MeteorsRaining :
1. Not talking in the sense of the Voltage we set in the MoBo for CPU. The PSU converts the Voltage from mains to different Voltages, like 3.3V, 5V, 12V, etc. Read about PSU's voltage regulation. Good FAQ here:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDFAQs
2. The voltage taken by the CPU from the MoBo is provided by the PSU. Try OCing i7 with Maximus Formula and CX500 :lol:
3. Hit and miss. You can theorotically power up a R9 290 on CX 500 with FX 8, if that's the case.
4. No.
PS: 10th Grader here, assembled one rig (yay?).
Sorry Aryend i didn't want to drag it that far on this topic but spreading this "quality" nonsense has to end.
Now back to the talk with the specialist... you just done the math and calculated that only swapping 7870 to 970 gives 30W savings from 12V rail which can be spend on overclocking that FX within the same total power drain from the PSU.... ill pass the talk those 175W and 145W numbers since its also "on papers"... put those cards into bitcoin mining and you will see what I'm talking about... but lets assume you are right.
Now if you look closer at any decent OC tests you can estimate what will be the power drain after the OC:
http://www.play3r.net/reviews/amd-piledriver-fx-4350-fx6350-fx-8350-shootout-review/10/
" When I hit 4.6 with the FX-6300, it jumped around 60 watts at the wall."
CPU(95)+GPU(145+)+THE_REST(50W) / 0,8 (bronze cert efficiency) +60W(raw difference from OC'ing) = 422W
... thats 85% of declared 500W
Now nobody say he need to be so eager to get at point of 4.6 Ghz.. he might be more sensible, like i would and get some good spot without drastic overvoltage nor temperatures getting sky high since that is indeed stupid.
He could even only use that 30W for OC only saved from swapping the cards... thats still OC in my vocabulary but logically its the same level of possible PSU failure... if you claim different then please enlighten me.
I'm not gonna say how many PC's did i build since its irrelevant to the topic and i did build fair enough to have some knowledge.
On the other hand i did build my own setups which is only top of the ice like P200 @ 250Mhz, Celeron 300A @ 483Mhz (volt mod), P3 500@800Mhz, Athlon XP 2k+@2,2Ghz (volt+multiplier mod), Athlon mXP 3k+ @ 3Ghz (volt+multiplier mod), Athlon 64 3k+ @ 2,5Ghz, C2D 8400@3,8 Ghz, C2Q 8400 @3,5Ghz... and Xeon 1230v2 @ stock lol
MeteorsRaining im very glad of your input in the forum with MB Tier List.. etc... but please give me numbers to prove I'm wrong, which i would gladly take on my chest in favor of learning something new or you are simply talking bullshit.
Edit: Did also the math about your suggested 290+ FX8... 125+275+50 /0.8 = 565... nope not even theoretically