# GTX 980 on 400W psu?



## bpgt64 (Sep 23, 2014)

Seasonic
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151097

ITX motherboard, 2nd Gen i5 2400- No OC.  In a Lian Li TU 200.

1 Solidstate, 1 2.5 inch drive, 2 fans, 140mm, CPU Fan.

Thoughts?  Bad idea?


----------



## Tallencor (Sep 23, 2014)

I think they are rated for min 500W


----------



## MxPhenom 216 (Sep 23, 2014)

shouldn't have any issue on that Seasonic.

Except you need another 6 pin. You only get one with that psu, but the psu should handle the load no problem, especially combined with that CPU.


----------



## Frick (Sep 23, 2014)

Yes. I wouldn't do it on my go-to cheap PSU (FSP 400-60APN), but on that no problem.


----------



## bpgt64 (Sep 23, 2014)

It's run a HD 6870 and a 6770 in the past, so I wasn't suuper worried, but still a bit of a risk yea?  Especially since it will be powering a 4k panel, and 2 other monitors.


----------



## MxPhenom 216 (Sep 23, 2014)

bpgt64 said:


> It's run a HD 6870 and a 6770 in the past, so I wasn't suuper worried, but still a bit of a risk yea?  Especially since it will be powering a 4k panel, and 2 other monitors.



Not really, did you see all the power consumption charts for the review W1z did?


----------



## Countryside (Sep 23, 2014)

Its a damn fine psu but i would go with this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151119


----------



## DRDNA (Sep 23, 2014)

run it threw a wattage calc. and you will probably find that your rig calls for a min. 450 watt PSU. Your PSU will probably be fine but I for one never run my PSU's at the upper end as the upper end is no where near as efficient as the middle, just my 2 cents. I my self would run at least a decent 650 watt but I have always gone a bit of a bit more for myself. I do believe you will find ripple troubles at the hi end and you are even past the hi end but it is a top notch top quality PSU you have.
A top quality GPU should be paired correctly in my opinion!

I would also not overclock anything on that PSU with that hardware.


----------



## MxPhenom 216 (Sep 23, 2014)

DRDNA said:


> run it threw a wattage calc. and you will probably find that your rig calls for a min. 450 watt PSU. Your PSU will probably be fine but I for one never run my PSU's at the upper end as the upper end is no where near as efficient as the middle, just my 2 cents. I my self would run at least a decent 650 watt but I have always gone a bit of a bit more for myself. I do believe you will find ripple troubles at the hi end and you are even past the hi end but it is a top notch top quality PSU you have.
> A top quality GPU should be paired correctly in my opinion!



People actually pay attention to online wattage calculators? Hes got one of the best 400w PSUs money can buy, GTX980 just alone only consumes ~180w, ~95w for the CPU, and then couple more watts for the fans and drives and he will probably not consume more than 350w full system load. Not to mention hes not going to be running full load all the time, at idle hell consume very little watts. Doesnt sound like he will be overclocking the 980 at all either.


----------



## DRDNA (Sep 23, 2014)

MxPhenom 216 said:


> People actually pay attention to online wattage calculators? Hes got one of the best 400w PSUs money can buy, GTX980 just alone only consumes ~180w, ~95w for the CPU, and then couple more watts for the fans and drives and he will probably not consume more than 350w full system load. Not to mention hes not going to be running full load all the time, at idle hell consume very little watts. Doesnt sound like he will be overclocking the 980 at all either.


I know and you are correct about his PSU but I still wouldn't do it and wouldn't recommend it either.  I agree to disagree on this one.


----------



## Countryside (Sep 23, 2014)

MxPhenom 216 said:


> People actually pay attention to online wattage calculators? Hes got one of the best 400w PSUs money can buy, GTX980 just alone only consumes ~180w, ~95w for the CPU, and then couple more watts for the fans and drives and he will probably not consume more than 350w full system load. Not to mention hes not going to be running full load all the time, at idle hell consume very little watts. Doesnt sound like he will be overclocking the 980 at all either.



I agree but there is nothing wrong with online calcs you can do it there or in your head but the best thing is to test it yourself, only if u know what ur doing, or read other peoples tests. In my working exp i always go little bit more and it never bite my butt


----------



## Aquinus (Sep 23, 2014)

It would probably work, but a 970 might be a safer bet if you want to stay safely within the restrictions of your PSU. I wouldn't want to over work the PSU too hard too long which is why I think the 970 might be a half decent cheaper alternative.


----------



## Countryside (Sep 23, 2014)

Aquinus said:


> It would probably work, but a 970 might be a safer bet if you want to stay safely within the restrictions of your PSU. I wouldn't want to over work the PSU too hard too long which is why I think the 970 might be a half decent cheaper alternative.


----------



## Sasqui (Sep 23, 2014)

I would never consider a 400w PSU.  Never.  *

*unless is was for a SFF HTPC.


----------



## Frick (Sep 23, 2014)

Maximum during gaming with an overclocked 4960x.











With an overclocked 4960x. I think you'll stay below 300W during load.


----------



## MxPhenom 216 (Sep 23, 2014)

Frick said:


> Maximum during gaming with an overclocked 4960x.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



So that puts it in perspective and supports what I was saying all along. The i5 2400 consumes less power then a 4960x by quite a bit. Shoudn't have an issue when taking that into account.


----------



## EarthDog (Sep 23, 2014)

MxPhenom 216 said:


> shouldn't have any issue on that Seasonic.
> 
> Except you need another 6 pin. You only get one with that psu, but the psu should handle the load no problem, especially combined with that CPU.


+1. At all stock speeds it should be fine. It's a Seasonic. It will run its rated wattage for its warrantied lifetime gents.

Is it cutting it close... yep. But I would do it in a pinch.

Hell, I run a 295x2 and a 4930K (4.4GHZ) on a 750W PSU...


----------



## eidairaman1 (Sep 23, 2014)

EarthDog said:


> +1. At all stock speeds it should be fine. It's a Seasonic. It will run its rated wattage for its warrantied lifetime gents.
> 
> Is it cutting it close... yep. But I would do it in a pinch.
> 
> Hell, I run a 295x2 and a 4930K (4.4GHZ) on a 750W PSU...



Seasonic units are top end units i have a 1250w gold xm2 series (xp3 platform like the 1200w platinum).


----------



## EarthDog (Sep 23, 2014)

Riiight... which is why I said what I said...


----------



## Kissamies (Sep 23, 2014)

If it consumes 190W in *furmark*, then there's absolutely no problem with a quality PSU like that Seasonic.


----------



## thebluebumblebee (Sep 29, 2014)

I have a couple go/no go rules that I apply to PSU's.
First, does the PSU have the connectors that the system needs?  In this case, the answer is no, but I don't think that's a problem, and I'll explain.  They put an 8 pin PCI-e power connector on this PSU which is rated at 150 watts(for a total rating of 225 watts for the GPU when you take into account the 75 watts from the PCI-e slot).  A person could split that 8 pin to 2x 6 pin(rated at 75 watts each) with something like this and be fine.  The ASUS STRIX GeForce GTX 970 OC even comes with only 1 - 8 pin PCI-e connector, and it's too bad that others don't adapt that format.  (this might be a nice choice instead of a 980)

Secondly, is the wattage rating for the GPU 1/2 of or less than the PSU's rating.  In this case it is.
We are dealing with a high quality PSU here and I think that other manufacturers would rate it higher, at 500 or maybe even 550 watts.  As long as the OP is not using this to bench with, I don't see a problem.

Actually, the problem is with the PSU manufacturers today.  They want to push the 750+ watt PSU's but there is actually very little need for them.  We need full featured PSU's starting at 350 watts now.


bpgt64 said:


> Especially since it will be powering a 4k panel, and 2 other monitors.


You've got me there.  I don't think that matters, but I have to admit I don't know.  grumble, grumble, off to ask Mr. Internet.


----------



## D007 (Sep 29, 2014)

Tallencor said:


> I think they are rated for min 500W



They are and your psu is likely going to explode as a 400.



bpgt64 said:


> It's run a HD 6870 and a 6770 in the past, so I wasn't suuper worried, but still a bit of a risk yea?  Especially since it will be powering a 4k panel, and 2 other monitors.



As for power usage of monitors/TV's.
That power comes from the wall socket, not your PC/PSU.


----------



## OneMoar (Sep 29, 2014)

I would't not when a quality 620/650W can be had for ~80.00


----------



## RCoon (Sep 29, 2014)

OneMoar said:


> I would't not when a quality 620/650W can be had for ~80.00



@EarthDog ran a 690 on a 550W unit. Considering the single chips used more power than the current maxwell cards, I'd say he's fine to do it on a Seasonic, although the lack of PCIE cables on the PSU means Molex is required.


----------



## bpgt64 (Sep 29, 2014)

D007 said:


> They are and your psu is likely going to explode as a 400.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Sometimes I read your responses, and I..I just don't know what in the f.

They site a 500W minimum because there expecting you to overclock, and do this and that, and run other things.  The PSU listed above is a champ, it's efficiency is second to few. Given PSU calc, I should be well within my means.  Is it advisable?  probably not, but if you use logic and add together the items I am planning on using, it should do just fine.  I cited the 6870 and 6770 because they have similar PSU requirements.

Source;
http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-574.shtml

I ran this GPU for 6 months with no issues on this PSU.  But the GTX 980 brings new power requirements, which should actually be lower.  I mention the resolution because the GPU generally is much more used at 4k even at desktop and idle.


----------



## D007 (Sep 29, 2014)

bpgt64 said:


> Sometimes I read your responses, and I..I just don't know what in the f.
> 
> They site a 500W minimum because there expecting you to overclock, and do this and that, and run other things.  The PSU listed above is a champ, it's efficiency is second to few. Given PSU calc, I should be well within my means.  Is it advisable?  probably not, but if you use logic and add together the items I am planning on using, it should do just fine.  I cited the 6870 and 6770 because they have similar PSU requirements.
> 
> ...



My brother tried what you are trying once.. Once..
Then his 400 watt PSU literally blew up in his PC, shooting sparks and smoke out.
If it destroys your PC, don't say you weren't warned.

You're looking at me like wtf?

If you don't understand that monitors and TV do NOT draw power from the PSU, they draw from the wall socket.
Then idk what to tell you. Educate yourself.
I tried to educate you and you insulted me.. So have fun figuring it out yourself.
You seem hell bent on trying it regardless of several people advising against it.

Why even ask for opinions and help when you won't take any? Moving on..


----------



## OneMoar (Sep 29, 2014)

remember if your machine is drawing close to your psu's rated output from the wall then you have a problem ./
I gotta ask why the fuck the op would pay 100 bucks for a 400W unit when he can get this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151096
this is my goto powersupply when somebody asks if they need a bigger unit

yes its only 80+ bronze yes its a odd-wattage but its a CONTINUOUS OUTPUT And that means *it will hold its rated output@its rated efficiency contentiously  *vs a psu only being rated at peak
that being said
a 400W will probably be fine with a non ocd i5 and single sdd HOW EVER I am From CAMP:
*NEVER-SKIMP-ON-THE-POWER-SUPPLY*


----------



## 64K (Sep 29, 2014)

The reason the video card manufacturers pad the recommended wattage for their cards is because they know that a significant number of people are going to either already have a cheap PSU when they bought a prebuilt or they are going to buy a cheap PSU for their build. So they recommend more wattage than is needed to prevent getting a lot of unnecessary damaged cards in RMAs.


----------



## RCoon (Sep 29, 2014)

64K said:


> The reason the video card manufacturers pad the recommended wattage for their cards is because they know that a significant number of people are going to either already have a cheap PSU when they bought a prebuilt or they are going to buy a cheap PSU for their build. So they recommend more wattage than is needed to prevent getting a lot of unnecessary damaged cards in RMAs.



Good god, what is this. You think you can come in here, swinging around your flawless logic like it's 1982?


----------



## Frick (Sep 29, 2014)

bpgt64 said:


> They site a 500W minimum because there expecting you to overclock, and do this and that, and run other things..



No, they are assuming you'll buy cheap PSU's. That's why most cards have at least a 400W rating.



D007 said:


> My brother tried what you are trying once.. Once..
> Then his 400 watt PSU literally blew up in his PC, shooting sparks and smoke out.
> If it destroys your PC, don't say you weren't warned.



I'm not sure what you're on about, but if the PSU exploded it was faulty, or an EXTREMELY crappy one without any sort of protection. If you're talking about that 6870. Meanwhile I ran an overclocked GTX550Ti (20W less than the 6870) and a quad core Xeon on a €25 FSP PSU, and it barely got hot.


----------



## D007 (Sep 29, 2014)

Frick said:


> No, they are assuming you'll buy cheap PSU's. That's why most cards have at least a 400W rating.
> 
> 
> 
> I'm not sure what you're on about, but if the PSU exploded it was faulty, or an EXTREMELY crappy one without any sort of protection. If you're talking about that 6870. Meanwhile I ran an overclocked GTX550Ti (20W less than the 6870) and a quad core Xeon on a €25 FSP PSU, and it barely got hot.



He tried to run my 8800 gtx on it and poof, dead.. 
Within one month it literally popped.
I was hanging out with him doing some lan gaming and boom!


----------



## thebluebumblebee (Sep 29, 2014)

Look at the numbers that @Frick posted.  Those are the watts AT THE WALL.  With a 130 watt CPU.


OneMoar said:


> I gotta ask why the fuck the op would pay 100 bucks for a 400W


Because it's silent?
@bpgt64 , did you happen to look at that ASUS Strix GTX 970 OC?  Its fans don't spin at low GPU usage.  Just seems to be a nice match to that system, IMHO.  Maybe you could put a wattmeter on this system to watch the power consumption.  If you're seeing more than ~380 watts, then upgrade the PSU. 



RCoon said:


> although the lack of PCIE cables on the PSU means Molex is required.


No it's not.


RCoon said:


> Good god, what is this. You think you can come in here, swinging around your flawless logic like it's 1982?


Not when it comes to PSU's!

What is funny is if @bpgt64 had asked if a GTX 560 Ti would be okay, most likely the answers would be in the affirmative, even though the 560 Ti pulls a lot more watts.


----------



## RCoon (Sep 29, 2014)

thebluebumblebee said:


> No it's not.



It only has a single PCI-E 6+2pin though, what else is he gonna use?


----------



## 64K (Sep 29, 2014)

RCoon said:


> It only has a single PCI-E 6+2pin though, what else is he gonna use?



The Asus Strix only has one 8 pin connector.


----------



## Frick (Sep 29, 2014)

D007 said:


> He tried to run my 8800 gtx on it and poof, dead..
> Within one month it literally popped.
> I was hanging out with him doing some lan gaming and boom!



That PSU was faulty or very crappy. Yes there are super awful 400W PSU's out there that have no business being labeled as 400W PSU's, but buy a decent one ... and it'll be fine. In a way it's correct that the power requirements are overstated because of all the crappy PSU's out there, but - and I hate sounding like an elitist - We of House TPU should know better.


----------



## thebluebumblebee (Sep 29, 2014)

RCoon said:


> It only has a single PCI-E 6+2pin though, what else is he gonna use?


I buried the link in my first post: PCI- E 8 PIN Y SPLIT TO 2 OF 6 PIN PCI-E POWER CABLE
@bpgt64 , I would caution you with that PSU, because it's only rated for 35C/95F.  I assume you have AC, but don't be loading that PSU if the temperature it's in is over 95F.


----------



## 64K (Sep 29, 2014)

thebluebumblebee said:


> I buried the link in my first post: PCI- E 8 PIN Y SPLIT TO 2 OF 6 PIN PCI-E POWER CABLE



I didn't know they made one of those. It makes sense that they would though. A 6+2 pin PSU connector would be able to supply 150 watts.


----------



## thebluebumblebee (Sep 29, 2014)

64K said:


> A 6+2 pin PSU connector would be able to supply 150 watts


Let's be a little more clear than that.  An 8 pin PCI-e power connector is rated for 150 watts according to the ATX standards.  Seasonic put that connector on there with full knowledge of that.


64K said:


> I didn't know they made one of those.


I didn't either until I looked.  Makes perfect sense and is technically correct, not like the 6 pin to 8 pin adapters out there.


----------



## GhostRyder (Sep 29, 2014)

I have seen the ability to run a Titan Black and an unlocked i5 processor with a small AIO along with the other basics on a Gold Rated SFF 450 PSU before as it is within the power limits.  That being said, I would recommend just getting a 500watt anyways because even with quality if your still revving up the PSU near its max a lot it is still going to wear it out faster and poses the chance for more problems.

Generally speaking I would say getting to large a PSU is better than getting to small of one in the grand scheme of things.


----------



## Aquinus (Sep 29, 2014)

Basically, if you buy a PSU of a reputable brand like Seasonic, you're going to get the wattage that it advertises because the want to keep their customers. If you look at some of these really cheap PSUs, they'll be 400 watts but split between 4 different rails, which is useless for someone like @bpgt64 here who would want to run a PSU off of that. Not to mention those 4 rails probably don't really handle 400 watts but 200 watts, the other 200 would be on +5v and +3.3v. So it's wise to read the PSU sticker as it tends to tell you exactly what you're getting.

For example, this is an image I found on the internets of the label that I can't take a picture of on my tower because the label faces inward on my PSU. If the PSU can actually handle 400-watts or more at 12v you'll probably be fine, however it is close. I like a minimum of 20% overhead at full load, but that's me. I also have had a lot of crappy PSUs and my last two (a 750-watt Corsair and the 1000w Seasonic) have been perfect, and I do mean perfect (as I knock on wood.)


----------



## veiledcascade (Oct 1, 2014)

I couldn't run a 980 on a 400w PSU, Simply because of all the additional hardware I have inside my pc.

Sound card, Hard drives...many of/optical drives/fans all consume power a 400w psu just wouldn't be enough and even a top end one would be hitting a wall and shut down the pc due to loads, It wouldn't fail but it wouldn't run it.

Benchmark tests don't take into account all the extra stuff, I have 6 hard drives in my pc, 8 fans(some modded in) lighting / blu ray drive and some other things.

the 980 took what 325 and if OC'd is around 371watts. That is before all the extra's I have and I wouldn't touch anything less than a 650w. So yes it is a low powered card and is around 29watts less than a 290x.....If you can actually call that low powered. 

Just ensure you have enough power to run all the devices in the system, PSU's run better at certain loads, 60% load will on every model (worth considering) going get you the smoothest performance, Peaking a psu at 90%+ for extended periods will cause it to fail faster but the long and short of it is, If you are pulling more than 400w from the psu then don't expect it to last. 

The other aspect to consider is this, regardless of a brand name everything fails, When a psu fails it can either go pop by itself and built in protection can save all the other hardware or it can go pop and take out the shiney gtx980 and everything else with it. By running a low wattage psu you are at risk of going to peak loads faster on the psu and forcing a failure.

Seasonic make great psu's but sorry to burst people's bubble here Everything will fail if stressed.


----------



## n3rdf1ght3r (Oct 1, 2014)

D007 said:


> My brother tried what you are trying once.. Once..
> Then his 400 watt PSU literally blew up in his PC, shooting sparks and smoke out.
> If it destroys your PC, don't say you weren't warned.
> 
> ...


I think he understands monitors draw power from the outlets. He mentions it because the gpu would have to push a lot more pixels for a 4k display compared to a normal 1080p panel. This may be important as it may result in the gpu pulling more power even when he is surfing the net.

As for the power supply, a 400W Seasonic would be fine although pushing it really tight. Running the power supply at the upper limits does wear it out faster but i'm sure the Seasonic unit will outlive the parts in your computer. I wouldn't do this with myself as the power supply doesn't run as efficiently when it's in it's upper limits and I would just spend the extra money for a 500W. I wouldn't think about doing this with a cheap power supply though.


----------



## LiveOrDie (Oct 1, 2014)

bpgt64 said:


> Seasonic
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151097
> 
> ITX motherboard, 2nd Gen i5 2400- No OC.  In a Lian Li TU 200.
> ...



Take this from some one that ran a GTX 780Ti on a 450w PSU for over a year with no problems, The recommended wattage nvidia lists has to cover all bases so a system thats at 100% capacity also higher drawing CPUs, I did a wattage test on my 450w running at max load and it was only around 380w which converts to even lower out put.


----------



## Solaris17 (Oct 1, 2014)

Its a seasonic unit and the projected wattage draw says that it will work. and it will the seasonic is a fantastic unit. Personally I wouldn't run it that close to spec because I personally think anyone that runs a PSU to rating is a moron. To be fair most seasonic units that are tested by extremists can actually go beyond specification before protection kicks in so you even have that padding to think about.

It really comes down to how comfortable you are taking $600+ dollars and running it on a PSU that will be on the line of tolerance and how much you can take the flaming if it decides to fail and you come on to TPU to start a thread and cry about it, because most of the members will tell you it was a bad idea.


----------



## dj-electric (Oct 1, 2014)

Back in the day we used to run Q9\Q6 LGA775 systems with 140-180W cards on them. And that was on infirior 400W units.

I'd join the "use the GTX 970, lose only 7-8% performance, cut budget waste, cut power" camp.


----------



## thebluebumblebee (Oct 1, 2014)

I only recommended that 970 because of how well it fit his setup.  I have not read all of w1zzard's 970 reviews, but the ones I have all say that the 970 uses the same power as the 980.  If nothing else, they're so close that it really does not matter.
To be clear, I would not recommend that PSU for the OP, because of where the OP lives.  If the OP was building a system, I would not recommend that PSU with that GPU.  But since the OP has it, and as long as the OP understands the limitations of that PSU in that environment, then it will work.  It would be best for the OP to upgrade the PSU to a fan cooled unit, with a few more watts.


veiledcascade said:


> I couldn't run a 980 on a 400w PSU, Simply because of all the additional hardware I have inside my pc.
> 
> Sound card, Hard drives...many of/optical drives/fans all consume power a 400w psu just wouldn't be enough and even a top end one would be hitting a wall and shut down the pc due to loads, It wouldn't fail but it wouldn't run it.
> 
> ...


I'd love to see the reading from a wattmeter for that system. Seriously.


----------



## crazyeyesreaper (Oct 1, 2014)

meh use the GTX 970 Strix which features a single 8 pin connector and everything will be fine.

ALl the people saying OMG IT WILL BLOW UP shit units blow up all the time, everyone likes to ride Corsair like they are a gift of god but my 850HX died not because of GPU power but because there specs for the sata power were off aka lots of connectors but wires cant handle more than 3 drives and boom dead PSU.

the Seasonic will handle it just fine.

Ive run 5850s 6870s 650Ti Boosts etc in many systems using just crappy CX430w units many of those systems are going on 4 years old no problem.

CPU will use around 60w max under typical non FPU full load.  
GPU will max at 180w
HDD + Optical 30w Max
Misc etcs 40w

tht still 320w  in Reality this system will use closer to 280w at PEAK thats full load on GPU + CPU which wont happen unless FOlding / Crunching etc.  In gaming its gonna be less than that,.

The Seasonic is 400w continuous with 33amps on the 12v rail,  MANY 500-600w generic units and low end units only offer the same power as the Seasonic 400w.  NVIDIA and others take those crappy PSUs into account thus the 500w recommendation it has to cover those crappy units.

Guru 3D is showing SINGLE GPU using an average of 270w when gaming and thats with a 3960x Overclocked to 4.6GHz I had a 3960x damn thing could use close to 200w on its own.

Still OP is fine with that unit.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/geforce-gtx-970-sli-review,4.html


----------

