Will a AMD Phenom ii 840t processor be able to handle an AMD 7870 card?

Sausywaffles

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Dec 22, 2012
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I have a AMD Phenom ii 840t processor and my friend is giving me a AMD 7870 card but he said there might be some issues with the card and processor together, like bottle necking or overclocking. He also said i need a separate power supply but dont know if i have one already.Do i need a power supply for a card like that and how do i check if i already have one? Thanks
 
Solution
hmm okay, 250W is not going to cut it for a 7870, if you want to use it you should definitely replace the power supply, this will require some research on your part on which connectors connect to what, how to mount it to the case, etc. so be prepared if you're willing to do it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026&clickid=3RcR9sQ9eTOjUzaXcTTql0CKUkTUENzZuy2C300&iradid=97618&ircid=2106&irpid=79301&nm_mc=AFC-IR&cm_mmc=AFC-IR-_-na-_-na-_-na

something like this is probably your best bet, it's cheap, 20 bucks after MIR, and is immensely better than most generic factory PSUs, and is a pretty decent quality PSU in it's own right.
well you should have a power supply already because without one your current computer wouldn't even turn on?

open up your computer and check the sticker on the power supply box, it should give you ratings like +12V@??A etc, and things like the 12V rails combined shall not exceed ??? Watts or something similar, we need the information to give you an answer

And yes there will be some slight bottleneck because your processor is old while a 7870 is a fairly decent mid ranged graphics card, but it'll be fine, it's not as if your computer will blow up by pairing the two, just that your graphics card won't run as fast as it is capable of, because the processor is slowing it down a bit.
 

Sausywaffles

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Dec 22, 2012
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alright ill check right now
 

Sausywaffles

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Internal 250W (100-240V)
Form factor: internal ATX
Total Wattage: 250W
Nominal input voltage range:
100-127V ~6A
200-240V ~3A
Dimensions: 150mm x 140mm x 86mm (5.9 x 5.5 x 3.4 inches)

i found this on a website that had my computer on it
 
hmm okay, 250W is not going to cut it for a 7870, if you want to use it you should definitely replace the power supply, this will require some research on your part on which connectors connect to what, how to mount it to the case, etc. so be prepared if you're willing to do it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026&clickid=3RcR9sQ9eTOjUzaXcTTql0CKUkTUENzZuy2C300&iradid=97618&ircid=2106&irpid=79301&nm_mc=AFC-IR&cm_mmc=AFC-IR-_-na-_-na-_-na

something like this is probably your best bet, it's cheap, 20 bucks after MIR, and is immensely better than most generic factory PSUs, and is a pretty decent quality PSU in it's own right.
 
Solution
That psu will not power everything once the 7870 is added and probably does not have the proper connections for it. To use it you will need a new power supply and i would say a 500watt from a good brand will do it. I would go corsair cx500 for the pricing, a nzxt 550watt Hale82, or xfx 550watt or rosewill hive 550watt all ranging from $60-80 and the best probably being the xfx 550watt $70, the corsair is $60, and the NZXT Hale82 is $50 on sale it seem at Newegg

There will be some bottleneck as the clock speed of the cpu, but it should surely be better than what you are using now so it will still be a big improvement if its free or for a good price. Also if ur go get a newer motherboard minimum to overclock for better performance would be the asus m5a97 R2 not LE, or gigabyte g97a-ud3/ud3p and overclock if ur friend would do it for u and possibly unlock that 840t x4 to an x6 six core as the T in the naming stands for Thuban which is the six core cpus.
 

Sausywaffles

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Dec 22, 2012
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cool so all i need to do is get this power supply and ill be able to run this card, i just need a 20 dollar power supply for a free 200 dollar card lol.
 

Sausywaffles

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Dec 22, 2012
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so what would be the right wattage for that card im willing to spend what is needed
 
it's enough but it's also really bad, since it's a low quality PSU that can only supply 500W at 65% efficiency on full load, might as well go for the Corsair I linked earlier, it can supply 430W at 82% efficiency on full load so it'll actually be more than that one can provide.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html

refer to this list, I would say do not go below tier 3 for a quality PSU
 
Ah, did not see u mention the cx430 lol, not sure if the 7870 uses two 6 pin pci-e connectors but i think the cx430 only has one, and its just me but id rather have the cables there than use molex adapters. Also the nzxt 550 is same price as the cx430M and like $5 more than the cx430 non modular.