AMD RX 470 on a 320watt PSU?

maxtex

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470 will have 120W TDP, the i5 is 95W, so it's gonna be cutting it really close, plus the PSU is probably not made for such powerful cards so I'd say no you can't.
Probably the Rx 460 will be no problem, but the 470, forget it with that PSU.
 

DrSandwich

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Total the GPU and CPU Will take around 200 watts, give or take. 2 Fans~10 watts
1 hardrive~10watts
8gb ram-20watts
So give or take it will be around 240 watts right
Will that blow out my PSU? Its ok if getting the RX 470 means my PSU will have a shorter life because I plan on upgrading the PSU, mobo, and case soon after that.

 
Does your PSU have a PCIE power cable in order to properly power a GPU? Given the wattage of your unit, I don't think it does. So you can't properly power a GPU that needs a PCIE power cable and no you can't put the RX470 in your PC. The only cards that can properly run on your system are those like the one you have now that need 75watts max. They don't have an external PCIE power connector and get all their power only from the PCIE slot, something like a 750ti or some 950s (only those models without the PCIE power connector). I don't think AMD has a better card than these in its current lineup, that doesn't need a PCIE power connector.
 

DrSandwich

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That's what I thought so too, but I have an adapter that I use to power my Nvidia 650. I believe the RX 460 is coming without needing any external powers too.
 


Generally it is not recommended to use PCIE adapters especially when you PSU is getting so close to it's maximum wattage. There is a reason after all that your PSU doesn't have this power cable. Your 650 worked because it's using 64watts maximum and most of those cards came without that PCIE connector. Your current card was an exception.

So I'm sorry but if you don't change your PSU you can't use the RX470 and I agree with you that you should wait for the RX460 if it does indeed come out without an external PCIE connector. Good luck.
 

DrSandwich

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Thanks so much. I will probably just either put in another PSU and use an adapter or get the other upgrades, then GPU at a later date. Thanks so much for your help!
 

maxtex

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Don't forget the motherboard itself also draws power, and 95+120 is 215 watts from just the GPU+CPU, but keep in mind this is just TDP (thermal design power), sometimes they will draw less but sometimes (in very demanding games) even more than the TDP. Especially with an old and cheap PSU you don't want it to run at 80 or 90% of its capacity for long periods of time, you can just wait for it to go wrong..
I wouldn't risk using it for a little while even, why not just replace the PSU when you get the graphics card you want (there's decent 400-450W PSUs that aren't expensive and which have the proper connectors without the need for an adapter), and the other upgrades you can do at a later time since they are not as important.
 

DrSandwich

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Ya I was using different TPD's when I was doing the watt math. They won't be doing extreme overload EVER, so that why I didn't go with your watts. The reason I can't just upgrade the PSU is that it has special connections to the motherboard that only this PSU has. So, If I want to properly upgrade my gpu, I also have to upgrade my PSU, motherboard, and case. Along with a CPU fan, but that's just because it has a horrible fan.