Enough wattage for graphics card upgrade?

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lewis_15

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Aug 15, 2016
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I've purchased a r9 280 as an upgrade from my 7770, I only have a 500w power supply and I'm wondering if that's enough and what will happen if I plug in my graphics card and it turns out to be too low of a wattage. My pc specs are
I3 3220
4gb ram
ASrock H61M motherboard
500gb HDD
R9 280(waiting to be delivered)
500w power supply.

What would be the worst case scenario if it turns out the power supply isn't enough? Thanks
 
Solution
xFeaRDom
It's not exactly random, but bronze rated is a little unreliable (Although it is generally luck depending on the PSU you get) and they are made with cheaper components (The capacitors etc.) So if it's running perfectly fine for you then it is no issue.

But eventually it may cause some issues depending on the stress etc. If you ever need to upgrade, or you're willing to upgrade, go for a gold-rated minimum.

But yeah, 500W is more than enough for your new GPU, so there's no need to worry!

Hope I helped.

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xFeaRDom

xFeaRDom

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Jul 28, 2016
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It's not exactly random, but bronze rated is a little unreliable (Although it is generally luck depending on the PSU you get) and they are made with cheaper components (The capacitors etc.) So if it's running perfectly fine for you then it is no issue.

But eventually it may cause some issues depending on the stress etc. If you ever need to upgrade, or you're willing to upgrade, go for a gold-rated minimum.

But yeah, 500W is more than enough for your new GPU, so there's no need to worry!

Hope I helped.

 
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Solution
13thmonkey

13thmonkey

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Jan 10, 2006
24,798
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You've been using it with a lower draw card, a higher power card might be too much for it.

If it is a poorly designed card, remember it's tier 5, then various protection features may not work effectively. This may then lead to the PSU catching fire, or sending higher voltage through the mobo and GPU before it fails, or it could die quietly. Or it could also kill HDDs.

What's it worth to you?

Google PSU failure videos to see what can happen.
 
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lewis_15

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Aug 15, 2016
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I'll probably leave the graphics card out of the system until i can afford a psu upgrade then, only thing is i'm going to be waiting a month or so but i suppose its better than risking my pc.
 
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Thomassie2000

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Dec 17, 2015
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nothing bad could happen actually.. the worst thing that could happen is that your pc won't boot.. but this is enough wattage for the gpu.. the 7770 uses a lot of power and if that one works the 280 will also work!

good luck with your new gpu
 
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lewis_15

Commendable
Aug 15, 2016
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I already forked out all of my money from the I5 i was meant to buy for a new PSU. What 13th monkey said kinda scared me and i didn't want to take the risk, just means ill be stuck with an i3 for a couple month.
 
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13thmonkey

13thmonkey

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Jan 10, 2006
24,798
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Nothing bad can happen with a PSU with poor protection. Are you sure of this? Because I know it can.

7770 c 86W http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/amd-radeon-hd-7750-and-7770-review,7.html
R9 280 c172w http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/his-radeon-r9-280-iceq-x2-review,7.html

So you're putting an extra 100W on that PSU, if you're lucky it'll just stop, more likely you'll have a working system until you load it up and then bang. What happens then? you could have high voltages running through your 12V and 5V cables. Or you might get lucky, you want to buy the OP his replacements?
 
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