Khaled wroteI really really dislike using power adapters ( molex to pci express 6 or 8 pin ). If the Powersuplly could handle the card it would be ready for one. no need for adapters. Well i know the thermaltake 600w toughpower can handle the 580 but just barely. I suggest he goes for 570 and dont risk the power limitation.
The power consumption difference between the two is small. 219W TDP for the GTX 570 vs 244W TDP for the GTX 580. It isn't that 25W that one should care about, it's the whole idea of putting such power hogs in the system in the first place. The minimum power supply requirement is 550W for the 570 vs 600W for the 580 (and we know how generous those can be, a system packing these would probably not draw more than 400W in total under load).
Nevertheless, I prefer keeping the max load on the PSU <=70%, so that the lifespan is increased and problems are reduced. This means a 600W PSU could safely power those if total system power consumption does not go over 420W (give or take a few watts, no problem). If the PSU is old, or an old model, and is not up to par, I do not recommend you go with such power hogs.
Save it for the 660Ti/670, the 680 is already 190W TDP with a typical power consumption of 170W (take 190W as the value for safety). The HD7950 and 7970 are the choice if you want to go AMD, but they consume more power (210W for 7970).
