Environmentally
friendly computer hardware is a growing trend, and while performance videocards
are usually the worst power-hogs the situation is steadily improving. The
ASUS EAH4890 TOP uses 8-pin and 6-pin PCI Express power connectors in addition to the power it
draws from the PCI Express x16 slot (total card power ~190W).
This is a little less complicated than high-end
videocards that demand the less common 8-pin PCI Express connector. Let's take a look at how much power the ASUS EAH4890 draws
in a typical computer system.
Total System Power Draw
Comparisons
Here's how the ASUS EAH 4890 TOP HTDI/1GD5/A videocard stacks
up in real life against a couple different cards. PCSTATS measures total system
power draw and compares that in 3D loaded (max value recorded in 3DMark06) and
idle states (at Windows desktop).
The power supply used in each test is an A-PFC compliant
PC Power and Cooling 750W model.
 Videocard Power Consumption (Total System
Power Draw) |
| Idle at Desktop |
Points |
Ranking |
| Palit HD4870 X2 2GB |
177 |
   |
| Asus EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP/G/3DHTI/1G/A |
153 |
|
| Asus EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP/G/3DHTI/1G/A (Crossfire) |
222 |
|
| MSI R3870X2-T2D1G-OC |
165 |
|
 Asus EAH4890 HTDI/1GD5/A (rev.A) |
138 |
   |
| Asus EAH4890 HTDI/1GD5/A |
137 |
|
| Asus EAH4850 HTDI/512M |
120 |
|
| MSI R4830 T2D512-OC (Radeon 4830) |
108 |
|
| Gigabyte GV-R477D5-512HB |
135 |
|
| Gigabyte GV-R477D5-512HB Crossfire |
180 |
|
| Asus EAH4770 FML/DI/512MD5/A |
105 |
|
| Asus EAH4770 HTDI/512MD5/A |
101 |
|
| Gigabyte GV-R435OC-512I |
79 |
|
| Diamond Viper Radeon HD 2900XT CrossFire |
195 |
|
| Asus EAX1900XTX 2DHTV/512M/A |
160 |
|
| Asus EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M/A |
150 |
   |
| ASUS ENGTX260 MT/HTDI/896MD3-A |
135 |
|
| Gigabyte GV-N26OC896H-GA |
112 |
|
| Sparkle GTX260 Core 216 |
140 |
|
| ASUS ENGTS250 DK |
120 |
|
| ASUS ENGTS250 DK in SLI |
170 |
|
| ASUS EN9600GT DI/512MD3/A |
86 |
|
| Gigabyte GV-N96TSL-1GI |
96 |
|
| nVidia Geforce 9600GTs in SLI |
166 |
|
| Asus EN9600GT Top/HTDI/512M |
152 |
|
| Palit Geforce 9600GT 512 |
151 |
|
| ASUS EN9400GT DI/1GLP |
85 |
|
| MSI NX8800GTX-T2D768E |
196 |
|
| MSI NX7950GX2-T2D1GE |
183 |
|
| MSI NX7900GTX-T2D512E |
165 |
|
| Gigabyte GV-NX76T256D-RH |
140 |
|
| 3D Loaded: |
Points |
Ranking |
| Palit HD4870 X2 2GB |
421 |
|
| Asus EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP/G/3DHTI/1G/A |
390 |
|
| Asus EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP/G/3DHTI/1G/A
(Crossfire) |
610 |
|
| MSI R3870X2-T2D1G-OC |
330 |
|
| Asus EAH4890 HTDI/1GD5/A
(rev.A) |
244 |
|
| Asus EAH4890 HTDI/1GD5/A |
225 |
|
| Asus EAH4850 HTDI/512M |
202 |
|
| MSI R4830 T2D512-OC (Radeon 4830) |
177 |
|
| Gigabyte GV-R477D5-512HB |
186 |
|
| Gigabyte GV-R477D5-512HB Crossfire |
279 |
|
| Asus EAH4770 FML/DI/512MD5/A |
158 |
|
| Asus EAH4770 HTDI/512MD5/A |
153.3 |
|
| Gigabyte GV-R435OC-512I |
109 |
|
| Diamond Viper Radeon HD 2900XT CrossFire |
549 |
|
| Asus EAX1900XTX 2DHTV/512M/A |
333 |
|
| Asus EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M/A |
252 |
|
| ASUS ENGTX260 MT/HTDI/896MD3-A |
277 |
|
| Gigabyte GV-N26OC896H-GA |
215 |
|
| Sparkle GTX260 Core 216 |
262 |
|
| ASUS ENGTS250 DK |
214 |
|
| ASUS ENGTS250 DK in SLI |
316 |
|
| ASUS EN9600GT DI/512MD3/A |
148 |
|
| Gigabyte GV-N96TSL-1GI |
160 |
|
| nVidia Geforce 9600GTs in SLI |
313 |
|
| Asus EN9600GT Top/HTDI/512M |
220 |
|
| Palit Geforce 9600GT 512 |
221 |
|
| ASUS EN9400GT DI/1GLP |
109 |
|
| MSI NX8800GTX-T2D768E |
345 |
|
| MSI NX7950GX2-T2D1GE |
315 |
|
| MSI NX7900GTX-T2D512E |
277 |
|
| Gigabyte GV-NX76T256D-RH |
213 |
| |
The power draw
of the Asus EAH4890 TOP videocard at idle is pretty much the same as the other Radeon HD
4890 graphics cards PCSTATS tested previously. Under load the power spikes up to 244W, which
is still quite manageable, and noticeably less than Asus' Geforce GTX 260
videocard. Asus new electrical system does seem to need a little more
power than the old one, however.
While the Asus EAH4890 TOP does require dual power connectors,
those really seem like they're more for stability during voltage modification
rather than to supply huge amounts of power. The overall power draw for this
videocard is quite reasonable.
Next up PCSTATS overclocks the ASUS EAH4890 HTDI/1GD5/A,
boosts the GPU voltage, then overclock it some more!
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