Do i need bigger PSU?

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davisonbrah

Distinguished
Oct 31, 2011
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18,630
Just want some help as to whether or not i should upgrade my psu. My system runs fine i guess but a friend of mine told me i should get a bigger psu he doesnt think 500w is enough.

Complete specs
i5 3570k Overclocked to 4.2 ghz
Msi gaming x RX480 8gb Video card
Asrock z77 extreme 4 motherboard
1 8gb dd3 XMS Mem
1 tb 7.2 rpm hdd
1 cd/dvd drive (basic, cheap)
3 120 mm CM fans
1 140 mm roswill fan
1 CM t4 heatsink with 1 120 mm fan
Razer Ornata keyboard
Corsair m65 pro rgb mouse
2007 Dell wfp 21 inch lcd (60hz)

Im running this on a Corsair 500m. The reason this came up was because i was asking why after upgrading from a 7870 to rx480 i didnt feel i was getting that big of a performance jump. The first thing he asked was about psu.

General consensus? New psu or am i fine?

 
Solution
Barty1884
Which 'Corsair 500m"? I'm assuming CX500M or CS500M?

It's not a matter of "more power", you should be looking at stability, quality of the components in the PSU etc.

NEither the CX or CS lineup are overly stable.....and even less so over time.

A 7870 was a 175W GPU, an RX 480 is a 150W. While that's actually a reduction in power draw, you may still find stability issues.


Theoretically, your max load is going to be below 300W with the OCd 3570K and RX480.


Is 500W enough? From a good quality PSU, absolutely. From a CX or CS that's been used for a while, I'd lean towards either "no" or "not for too long".

A quality PSU doesn't have to break the bank either. a G550 from SeaSonic can be had for ~$60
PCPartPicker part...
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Barty1884

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
Apr 16, 2015
22,250
1,350
108,740
Which 'Corsair 500m"? I'm assuming CX500M or CS500M?

It's not a matter of "more power", you should be looking at stability, quality of the components in the PSU etc.

NEither the CX or CS lineup are overly stable.....and even less so over time.

A 7870 was a 175W GPU, an RX 480 is a 150W. While that's actually a reduction in power draw, you may still find stability issues.


Theoretically, your max load is going to be below 300W with the OCd 3570K and RX480.


Is 500W enough? From a good quality PSU, absolutely. From a CX or CS that's been used for a while, I'd lean towards either "no" or "not for too long".

A quality PSU doesn't have to break the bank either. a G550 from SeaSonic can be had for ~$60
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: SeaSonic - G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($61.89 @ Newegg)
Total: $61.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-07 17:58 EDT-0400
 
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Solution
R

r21g2017

Reputable
Apr 2, 2017
29
0
4,540
you may be barely cutting it with that power supply. Newegg recomends psu wattage for your specs to be 534W, so I would at least get a 550w. I would upgrade it and get extra wattage in case you want to upgrade again in the future.
 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
Apr 16, 2015
22,250
1,350
108,740
There is no way that rig pulls anywhere close to 534W.

150W GPU
incidental RAM, HDDs, ODDs (~10W each)
77W CPU...... even if OCing it doubles it's requirements to 154W, you'd still be struggling to come close to that 534W number.

The max theoretical load is going to be somewhere in the 300W range...... "normal" usage probably closer to 250W.
 
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