I was just looking to finally replace my system after 7 years when I came across 4870 then 4870 X2.
According to AMD, a Crossfire 4870 X2 is best recommended with 1KW(!) power supply.
Is this correct?

Also, does anyone have any idea where can I pre-order this card?

1KW!!! Where did you see that?
That is Crazy.
In short, the 4870x2 will not require anything near that in reality.

Here is a review that shows total system power usage under load at just over 400w.

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3354&p=8
That was with a QuadCoreExtreme.

Suffice it to say a high quality 600W+ CPU is more than enough, even with a heavy OF and added components.

no but if you go for 2x 4870x2's in crossfire you will need a 1000w psu to be safe.

http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/forums [...] c=7&t=9354

One card will require around 250 Watts.

Are you talking about one card or two cards. Because you say "...Crossfire 4870 X2..."?

So, if you are talking about two 4870 x2's it would be a good idea to get a 1KW PS

That's exactly what I meant.
So I guess no way now how of using x2 4870 x2 with lets say 800 or 750 psu, right?

850 watts seems more practical imo.


since 1 takes 250, 2 would probably take 510 so 300 left for the other components seems right.

You just confirmed it I guess.
Yes I was indeed talking about the upcoming dual core card running in CFX - meaning having 2 of them.

Sorry if I misphrased or something but I was referring to 2 cards of the 4870 x2 brand.
So yes, it comes down to 1kw i'm afraid.

guys i have one 4870X2 and my X PSU (enermax modu82+ 625w) didnt handle it so i bring the BFG ES 800 Watt and then everything works fine on the same hardware and same OS !

a single 4870x2 i would recommend a good quality 600w and 750-800w for cf. 1000w overkill.

if your building a new system as i am with 2 x 500 gb hdd a quad core cpu 4 gb ram and a 4870x2 i would go for the 1000w psu. only because if you decide to stick another 4870x2 and more ram plus another hdd or 2 along with sound card, tv capture card or any other pci component not mentioning usb devices you would stll have more than enuf power in reserves,, meaning your psu is not working as hard which means it will last longer with a nice balance of power all round your system. If you can afford a 4870x2 then the price of a 1kw psu isn't to bad to make sure you have a steady flow of power going around every component in your system.
well thats my advice and thats what i'm doing even though the 1000W psu was about £40 more than a 850W.

This is my build to date just waiting on mother board and gpu to build should be here in around 2 - 3 days hopefully for the weekend.....

INTEL Q6600 SLACR 2.40GHZ
MAINBOARD ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA X48
SOUND INTEGRATED
VIDEO RADEON SAPPHIRE HD4870 X2
RAM CORSAIR TWINX XMS-2-8500 2x2GB
HDD 2 X 500GB S-ATA 16MB
THERMALTAKE TSUNAMI VA3000
PSU THERMALTAKE TOUGHPOWER 1000W

thats without my usb devices and heatsink fan plus 2 extra 120mm fans for extra airflow plus more smaller fans dotted around i may even decide to go 8gb ram and stick another 500gb hdd in yet i don't know but a 1000W psu will allow you to add more devices without a fear of you psu not being able to handle the power consumption and still having a nice regular even flow across components and not having to find out that because you added a usb device or pci device extra you have to rush out and buy another psu to cope with the extra power needed.

Keep in mind you don't want your PSU running near full load for long periods of time. It's better to not put so much strain on it. That is why I think a 1000 watt PSU is a better choice than an 800 or 850.

look at my setup and im running all of it on a 500w. yes i no its risking running that close to the max. But a quad and 2 4870x2 bunch of fans and hardrives would wat use 700w at peak? a high quality 750-800 would be enough. 1000pus is safe to use but i would only get it if the price difference isnt so much.
im sure this will be enough to power ur system
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341011

I think thats running it a bit close to maximum also what extra usb devices have you got along wioth other pci stuff i'll see you in around 12 - 18 month when your buying a new psu when your capasitors blow up like a big balloon fill with gas and go bang all this will happen during a good battle in crisis all call of duty 4.most people have 2 - 3 optical drives and 2 - 3 hdds in your sig you only have 1 hdd and 1 optical drive. try doing a power regulation test on your 500w on idle and full load you will proberbly find that your power fluctuates between components.A 1000w is a lot of power i know this but it safe guards the running of your system and everything is running with a steady flow of power.