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I need help deciding if I need to upgrade my psu please

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  • Cooler Master
  • Power Supplies
  • Support
  • Components
  • Nvidia
  • Graphics Cards
Last response: in Components
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October 9, 2014 11:05:43 AM

Hi guys, I am trying to figure out if it would be necessary for me to update my Cooler Master ex2 Extreme 625 watts power supply.

That is because I'm planning to purchase, in a week or two, a brand new gtx 970 (Gigabyte model). Now as far as I understand it should work without any issues since the 970 is suposed to require a 500w psu, but suddenly I see all this 80+ controversy, and I am honestly confused.

So help me decide on what to do please.

Tl: Dr: Will a gtx 970 and an AMD fx8320 run properly on a NON overclocked system with a Cooler Master ex2 Extreme 625 w psu?

Thanks guys turns out my psu is really bad xD I did saw the category list i just searched for it using ctrl+f and typing ex2 did not gave me any results, silly error xD.

More about : deciding upgrade psu

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a b ) Power supply
a b U Graphics card
October 9, 2014 11:10:31 AM

The PSU you have right now falls under the Replace Immediately category here on Tom's: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1804779/power-su...

I'd recommend buying a new PSU whether you're upgrading anything else or not.

Something like this would do nicely:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $49.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-09 14:10 EDT-0400

EDIT: 80+ is a certification given to PSUs with an efficiency of at least 80%. There are different grades (bronze, silver, gold, platinum, titanium) for different levels of efficiency. You should get a PSU with at least 80+ bronze.
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October 9, 2014 11:11:48 AM

A single card will run fine on that PSU, however of you go to SLI or overclock you will be hard pressed to get a 750w or higher.

Edit: In light of the post above, the XFX series are tier one and top notch for their quality. However, i cannot find much on reviews stating it is such a bad PSU. In fact, for 45 bucks it doesn't seem bad for the money.
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a b ) Power supply
a b Î Nvidia
a c 110 U Graphics card
October 9, 2014 11:32:36 AM

That PSU is garbage. They put '625' on it but it's two +12V rails provide no more than 576W combined. In fact nowhere does it specify its a 625W PSU, for the obvious reason of tricking buyers and getting away with it.

Take a look at the review of its smaller '475' brother in the same series
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-Ex...

Replace it with a better PSU as Vexillarius suggested.
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a b U Graphics card
October 9, 2014 11:40:39 AM

Just to reiterate what other have said, regardless of wattage, that power supply is a stick of poo and should be replaced.

Keep it in the closet as a backup unit that you can use for test purposes; if you ever need to diagnose a problem and it's suggested to "try a different power supply and see if it solves the problem," at least it will be good for that. But you do not want to trust it to run your new $500 graphics card.
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