Want to upgrade my old system into i7 platform. Need PSU advice.

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alth0triplemadang

alth0triplemadang

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Feb 4, 2015
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Hi.

Now, I want to upgrade my PC into i7 system.

I found a i7 930 and gigabyte x58 mobo deal for $225 on local auction site. Its a good deal for me as a student so i can save my money for school need. Or a i7 2600k and gigabyte z77 mobo for $329. I can't afford a newest skylake or haswell platform because in Indonesia PC parts are SOOOOO... EXPENSIVE.

My question is:
I currently use a good 400w PSU to power my 7yr old rig.
Current rig specs:
-q9400 @ stock
-GTX 960
-4sticks DDR2 ram (2x2 and 1x2)
-ASUS P5Q PRO TURBO
-1 3.5" HDD, 1 2.5" HDD, and a SSD
-FSP HEXA+ 400w PSU

There are no fancy or special parts in my PC. And I don't planning to OC my CPU.
Can my 400w PSU handle a 130w i7 CPU and a 120w GTX 960?
Or it's better to spend more $104 to buy a 95w CPU and get better performance without worrying my PSU will explode and destroy all my parts.

~If I go with the first option, do I need to upgrade my PSU (at least 500/650w) ?
~If I go with the second option, is $100 more worth the money?
~And will it run modern games at 900p or 1080p, max settings with smooth 35-60 FPS?

Thanks for advice and solution.
 
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xFeaRDom

xFeaRDom

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Jul 28, 2016
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You could probably get away with a good quality 500w-550w PSU which will yield a nice headroom aswell.

But you could probably run off of the current setup, as the 2600K has a TDP of 95W, and probably under load will use around 150W, your GPU uses aroud 120W and probably around 150-160W under load, which is around 300W, with other components it may add another 30-40 watts (this is guesstimating :p)

So you could get away with something like the Seasonic S12ii 520W, although it may be 'overkill' but it will yield a nice threadshold for any future upgrades. And people always like extra headroom on PSUs due it technically being less stress on it.

What is your budget for this upgrade.

If I was you, i'd go for the 2600K, it boasts a lot more performance in benchmarks due to it being a somewhat newer chip and it will probably allow much higher overclocking.
 
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BradleyJames

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go for the i7 2600, it is pretty old now A) still newer than the 930 and first gen i7 didnt really impress me/ they seemed slow to me, draw more power and never had much luck overclock. a few of my customers have been finding its bottlenecking. 960 is a good choice have one in my kids machine.. you will have to get ddr3 ram too tho. so if u can afford it go with the 2600 and 8 gb ram which is cheap now.
 
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alth0triplemadang

alth0triplemadang

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The i7 2600 has the same TDP as my current q9400, right?
On Intel's ARK website it says 95w TDP for q9400. I think I will be fine to keep my 400w PSU to power this build. IMO.

My budget is around $100 to $250. The i7 2600k setup is little bit out of my budget. So how about i7 930 power consumption? Will my 400w PSU handle it?

Yes I know that i7 2600k massively outperforms the old i7 930 and more power efficient. But I need to save my money by buying the cheaper parts. And I don't plan to OC my CPU and my GPU as well. But at least, hey I have an i7 system with 12gigs of ram that better than my q9400 and pay $200 for it.


Yeah, it's pretty old now. Its launched at 2011 but its still a beast in 2016.
I will go with 12gb or 24gb DDR3 1600 in 2x6gb triple channel mode if i get the x58 system :)
But with z77 system i probably stuck at 8gigs. I can't buy 16gb kit because 4x4 DDR3 are ridiculously expensive here.

 
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