Help with a GPU and PSU upgrade

TallestJon96 · Dec 27, 2014

Hello all,
I'm looking to upgrade my GPU from my current 750 ti (with a 10% OC) to either a gtx 970 or 960 (when it releases). I am using it mostly for gaming (battlefield, shadow of mordor, and lots of valve games). My rig is a Dell Inspiron 620 with the 750 ti, and a Samsung 850 pro 256gb attached to an Asus 144hz 1080p monitor. Here are the specs for the 620:

http://www.engadget.com/products/dell/inspiron/620/specs/

In summary, i3 2120 3.3ghz, 4gb ram, 750 ti.

However I only have a 300w PSU. I would most likely use either the Asus or gigabyte mini itx 970, because of the good price and size. Noise isn't a concern because the PC is under a desk.

My questions are:

1. Do I need a better PSU? According to annandtech and Tomshardware, peak system power consumption with a 970 and an i7 was about 300w.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8568/the-geforce-gtx-970-review-feat-evga/15

I'm aware that it is a bad idea to max out your PSU, but they were using a cpu that has a 65w high TDP.

2. Is there a way to measure power consumption without new hardware?

3. What about waiting for a 960?

buzznut · Dec 27, 2014

this will help with PSU calculations
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

But you'll want a 500W supply. I think the GTX 970 is a mismatch with that CPU, but you could always save up for a core i5
Waiting for the 960 is an OK idea, but it depends on your current needs.

fkr · Dec 27, 2014

you are in a tough spot. a gtx 970 is going to be bottlenecked by your CPU I would think. a new CPU will help performance but not much with the gpu you have. and with any upgrade you are going to have to spend $50+ on a new PSU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

the above PSU will work and is one of the best

BBradley · Dec 27, 2014

I would recommend to have a good, quality, 450W PSU with a 970.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139058&cm_re=corsair_450-_-17-139-058-_-Product - Corsair PSU for 59.99, currently on sale!

There is no telling when the 960 will release, so, only you can decide if its worth waiting. Are you happy with the performance of your 750 TI? Or do you feel it's really time for an upgrade?

larkspur · Dec 27, 2014

I'd probably just go ahead and get a GTX 970.
Get a quality 500w PSU. Your 300w will definitely NOT be enough.
There are lots of PSU choices out there. This 500w evga was used in the recent Tom's system builder marathon and would do fine: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438016&cm_re=500w_PSU-_-17-438-016-_-Product

Havo_k · Dec 27, 2014

You need minimum of 400w psu, as per Nvidia's specification its 500w. So yes you will need to upgrade your power supply. Anything else than 400 watts is risk, I would recommend 500 w. Better be safe than sorry.

Secondly, if you can afford the gtx 970 go for it. I would still suggest it over the gtx 960. Otherwise if its pushing your budget then wait for 960.

TallestJon96 · Dec 27, 2014

You are all saying get a 400-500w PSU but it's seems like that is more than enough. For my system with a 970, the calculator from buzznut says 300w is just barely more than I need. That fits with my calculations. 65w Cpu + 145w GPU = 210w. Add in the miscellaneous hard drives and ram, and 275-300w looks to be about right.

Am I wrong?

fkr · Dec 27, 2014

TallestJon96 :

here are real world test that say that these cards need 300watts just for the GPU.

http://techreport.com/review/27203/geforce-gtx-970-cards-from-msi-and-asus-reviewed/5

this is not even a true peak usage with a benchmark this is just playing crysis 3

there are other articles on toms hardware that show higher usage also. It is not a worthwhile risk

Havo_k · Dec 27, 2014

TallestJon96 :

It really depends on the quality of psu. Even most high quality psu aren't more than 90% efficient.

nikoli707 · Dec 27, 2014

i highly doubt your going to find any quality 450w power supply that has two 6 pin pcie connectors, let alone one with a +2pin. and if a power supply says its 500w, its 500w, its not 90% of 500w. the power supply theoretically would use 520w from the wall while putting out 500w.

xfx 550w anyways, duh.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $52.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-27 19:25 EST-0500

BBradley · Dec 27, 2014

If you were to attempt to stay with the 300W PSU you will be setting yourself up for a real headache.

Many people who have spent time building and troubleshooting PC's will tell you that one thing that you do not want to skimp out on is the power supply! It's possible that with a 970 hooked up to your PSU it may boot, and it may even play some games, however, putting that much load on that PSU is going to severely shorten its lifespan. You will be subjecting yourself to random crashes, reboots, BSOD's, and all sorts of other not so fun stuff!

For $50-$75 you can get a great PSU that will last you for many years to come and not have to worry about system instability.

Here is a modular 500W Corsair PSU that has 2 6+2 pin PCI-e connectors: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139050&cm_re=corsair_PSU-_-17-139-050-_-Product

Only 59.99

fkr · Dec 27, 2014

your power supply only has an 18amp 12v rail so it will only deliver 216watts total for the entire system.

this should be the product sheet for your power supply

http://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/view/175290/DELTA/DPS-300PB-2.html

nikoli707 · Dec 27, 2014

corsair cxm vs xfx ts for near the same price.... hmmm... this is a tough one.

fkr · Dec 27, 2014

this is a no brainer really for for $50 w/$5 MIR or $55 without you get a seasonic 620watt fully modular PSU

SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified
Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

this is the first one i linked in my first post

BBradley · Dec 27, 2014

I'm seeing that PSU listed at $79.99 with a $5 MIR.

But if the OP is willing to shell out a little extra cash, that is a good buy as well.

Edit: Didn't see the promo code. Go for it! Best option by far!

nikoli707 · Dec 27, 2014

fkr :

sry missed that.

that is by far the best option, no question. but the $25off promo code only lasts until 1/1/15 so make a decision.

fkr · Dec 27, 2014

BBradley :

under the name of the PSU on newegg it says

+ USD $25 off w/ promo code EMCWHHD34, ends 1/1/15

TallestJon96 · Dec 27, 2014

Thanks for the advice everyone. According to my math the 300w PSU should be able to squeeze enough power for my needs, but better safe than sorry. I'll get a good 500w or so PSU if I upgrade. That will set me up for future upgrades well, even if it means getting a 960 or 770 instead of a 970.

nikoli707 · Dec 27, 2014

TallestJon96 :

your 300w power supply, along with any other power supply 450w and lower, DOES NOT have the power pins outs to plug into a gtx760/r9-270 or higher gpu. 450w and lower will only have one 6 pin pcie connector. "some" have one 6+2 pin pcie connector. but you will need "two" 6 pin pcie connectors at the very least coming off of the power supply, and some gtx970s and 980s require "two" 6+2 pin pcie connectors. :bounce:

the math doesn't matter, the card wont run unless all its power connections are populated.

KingSaif · Dec 27, 2014

Don't listen to anyone who says 350w will be fine, it won't! Check out this chart: http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm
It's a trusted source, and it says the 970 requires at least a 500w PSU. Personally, I've gotten an XFX 550w which works perfectly with my MSI GTX 970 & 4690K. You could even go 100w-150w over the 500w requirement, but that's up to you. And yes, you should DEFINITELY go for the 970. After unparking (3 of) my cores, I get 90 FPS avg in BF4 Ultra 1080p 16x AF with it. Insane numbers. This card is a miracle. Another option would be to wait for the price of the 980 to drop and then get that but idk if it will drop. Some say the 980 is the best single card GPU u can get right now, it's about 7 fps higher in BF4 compared to the 970. Both cards are excellent at overclocking and my MSI edition of the 970 is dead silent and does not exceed 64 degrees celcius while playing BF4.

TallestJon96 · Feb 13, 2015

Update:

I purchased a cx600m and the gigabyte mini Itx GTX 970. I had no problems with installation into my 620, and my performance has more than doubled in most games.

As mentioned before, I have an i3, and there is a small amount of bottlenecking. Bioshock infinite is getting about 10% Less performance than the review benchmarks that have i7s, and bf3 multiplayer is about 80% of what it could be with an i5. For the most part, I think the bottleneck principle is exaggerated quite a bit.

I did not buy a GTX 960 because the performance is disappointing and the memory bus is so narrow.

Thanks to everyone who gave me recommendations, and you were right, there is no 6+2 connector on my 300w PSU, though I still maintain that if it had one it could power my rig.

I'm posting this so anyone else in my situation can have an example. If you want to upgrade to a 970 with an i3, go ahead and don't buy into the bittlenecking stuff too much, but make sure you have a good PSU, and be aware of the games that do bottleneck.

nikoli707 · Feb 13, 2015

TallestJon96 :

i wouldn't say bottlenecks are exaggerated. if your getting 60fps then its fine. but certain cases with an i3/970 you will get 45fps and by going with an i5+ you jump to 60fps which makes a difference. but as long as your happy with your rigs performance as of now, then that is all that matters. you can wait until the games you play get more demanding and you start dropping below 60fps where you will notice the bottleneck and either grab an i5/xeon/i7 to drop into your socket, or upgrade to the latest socket and cpu.

Help with a GPU and PSU upgrade

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