Power Comsumption on 6800's and higher cards

[texun]

This may be an odd question but do the faster cards pull a ton of current even while surfing? I don't game much, but when I do I like to see detail and my old 9800 NON PRO doesn't deliver the goods like before so I am thinking about a 6800GS. The hold back is that I don't want a waffle iron at my feet while surfing, which is what I do 99% of the time.
Thanks!

Edit- Yes I'll need to swap the board as well.

[randlor]

I think the recommended for the 6800 range is 350w, as BFG quotes here. However, I remember reading somewhere that at load they draw a hell of a lot more then quoted. If memory serves, the cards use between 60-70w on idle. Check out this wattage calculator for a rough estimate.

http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

Personally, I run the specs below as well as 2 cd/dvd drives, 2 usb devices on a 550w and haven't had any problems at all. Worth getting a hefty-ish one for peace of mind and upgrade overhead imo.

[sabrewulf165]

pishaw, no way a 6800GS uses 60-70w idle. They barely use that much at load.

texun the newer cards like the 6800GS actually throttle themselves to a much lower clockspeed when you're not gaming, so very little power is used. The fan usually slows down to a quieter level as well. However IMO you might be better off shooting for a 7600GT, as they will almost certainly use less power and give you a bit better performance for a little bit more money. Not to mention you'll be getting the "latest and greatest" feature set instead of last generation derivatives.

Test Setup:
ASUS A8N32 NVIDIA nForce 4 X16 SLI Motherboard
ASUS A8R32 ATI RD580 Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 FX-57
2GB OCZ 2.5:3:3:8 DDR400 RAM
160GB Seagate 7200.7 Hard Drive
600W OCZ PowerStream PSU

[randlor]

well pishaw in my clogs, i didn't know that. got any figures kicking around btw? wouldn't mind taking a look.

ta

edit - stoopid browser not showing graphics.

edit edit - is that total system usage, or card? cos that says a hella lot more than 60-70 at idle...

[Pehu]

well pishaw in my clogs, i didn't know that. got any figures kicking around btw? wouldn't mind taking a look.

ta

edit - stoopid browser not showing graphics.

edit edit - is that total system usage, or card? cos that says a hella lot more than 60-70 at idle...

Those numbers are total system usage.

[texun]

Thanks. Looks like I got caught up reading threads on how demanding the cards were on power supplies and tilted my thinking. I was expecting those numbers to be the cards alone - not with an FX loaded like that.