PSU with too low power output – Damage to components possible?

Johnny20270 · Apr 17, 2014

Hi all
I am building a PC with the following specs

Asus Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 2GB

ASUS Z87-PRO Socket 1150 Motherboard
Intel Core i7 4770K – Won’t OC for a while
Corsair 120mm Hydro Series H80i CPU Cooler
Samsung 250GB Basic SATA Solid State Drive
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1866 RAM
1 x (4 speed) DVD RW - 6 years old, from old PC
2 x 500GB Western Digital Black 7200RPM – 3 years old, from old PC

Now my old PSU broke a few months ago and I bought a new one so would like to use it if possible

500W Coolermaster. Now it could be either (can’t remember)
(A) Coolermaster Elite Power 500W Fully Wired Efficient Power Supply
[Dual 12v Rail Delivering upto 30 Amps, 1 PCI-E Connectors for Graphics Cards]
Or
(B) Coolermaster G-Series 500W Fully Wired 80+ Bronze Power Supply
[Dual 12v Rail Delivering upto 38 Amps, 2 PCI-E Connectors for Graphics Cards]

Actually I’m a little annoyed as at the time I informed that guy in the store that I will upgrade to a spec similar to above in a few months time, I was going to get the 650W version but he sold me the 500W (as he didn’t have the 650W in stock)

My question is the following
1. Will I get away with a 500W PSU?
2. If it’s a possibility, can I just try it and see what happens? Will I damage some components?

TechCIDLC · Apr 17, 2014

You can get away even with a 400w power supply. But if you're going to overclock later on, you might want to get higher wattage. So yeah, you can use your Cooler Master PSUs.

STACKS ON DECK · Apr 17, 2014

bad PSU is a threat to your system . cheap or low watt PSU damages gpu and mobo at large . . get a good 600 or 650 watt PSU

Joseph DeGarmo · Apr 17, 2014

Cooler Master is not that great for PSUs. I would suggest something like an XFX or Seasonic 600w or better.

cdrkf · Apr 17, 2014

Johnny20270 :

A good 500w supply would be fine for that build. Unfortunately you've gone with a cheap supply there. For Coolermaster supplies you shouldn't get less than the GX seriese. Easy way to tell a good supply will be single 12V rails (with dual rails you can only rely of the current from 1 rail, as unless it's perfectly balanced all the current gets drawn from the rail with the highest voltage and usually one is slightly different to the other).

I don't think you're in any risk of damaging anything just by plugging it all in, if the supply can't handle the load the machine simply wont boot. The danger is longer term a supply like that could blow- and that's where things could get damaged.

Onus · Apr 17, 2014

You could use a quality 500W PSU in your system, but neither model from CM qualifies. The "Elite Power" in particular is likely to be a near-junk 430W PSU with a liar-label on it; that one could indeed damage your system if stressed beyond its capacity. Only their V-series is worth considering, as those are made by Seasonic. They've got so much near-junk in general though, that I'd avoid the brand completely. Stick to a Seasonic- or Superflower-built unit for maximum quality and long term reliability.

Johnny20270 · Apr 17, 2014

ok its more sh*t that I thought. Its a crappy Elite version, so will dump and get a seasonic as suggested
Ok to future proof by perhaps getting another GeForce GTX 760 2GB would a Seasonic M12II-620W be ok?

STACKS ON DECK · Apr 17, 2014

two 760 means 620w is almost ok . but 750 watt is good enough

Johnny20270 · Apr 17, 2014

ok very good, problem solved. Many thanks

STACKS ON DECK · Apr 17, 2014

you welcome bro

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PSU with too low power output – Damage to components possible?

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