Of course I read, otherwise, I wouldn't have responded.  Thanks for the attitude.

NazcaC2


Of course I read, otherwise, I wouldn't have responded.  Thanks for the attitude.

oh no i really didnt mean that ..... sorry for the missunderstanding i didnt meanto be rude. i really didnt mean to.

Understood, my apologies.
 
I'd go with the one GTX 480 for the time being then see how you like it.  Let's put it this way, I have one GTX 480 Superclocked and can crank up a lot at 1920x1200 and I'm more than satisified.  For $219, it's a bargain.

but i guess most of the stores are putting the 400series on clearence section so i dont think i will be able to buy one next year. so if i want to buy the gtx 480 then i will buy 2 of them at the same time.
 
ok assume i like the performance of the gtx 480, will  my CORSAIR GAMING SERIES GS800 800W be able to run them both in sli? 
 
link to the psu i bought : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139025
 
it has a single 12v rail with up to 65A so ?

You'll be pushing it with 800W.  I've seen articles recommend an 800W PSU at minimum.  Two GTX 480's in SLI use 595W at full load according to this article, and 253W idle.  Since you're overclocking, you'll require more wattage.
 

For anyone running a 2-Way SLI GTX 480 setup, we would suggest no less than a 800 watt power supply of good quality and surely we suggest a 1000 watt if you are overclocking anything in your system. (1000 watt PSU doesn't sound stupid anymore does it?!?) For a person wanting to run a single GTX 480, we would suggest no less than a 600 watt power supply but we would be more comfortable with a 700 watt power supply; again if you are overclocking anything in your system. That should give you a safe bit of headroom and keep your PSU from running "in the red" continuously. It is hard to suggest any less for the GTX 470 either. NVIDIA's official stance is a 600w PSU for GTX 480 and 550w PSU for GTX 470.

 
 
 

so what do you suggest ? :) i heard that the corsair is 800w and in benchmarks it can go up to 1000w but will lose the 80 plus efficiency. so if you were me what would you do ?

Cooler Master is also another reputable brand.  They have a 1000W PSU (80 Plus Bronze) supporting SLI for a good price and with many high ratings.
 
COOLER MASTER Silent Pro RSA00-AMBAJ3-US 1000W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.92 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
(Canada)  (USA)

yeh but the gs800w i am already using it and already took me about 3 hours to hide and manage the cables :)
 
i was searching and i found this article : http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Corsair-GS800-Power-Supply-Review/1103/8   saying that the psu can go up to 997w without a problem :D i mean i dont really want to return the psu again and send it to ups to give it back to newegg and then put my old psu back and do all the wires all over again and then order a new psu and wait for it to ship XDD i mean OMG ! it will take me a month to get everything settled :)

I guess just wait and see then.

hmm, wait fpr 1 month ? you mean i should return the psu ?but by the time i get the cash for 2x480 and 1000w psu, the gtx 480 will run out of stock. heck i think now they are out of stock.

No, I mean we'll wait and see if your 800W PSU is up to the task.

ok now i am scared once again :( what do you mean wait ? you mean wait and see my 800w failing ? or what ? :)  hmm i am that kind of person that hate waiting more than anything on planet earth. i dont want to buy 2x 480 and then my psu will fail me..
 
i dont also want to waste such a great opportunity of such a great deal on the 480 ! i am ralking about same performance as the gtx 570 and $130 cheaper and 0.2gb more vram !
 
 
EDIT: i mentioned that you have gtx 480, how much power your system is totalling ? this could help me alot !

I mean, since you've got your 800W PSU recently set up.  I'm saying just wait and see if it's up to the task before you jump to any conclusions.  As it said in that article, it recommends a minimum of 800W but you seem to think that your PSU may be capable of going up to ~1000W.  Seeing that you have that much confidence in your 800W PSU, what I'm saying is, when you go SLI with two GTX 480's - see how it pans out.  If your PSU isn't up to the task, you'll know and you can go from there.

At idle including the rest of my system, it's at ~307W.
At load including the rest of my system, it's at ~560W.
 
I know this because my APC UPS (865W) has an LCD on it showing various figures including wattage, voltage, etc.
 
Edit:  I'm going to refer you to this thread.

okay, you just convinced me with getting at least 900w quality power supply.
 
now the final solution is to return the psu tomorrow and get the 2 gtx 480 and a minimum of 900 watts power supply or you want to suggest something else maybe better without returning the power supply ? :)

Abruzzi


yeh but the gs800w i am already using it and already took me about 3 hours to hide and manage the cables :)

i was searching and i found this article : http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Corsair-GS800-Power-Supply-Review/1103/8   saying that the psu can go up to 997w without a problem :D i mean i dont really want to return the psu again and send it to ups to give it back to newegg and then put my old psu back and do all the wires all over again and then order a new psu and wait for it to ship XDD i mean OMG ! it will take me a month to get everything settled :)

 
No, it's not without a problem. You have to watch the ripple. Quality capacitors are rated for 100-150mV. A lot of good quality PSU's can keep the ripple suppression below 40mV under full load. Which keeps your power stable and PSU running cool under load. Your 800GS gets up to 75mV at just under a 800w load.
 
This means if you try to run SLI GTX 480's on that PSU, you might get a couple of weeks... Possibly a few months, but it will not be able to hold up to that kind of power usage.

That being said, a single GTX 480 will fit your needs just fine. I had a GTX 480 prior to my current HD6950 2GB. The GTX 480 handled games a little better when it came down to single card scenario's.  But when you Crossfire HD6950's you will see more than enough performance for any game AND they consume a lot less power, so you could go down that path with your 800GS.

@RainStryke thanks for the reply. 
 
i guess i will return the psu then.
 
Before the thread is closed. can anyone here tell me what gpus the corsair gs800 800w can run in sli/cf ?

That PSU can handle up to a pair of HD6970's on the AMD side and a pair of GTX 570's on the Nvidia side. If you have the option to return the PSU and a pair of GTX 480's sound good to you. There is no better deal than this PSU right now:
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121089
 
Very solid unit, only thing that is better is the $259 Seasonic Platinum 1000w and it's not by much at all.

**** ! they ran out of stock ! i knew that this gonna happen. i am so pissed off right now !

They are in stock elsewhere.  Where were you looking and where are you from?
 
Edit:  You might just want to pick up one of this user's 580 3GB's for $425 (with option to RMA through him if needed); that way you can save your 800W PSU and have more than enough VRAM and performance for your setup.
http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=1477974

A quality 800W PSU may be able to handle SLI 480s (total system wattage shouldn't exceed ~650-750W at stock) but it isn't recommended, especially if overclocking or using the system intensively. In any event, even if the GS800 isn't powerful enough to run the system it's very unlikely you'll experience anything but shutdown under load. This power supply implements over power protection that should prevent the PSU from failing when overloaded.

Really surprised nobody brought this up here.
You can gain a decent amount of vram back by changing to a 'classic' theme(which disables windows aero).  right click your desktop and hit personalize.  click the classic theme and then launch bf3 and check your vram usage.
 
Someone mentioned installing the 285.62 driver, however... The manufacturer fix for this issue requires your bf3 to be fully patched AND you have to be using 285.79 driver or higher!  It'll automatically disables aero for you when you launch the game, and re-enable it when you quit. It's in the bf3 1.2 patch notes.
 
That said... From what I understand... Even doing this you need about 1.2gb vram for bf3 on ultra at 1080p.

well, @NazcaC2 when i click on the link, it says
"Access is Denied. You either don't have the right to access or have attempted to access a private area. Please login with sufficient credential"
 
about where i live, i live in California.
 
i called newegg to ask them a couple of question and appearantly the PSU i bought 3 days ago is now on sale (15% OFF) so they said that they will give me a gift card for $18.75 XD so now i cannot even return it.
 
anyways, i went to my local store today and sold my gtx 560 ti and a non-branded 550w psu for $175 XD(i really just wanted to sell it as fast as possible).
 
now the total amount of money i have is $430 and looking for a good gpu and then i will save up for another gpu to put in sli/cf :) 
  
cannot belive it i found the gtx 480s in TIGERDIRECT ! for $219.99 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2148469&CatId=3669 XD
 
but cannot buy it cuz of my crappy psu....
 
so waht do you think of a good gpu for the $430 i have ? XD

I'm just wondering why you have your heart set on SLI/Crossfire at 1600x900.
 
As I said before, keep your 800W PSU and get one of the GTX 580 3GB cards the user "Emach" was selling in the Marketplace for $425.
 
About EVGA Marketplace, you need to Apply.
 
Steps to Apply

1. Have more than 50 posts
2. Mouse over "Member List" in the forum menu
3. Select "User Groups"
4. Click "Apply"

thank you very very much you helped me alot ! but are these people trust worthy ? i mean i have never bought something online except for food/clothes and from NEWEGG :D

You're welcome.
 
It helps to read their Heatware (a profile page showing feedback from others as a buyer/seller).  As a rule in the TOS, each seller must list their Heatware in a link.
 
Example Heatware:  Emach
As you can see, this user has high positive feedback.  I think it's safe to say this user is very honest.

just one more thing as i dont want to prolong the thread even more, will the shipping be free ? is the item returnable ? and should i wait for the new gpus from nvidia so the 500 series will drop in price ?

The $425 includes shipping via USPS for people in the USA (to the continuous 48 states).
 
Waiting is your call but for $425 is hard to pass up too.

Abruzzi


well, @NazcaC2 when i click on the link, it says
"Access is Denied. You either don't have the right to access or have attempted to access a private area. Please login with sufficient credential"

about where i live, i live in California.

i called newegg to ask them a couple of question and appearantly the PSU i bought 3 days ago is now on sale (15% OFF) so they said that they will give me a gift card for $18.75 XD so now i cannot even return it.

anyways, i went to my local store today and sold my gtx 560 ti and a non-branded 550w psu for $175 XD(i really just wanted to sell it as fast as possible).

now the total amount of money i have is $430 and looking for a good gpu and then i will save up for another gpu to put in sli/cf :) 
 
cannot belive it i found the gtx 480s in TIGERDIRECT ! for $219.99 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2148469&CatId=3669 XD

but cannot buy it cuz of my crappy psu....

so waht do you think of a good gpu for the $430 i have ? XD

 
Wait, i'm a little confused. Are you wanting SLI or just a single card? Cause your PSU can handle a single GTX 480 without a problem.

Well for the 2 GTX 480 i want SLI. For the GTX 580 I want 1 because all i have is $430 to buy a gpu with.