Hi, I currently have 1 HD3870 running great in my system. I wanted to know if I can x-fire another one with my current set up? I see ATI recommends a 550w power supply for x-fire with this card. Mine is a 520w but it does have 35a rail.

cpu=Intel qx6850
=2 hd's
=2 optical drives
=3 usb's
=4 case fans
=APEVIA ATX-AS520W-BK 520W

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817148008

If this will not fly then can somone recommend a good PS that will not totally destroy my budget? Thanks in Advance!

I doubt it will be enough. look into a Corsair 550VX or a 520HX.

i will do that. Thanks for the input

35A seems good. May work, best to try it first. I'd try it without both HHD and optical drives if possible. Just unplug them, see if it boots up, then add them back if they do. Then try running Crysis or Prime95 or 3dMark06 to see if your system crashes. Also look for deals on 650-750W PSU.

It's definately not enough. It's 2 4870s plus a qx6850 "extreme" line of 65nm quad. Get at least 750w psu with good rail ampage. Don't buy another 550w unit, it's just not enough.

you need a new PSU

You have a 520W PSU, getting another 520W isn't good. Neither is getting a 550W. Get a 750W.

Lol, yeah, exactly.

Anandtech said their 1000w psu wasn't enough for dual 3850. They probably did something wrong though.
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3338&p=5

Or spend $20 on a watt meter (kill-a-watt) or similar, plug it in, max out the system and see what the draw is at the moment. That would give you an idea of how close you get to 520 (you can ignore PSU losses as the meter measurement includes that). If you're well under 520 then get the 2nd card and max out and check. As long as you're running at around 400 max you should be okay with occasional peaks higher than 400 as drives spin up etc.

Of course, if you've OC'ed the CPU to the max and intend to do the same on the video cards, you may need a bigger PSU ...

I'n running two Radeon 3870's and a load of other compnents on a now year old version of the TP700 with no problem. I have used Apreiva 500w units similar to yours in much lesser systems and had them die. Doubt the PSU you have would last long under a heavy load, mine didn't. I still have one Aprieva 500 watter running though. That socket 754 system only pulls about 150 watts at idle at desktop with a single x800 GTO. I wouldn't attempt installing the 500w Aprieva in here. Have a PCP & C 610w backup for this system.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817153035