R580 does angle dependant by default and you must enable HQ to get angle independant. theres some good in game comparsions as well and the G80 wins everytime
This left me quite speechless. If only they were cheaper.. 500 for a GTS? C'mon...
But it seems to be a real beast when using it @ 1920+ resolutions. A little too much power for me. But hopefully older cards will drop at least 50 over here. :)
Originally Posted by Tim S TDP for GeForce 8800 GTX is 185W - that's why there are two power connectors on the card. It's possible to force 185W through a single power connector, but in doing so the card would not be adhering to PCI-Express specifications. You can draw 75W across the PCI-Express bus and 75W per 6-pin supplementary connector. :)
As you correctly state, the higher wattages are because of headroom for more memory, quad-core CPUs, more hard drives and also add-in cards like a sound card or dedicated RAID card.
AHA yes I understand it now. They have assumed that if you are having two 8800 GTX's you also have top flight components to go with it and these maybe overclocked drawing more than usual. It is good to see that they are actually thinking in real world terms for this.
Tim, not meaning to pick faults, but perhaps the power chart should say something in or near it about it being total system power not the cards required power? I can't find anything that indicates so, and since half the tech world is(and should) be reading your review, it's probably a good idea that the 800W PSU myths aren't perpetuated.
Originally Posted by Tim The GeForce 8800 GTX is obviously a very power-hungry part, as you might have guessed from both the size of the chip, the card and the fact it requires dual power connectors. NVIDIA tells us that the TDP of the card is around the 185W mark. We wanted to see how it measured up against the competition, so we tested the total system power consumption at the wall using a simple power meter.
Originally Posted by specofdust Tim, not meaning to pick faults, but perhaps the power chart should say something in or near it about it being total system power not the cards required power? I can't find anything that indicates so, and since half the tech world is(and should) be reading your review, it's probably a good idea that the 800W PSU myths aren't perpetuated.
Looks pretty clear to me - it says "NVIDIA tells us that the TDP of the card is around the 185W mark", so how could the card possibly be drawing 315W? It also says "we tested the total system power consumption at the wall using a simple power meter."
Still, I guess it could be made even more explicit for those who look at the pretty pictures without reading the text :D
can I come for a look around some time? I would have appied to that writer request you did but....my graphics knowledge is limited, plus i'm a system testing consultant lol it pays well, but still, wouldn't mind seeing the offices :P
Originally Posted by aon`aTv.gsus666 This left me quite speechless. If only they were cheaper.. 500 for a GTS? C'mon...
But it seems to be a real beast when using it @ 1920+ resolutions. A little too much power for me. But hopefully older cards will drop at least 50 over here. :)
I'm looking for some USA shop that ships to Europe at reasonable prices...With the current $ to rating, you can get a GTS for 388 + shipping
There are several eBay shops that ship here for 50$ or so, wich still makes it cheaper than getting one here, but when buying there I'm allways worried about RMAs and guarranty (by law, I get 2 years on any hardware if I buy it here). So far, I've been lucky, but still it's a risk.
A pitty newegg doesn't ship over the pond...
Does anybody in USA know of sites that ship to Europe at reasonable prices?
Great review Tim S, the best one I've seen about the Geforce 8800GTX so far.
Seeing that picture above in the forum means that SLI benchmarks are on the way which is something lacking in most Geforce 8800GTX reviews around the web. I notice that while there are two SLI connectors on the board, you're only using one to bridge two cards together. What happens when two SLI bridge connectors used? Any change in performance?
Any chance of doing some power tests without any video cards at idle and full CPU load? That'd get a much clearer estimate of how much power just the video card consumes by being able to subtract the test platform figures from those with the video cards.
Comments 76 to 100 of 146
Replyand Tim, the stacker 830 can swallow anything cant it? (make sure it doesn't try and eat bindi!)
Assuming that 300W / card is about right that leaves 150 watts for everything else. Now consider that some of the shuttles and uATX systems run on 150W PSUs with one hard drive, one optical drive and everything else, it seems at least plausible. 300 Watts for a GPU (600 in SLI) does seem like a lot, but the numbers add up. I'll bet the 750 watt recommendation has some headroom built into it on the basis that someone running dual 8800s in SLI probably has more than 1 HDD and 1 optical drive.
What would be the problem with that? :|
As you correctly state, the higher wattages are because of headroom for more memory, quad-core CPUs, more hard drives and also add-in cards like a sound card or dedicated RAID card.
this is because the ROPs are capable of taking 4 samples of whatever (textures? pixels? i dunno, but its 4 samples) where as previous cards could only take 2
so if you wanted 4xAA on previous cards your pixels had to go round the ROP twice, if you want 2xAA they go through once. now with G80 you can take 4 samples so now you can get 4xAA by going through once
2xAA therefore is essentially free (next to no drop) and 4xAA can be had for the price of last gens 2xAA
yes it is the entire machines draw
i think the GTX draws 185 watts or something round there
well if you look on some other sites, (anandtech and techreport) they do AF testers and well the G80 is shown to be better than ATi's
the G80 by default does angle independant AF, and then improves further on it when you switch to HQ mode.
Ati's R580 does angle dependant by default and you must enable HQ to get angle independant. theres some good in game comparsions as well and the G80 wins everytime
But it seems to be a real beast when using it @ 1920+ resolutions. A little too much power for me. But hopefully older cards will drop at least 50 over here. :)
AHA yes I understand it now. They have assumed that if you are having two 8800 GTX's you also have top flight components to go with it and these maybe overclocked drawing more than usual. It is good to see that they are actually thinking in real world terms for this.
Still, I guess it could be made even more explicit for those who look at the pretty pictures without reading the text :D
EDIT: Dammit Doug you beat me to the punch.
http://staff.bit-tech.net/tim/8800gtx_sli.jpg
Bas****!
I'm looking for some USA shop that ships to Europe at reasonable prices...With the current $ to rating, you can get a GTS for 388 + shipping
There are several eBay shops that ship here for 50$ or so, wich still makes it cheaper than getting one here, but when buying there I'm allways worried about RMAs and guarranty (by law, I get 2 years on any hardware if I buy it here). So far, I've been lucky, but still it's a risk.
A pitty newegg doesn't ship over the pond...
Does anybody in USA know of sites that ship to Europe at reasonable prices?
Now that's not fair is it?!?! Although would like to hear some figures for that bad boy/girl/person/GPU setup.
ughhh Give me!
Edit -
Try putting it in a case with 2 CD drives in, see if it errm, fits
Now that is sexy! When will we see the benchmarks?
Seeing that picture above in the forum means that SLI benchmarks are on the way which is something lacking in most Geforce 8800GTX reviews around the web. I notice that while there are two SLI connectors on the board, you're only using one to bridge two cards together. What happens when two SLI bridge connectors used? Any change in performance?
Any chance of doing some power tests without any video cards at idle and full CPU load? That'd get a much clearer estimate of how much power just the video card consumes by being able to subtract the test platform figures from those with the video cards.
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