PSU Wattage Problem

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MattXWay

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Oct 21, 2015
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So, im going to get a MSI Nightblade B85C-043XEU,
SPECS:
i5-4460
GTX 750Ti MSI Twin Frozr
8GB RAM

Is 350W Gold 80+ PSU Good enough and will it be ok also with 950/960?
 
Solution
imsqam
You know determining maximum power requirements is one of those subjects which make me want to go find a garbage can and throw up in it. To quote Doctor Who, it is just "A big ball of wibbily wobbly timey wimey stuff." You quote your source, I quote mine

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_950_Gaming/28.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2311121/power-supply-requirements-nvidia-gpus.html

and we just don't know for sure. Testing methodology can be a big factor in the answer that you get.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-card-power-supply-balance,3979.html

In a power system so many transient power spikes of varying duration can occur that it makes it very hard to tell what a system's maximum power...
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gilbadon

gilbadon

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Jun 16, 2008
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We would have to know the EXACT PSU model. Gold efficiency slightly eludes to the quality but is not a good indicator of whether it can power that system. At a glance, I would say 350W is far too little to power this system however
 
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imsqam

imsqam

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I think I understand, the MSI Nightblade B85C-043XEU is a case with an included power supply. It is actually a 80+ Bronze, not a gold. There is no information provided by MSI on power supply make and model.

The amount of information you provided is insufficient, you have to include all the system components including storage, RAM. etc. You have to consider usage and overclocking as well.

FYI, one reference I found (http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm) shows the recommended PSU wattages for the 750 Ti, 950 and 960 (350, 380 and 430 respectively) but it is not just about the GPU. I wouldn't use a 350 even for the 750 Ti.
 
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imsqam

imsqam

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Agreed, the 350 will run the 750 Ti.

But you will have no room for upgrade as the 750 Ti has one of the lowest power requirements for modern cards (love them Maxwell/Kepler GPUs). As well, since the wattage is at the upper end of the requirement, the lifespan of the PSU will be reduced due to accelerated electromigration aging of the conductors in the PSU. This is why I wouldn't. Having said this, sometimes it is just about the $$$$.
 
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imsqam

imsqam

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My reason for mentioning upgrades is that MattXWay asked about the 950/960's. Since the link shows that this computer comes with the 750 Ti I thought he might be considering a later upgrade to either a 950 or a 960. These cards I believe would be excluded by a 350W PSU.
 
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imsqam

imsqam

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Mar 25, 2011
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You know determining maximum power requirements is one of those subjects which make me want to go find a garbage can and throw up in it. To quote Doctor Who, it is just "A big ball of wibbily wobbly timey wimey stuff." You quote your source, I quote mine

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_950_Gaming/28.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2311121/power-supply-requirements-nvidia-gpus.html

and we just don't know for sure. Testing methodology can be a big factor in the answer that you get.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-card-power-supply-balance,3979.html

In a power system so many transient power spikes of varying duration can occur that it makes it very hard to tell what a system's maximum power requirement will be. When a requirement is not entirely clear I prefer to approach the issue from a robust design standpoint. I select components that ensure function as opposed to selecting components that ride the fine line. Both approaches have their merits; my personal preference just happens to be the first one.
 
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Solution
rolli59

rolli59

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If you look at the techpowerup measurement they get 112watts max lay that on top of the 150 or so that the rest of the system consumes it will still not reach 300watts!
Recommendations are based on generic PSU's not quality ones and it is a well known fact that they are high.
 
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MattXWay

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Hi guys, first of all I want to thank you all for helping me and answering the question. I have come to a conclusion: For me, I wanted personaly to build my own gaming rig. But after I realized I kinda can have some problems and warranty is not very long, I decided to get about the same performance/euro pre-built PC. Closest one in my local store was this Nightblade, but now I have 2 years warranty. So I decided to grab it, even though it had only 350W. I am personaly ok with playing @ 1080p 30+FPS Medium/Low settings. When My 750Ti will stop performing well, I will be changing PSU to 500W at least and then grabbing possibly 970, which won't get bottlenecked by i5-4460 and still perform really really well. So in conclusion- my PC is going to last 1-2 years, then I will be upgrading my GPU & PSU. I don't think I will need more RAM or CPU performance really. What do you guys think? Is this decision ok?
 
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imsqam

imsqam

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First, you most welcome MattXWay. Second, congrats on the purchase, hope that it provides you with tons of fun.

So with regards to your questions my opinion is that a 500W PSU would be okay to run the i4-4460 and the GTX 970. A quick check with Outervision's eXtreme Power Supply Calculator gives a 405W suggested size and Guru3D's suggestion is a 500W PSU for a GTX 970.

http://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/nvidia_geforce_gtx_970_and_980_reference_review,7.html

8GB of ram is fine, the vast majority of games never use up all 8GB during game play.

The i5-4460 will not likely ever become the bottleneck, typically the GPU is the greater concern. One check you can do is run the 3DMark benchmark test series, I believe that Skydiver will be the most appropriate benchmark for you system. If the Graphics score and the Physics score are relatively of the same magnitude (say within 20% of each other) then both components are well matched.

http://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks


Couples of things to watch out for are

- Does MSI use an ATX form factor PSU? I believe that they do because the 600W PSU they offer seems to be a Silverstone ST60F-ESG which is an ATX PSU. Do you know what the 350W PSU is, I can't find the info any where on the web?

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/power-supply-specifications-atx-reference,3061-3.html

- Make sure that if you purchase a new PSU that you have the correct PCIe connector (6-pin vs 8-pin), the supplied 350W only has 6-pin connectors

- My biggest concern is heat removal. This system only comes with one 92mm case fan and this is not much. I notice that the Nightblade comes with a side fan bracket, you will likely want to take advantage of this if you upgrade the card. Right now run a temperature monitoring program like CPUID's HWMonitor to check how your internal temps are. Hope this all helps.

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html
 
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MattXWay

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so imsqam.
-the power supply I got IS an ATX form factor, so that is not a thread
-the pins should be ok with EVGA 500B, am I right?
-the case itself does not get hot when in load, only a bit noisy. but I am having it right now on table and the dragon fan in the back is flowing it right into wall so when i am online for like 3-4 hours the back starts to get hot, but I fixed it by getting it further from wall so heating is not problem anymore
Anyway, I am definitely NOT going to upgrade the PSU right now, I will explain it to you in this little story (sorry, but you need to know consequences)
So me, about 2-3 years ago, I built myself a pc. It had i3-530 and GTX 650 in it, with 4GB ram and some s****y case, psu and mobo. I got all that for around 500€. After a 5-6 months my PC just crashed. From one moment, it did not start. I was 100% sure I built it correctly, because I did it with Hardware specialist. But when I came to this particular shop (sadly, the only components selling shop in Slovakia that is viable), they told me that they can't fix it, because I built it wrong. So that's the reason I am not going to build a new PC right now. So I decided to pick this Nightblade up, guaranting me 2 years warranty even though it would be my fault. BUT I can't open the PC and move with stuff. So once, the warranty will be over, I will change PSU and GPU definitely :) I wanted to know if the Wattage is ok because I can go and say "yeah, but I got it with that 960", but now that I know I have to change PSU also, the MSI-coloured and stickered PSU is hard to find, isn't it? BTW I am going to be posting a video about FPS and Heat, so I will post the link for everyone who is interested to buy this PC/these parts
 
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imsqam

imsqam

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The EVGA 500B has two 6+2 pin PCI-E connectors so either 6 or 8 pin is not an issue.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story2&reid=351

As far as heat goes what the temperature is of the air that is coming out of the fan is only a small part of the story. You have to look at the core temps and the GPU temps to see how they compare to the temperature limits published by the manufactures. This is influenced by both how much heat your generating and how fast you can remove that heat from the component/case. If you were to introduce a higher wattage video card then you will generate more heat from both the card and the PSU.

I have no idea where to get a MSI re-branded PSU but the proper aftermarket choice might work with no installation issues.
 
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