Power Supply; What wattage do I really need?

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Honorable
Jan 31, 2014
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I am fairly confused on what I should purchase.

I plan on putting an NVIDIA GeFORCE GTX 660 in my computer. I have been having problems with it, my computer crashes when i play games, my current GTX 560 crashes my comp on certain games. I've made another thread about that and im assuming the conclusion is my PSU. I have an Azza 700w PSU.

I've been thinking about replacing it with a Corsair 700w PSU, but as I read through forums apparently all I really need is 500w - 600w? I don't want to under do it, but I also do not want to waste money and over kill it.

I do not know how my computer pulls, I am not currently at my computer to find that out, but I do have my specs.

AMD FX(tm)-6100 Six-Core Processor 3.3 GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 (BUT I PLAN ON PUTTING IN THE 660)
Dedicated Memory 2.0 GB
Total Memory 3.9 GB
Memory 8.2 GB
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition Service Pack 1 (build 7601), 64-bit

I have nothing fancy in my computer, I say it's just an average gaming computer. I could really use the help in what to purchase though. Thanks for reading.
 
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badwolf_2616

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Apr 13, 2014
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By the looks of it, 700W should be fine. Obviously going too low can cause short-circuiting, but going over will also cause problems.

When the comp crashes is there an error message? What exactly happens before the crash ( blue screen, frozen image...etc.)?
 
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Dark Lord of Tech

Dark Lord of Tech

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Jan 31, 2014
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Blue Screen on the 560 on certain games, my computer just restarts on the 660.
Here's my thread I kind of just gave up on.
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2006365/computer-crashing-freezing-shortly-playing-games.html

I haven't put my 660 in since i posted in that thread
 
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badwolf_2616

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Apr 13, 2014
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Blue Screen is almost always related to RAM issues (in my experience) but I did have a similar problem with my old graphics card where the screen would just freeze mid game (games such as CS:GO). It turned out that it just couldn't handle the newest driver update. Have you tried downgrading your driver back to an earlier version?
 
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VincentP

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Oct 18, 2013
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To run the system with the current components you should have a power supply with rated continuous power over 370W and a rating of at least 31A on the combined +12V rails.
The GTX 660 uses less power than the GTX 560.

These rating sound really low, but you would be surprised how little power cheap power supplies can continuously deliver, even those rated at very high peak power.

I would suggest you get a good quality 500W power supply. There is no harm in going higher except the cost, and don't choose a higher rated low quality supply and think that is the same.

Corsair makes a number of different power supply series. The VS and CX series are budget models. TX and HX series are much better.
There are however better value options:
XFX Pro 550
Seasonic G 550

Seasonic are the best manufacturer on the market. The Seasonic G 550 is 80 plus gold certified.
The XFX Pro 550 is a good value option of similar quality, actually manufactured by Seasonic and branded XFX.
 
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Honorable
Jan 31, 2014
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I think ive tried playing the games without update the driver since at the time there was an update to the driver, ive tried both. I don't remember. Like I said I am not at the computer right now but will be this friday and weekend. But I wanted to buy a new PSU now to get it by the weekend so I can try it out.

 
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Jan 31, 2014
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Is a Corsair CX 600 still pretty decent? Amazon offers it for 60$ and I can get it by Thursday which is great because then I can use it. As much as i'd love to get the biggest bang for my buck, I'm impatient and want to get this thing fixed ASAP. I really don't plan on doing much to my computer. Maybe in the future upgrading my graphics card again. Unless you can find me whichever PSU you recommend where I can get it as soon as possible?
 
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VincentP

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Oct 18, 2013
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The specifications of the Corsair CX 600 are plenty to run your system.
The quality of components like capacitors is not as good as the supplies we have suggested because this is a budget model from Corsair.
In saying that, plenty of people get by with the CX series. They are certainly better than the power supply you have now or most power supplies that come with a case.
The Corsair CX 600 should be fine if that's what you can get easily.
Have a look at your store of choice though and see what you can get any model of Seasonic over 500W for.
 
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Honorable
Jan 31, 2014
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I put in the Corsair CX 600 and it works fine, it allows me to use my new graphics card and I can play the games that would originally crash.(except for 1 but I think that's because the game might be corrupt). Thank you
 
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