Legit Reviews

I currently have a 4670, and I wish to upgrade to a 4850 or 4870. I have an Antec TruePower Trio 430W. It has three (3) 12v rails, all 16A each.

My computers doesn't have a lot of things added onto it...two 160GB Harddrives, a dual core CPU, one DVD/CD RW drive, an all in on card reader, 4GB of RAM, one exhaust fan (80mm), and one intake fan (80mm).

Read several reviews and discussions, but there's a big difference for each. Example: 22A-32A for the 4870?

erm no, that 22~32 amp you've read about well 22amp is the bare minimum you'd want, as it is your system is roughly using 300~350W from your 430W PSU now add 150 ~ 200W for an 4850 or 4870 and you see where this is going to end up your poor little PSU is going to say WTF right before going on a holiday um also if you don't mind me asking what are you planning on using it for

lordvic wrote:I currently have a 4670, and I wish to upgrade to a 4850 or 4870. I have an Antec TruePower Trio 430W. It has three (3) 12v rails, all 16A each.

My computers doesn't have a lot of things added onto it...two 160GB Harddrives, a dual core CPU, one DVD/CD RW drive, an all in on card reader, 4GB of RAM, one exhaust fan (80mm), and one intake fan (80mm).

Read several reviews and discussions, but there's a big difference for each. Example: 22A-32A for the 4870?

The box of my Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 states that a 500W or greater power supply with a 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connector is recommended for use. If you want to run these cards in CrossFire you'll need at least a 600W power supply and four 6-pin connectors.... I personally wouldn't run that card on a 430W power supply, but that isn't to say it wouldn't work.

Athlonite wrote:erm no, that 22~32 amp you've read about well 22amp is the bare minimum you'd want, as it is your system is roughly using 300~350W from your 430W PSU now add 150 ~ 200W for an 4850 or 4870 and you see where this is going to end up your poor little PSU is going to say WTF right before going on a holiday um also if you don't mind me asking what are you planning on using it for

Hmm..my computer was able to run on a 250W PSU before (without he 4670) I changed it to 430W...Was going to get a 4850 or 4870 for a little gaming, preparing for Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3. Not going to plan to run CrossFire. What would you recommend instead? A 4770? Kind of hard to find them though (stores around don't have them, can't find any on newegg).

Probably going to be a while before I can make new rig since I'm tight on $$.

Someone was able to run a 4870 on a 350W PSU.. http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1321130

The 4670 consumes far less power than the 4850/4870.

Also keep in mind, being able to run it depends on what else you have in your PC that is drawing power. Person A might be able to run the card with a dual-core processor and same PSU, person B might not with a quad-core processor.

If the recommended is 500w, I think you can get away with a 430w in your current setup to "run" the card. You definitely cannot run two video cards in sli, and you most likely cannot overclock the card at all without having errors. If the you do get jerky framerates, freezes, or crashes while playing then your power supply is not enough when the card is under load.

To be perfectly honest, it's not worth upgrading from 4670 to 4870 if you're on a budget. Yes, it will improve your gaming and framerates, but you will be able to run Diablo 3/Starcraft 2 fine with your current card. It'd be more economical for you to buy a card when you need to upgrade your rig.

I see...I don't think I'm going for a 4870 than. I did a bit more of researching and the 4850 itself doesn't seem to draw a lot of power at max/full load. I've seen the highest 187W, but 200W on the safe side. 200W/12V = 16.6666A --> 17A. I got 32A on the 12v rails...knowing that the computer uses some of that. I'm somewhat 80% sure that my PSU will handle a 4850.

If anybody has any suggestions/comments, would be great.

Planning to get the "HIS H485QT512P Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported IceQ4 Turbo Video Card " http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6814161244

People had a lot of issues with the Sapphire Vapur-X one so...yeah .

120 for a 4850? I saw one for half-that on zipzoomfly awhile ago.

Well the 4870 has a TDP of 160W, meaning about 14A. I'd say you COULD be able to run it on that 430W. Your PSU has a limit of 32A on the 12V lanes. Your CPU probably takes 6-10A, your HDs take 1-2A each. Fans are negligible.

Nobahar wrote:120 for a 4850? I saw one for half-that on zipzoomfly awhile ago.

Half that!?!? Wow! But does it have a good/decent aftermarket cooler though? It's newegg ".CA" not ".COM" btw.

I thought about the 4870, but it seems it's not as on the "safe-side" as the 4850. I can't find any 4770's since ATi/AMD slowed it production/cancelled it? so...4850 is the next best thing...other than the 4730. By the time the 5870 comes out (when?) I'll have enough cash to make a new rig.

It was this card (http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... t=celebros) , bottom price was 55 after rebate and 30 dollars off from the ebillme crap. The rebate is no longer there though, but whatever you do wait for the price drop before you buy.

Nobahar wrote:It was this card (http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... t=celebros) , bottom price was 55 after rebate and 30 dollars off from the ebillme crap. The rebate is no longer there though, but whatever you do wait for the price drop before you buy.

Wow nice! Thanks, I'll take a look at this site . Wonder how much is the S&H going to be...

Edit: Woah! free shipping on everything?!

It has three (3) 12v rails, all 16A each.

hmmm really!! does it have you taken the top off your psu and confirmed that fact because i bet you it doesn't have 3 separate 12V rails but a single 12V rail split 3 ways and the max AMPs you'll be able to draw will far less than 48 infact i'd be impressed if it could do 30 combined but i digress if you can swing it get your 4850 and a 500W psu as there's nothing worse than upgrading a vital part only to later find it doesn't perform the way you expected because the PSU isn't upto scratch believe me i thought the psu in my sig would be enough to run whats there but NO i really do need to upgrade to a min 580~600W psu for stability issues and luckily for me i just got offered an Hiper type-r 580 for dirt cheap

what you also need to understand is that the older a PSU gets the less stress it can handle before it'll fail due mostly to the nature of electrolytic capacitors either A: drying out B: leaking or C: bulging or popping although I've only ever seen a popped cap i a psu once in the last ten yrs but i have seen numerous leaking and bulged caps in older (and by that i mean 450W and lower PSU's) and this is something that alot of people don't take into account when upgrading their machines if your PSU is more than 2yrs old and you want to make your computer a fare bit more grunty by upgrading video card, CPU, HDD's or RAM then please replace your aging psu and save the tears for the bank manager when he asks why you need that credit card limit upped and save the smiles and glee for when your hard out fraggin ya mates safe in the knowledge that your PSU isn't about to give up the ghost

speaking psu's here a nice one
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... e=10009332 and it's cheap

My PSU is under a year old.... bought it in January.

Thats true, the 4870 does require a lot of power so you should go with the 4850 instead but not so fast

First your power supply needs replacing with a corsair 650-750w power supply. Regardless of which ps brand u buy check the amps on the label. I checked your other post you stated that u had bought a 4870(nice choice BTW ) So guess you are pretty much set except for the power supply. Get a new one if you can already. try this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product