Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 X2 in CrossfireX
Vote: Thumbs Down or Thumbs Up Our Rating: 93% Manufacturer: Sapphire
Power Consumption Tests
Using our new PROVA Power Analyzer WM-01 or "Power Thingy" as it has become quickly known as to our readers, we are now able to find out what kind of power is being used by our test system and the associated graphics cards installed. Keep in mind; it tests the complete system (minus LCD monitor, which is plugged directly into AC wall socket).
There are a few important notes to remember though; while our maximum power is taken in 3DMark06 at the same exact point, we have seen in particular tests the power being drawn as much as 10% more. We test at the exact same stage every time; therefore tests should be very consistent and accurate.
The other thing to remember is that our test system is bare minimum – only a 7,200RPM SATA-II single hard drive is used without CD ROM or many cooling fans.
So while the system might draw 400 watts in our test system, placing it into your own PC with a number of other items, the draw is going to be higher.
Big powahhhh needed for a Crossfire X setup, as we can see above. We wouldn’t recommend anything under a decent quality 1 KW power supply. Our 1500 Watt Thermaltake power supply absolutely ran like a dream with the cards.
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