Would a 550W bronze PSU be enough for an OC'd i3-8350k and a GTX 970?

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M

My Pet Russian

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I currently have a i5-3340, a 970 and using a 550W PSU. I've been wanting to modernise and settled on the new i3-8350k with a Dark Rock Pro 3 and 16GB of RAM. This will be my first overclocking experience.

Will 550W be good enough for this set up?

I used a PSU calculator and it said it would draw ~480W (Edit: with the calculator set at a 4.8GHz clock speed and 1.35 Voltage, based of someone's results I found online) but recommended a 650W, will I be "flying too close to the sun" as it were?

Thanks for any help :)

P.S. What OC settings could I expect from this CPU? Clock Speed and Voltage? :)
 
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volkgren
Your G550M is somewhat basic quality and isn't meant for overclocking systems. You could run your system, but I would avoid overclocking until you had a better quality and/or higher wattage power supply.
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volkgren

volkgren

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Bronze rating only refers to efficiency. Maximum efficiency occurs at 50% load of the maximum PSU output. For better efficiency you would want a higher capacity PSU.

I don't think an i3-8350K + GTX 970 would consume 480W, but it could under max overclock conditions. As far as being "enough" depends on the model of the particular PSU.

What is the model of your PSU?
 
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lexb777

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You could probably get by with that, but you'd need to be careful. Too many storage drives, USB devices, and fans could potentially overload it. If you want to be safe, I'd suggest going up to 650-700 watts. Also, it will future proof the system.

Here is a nifty calculator that can tell you exactly how much power your system will use. You can even put in your overclocking frequency.
https://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator
 
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volkgren

volkgren

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I wish that calculator gave a breakdown of power consumption. I just tried it and it gave much more than I expected for my system.
Oh, and it recommended me an EVGA 700B (a very bad 700W unit.)
 
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K

Kasper Jorgensen

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Absolutely no need for more than 550W for your system. But just don't get any 550w, you will want a good quality PSU.
However, often the 650w units of the same are priced very similar to the 550w units.

Good unit that are actually currently cheaper than the 550w version

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($70.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $70.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-28 17:10 EDT-0400
 
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volkgren

volkgren

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That is after MIR. If you don't mind MIR then go for it. The 750W is cheaper from the start though.
 
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M

My Pet Russian

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It's Cooler Master G550M :)
 
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Kasper Jorgensen

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Not sure what MIR is, but if a 750w is cheaper it's because it's lower quality. As OP want to overclock he should get a high quality unit to provide stable power.
 
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M

My Pet Russian

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Yeah, that's the calculator I used, and I put in 4.8GHz at 1.35V as the CPU which I should have specified in the question, I added all my drives, fans, KB+M, etc :)
 
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volkgren

volkgren

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MIR = Mail-In Rebate. The 750W FOCUS is cheaper than the 650W FOCUS. It's the same unit. Follow the links to Newegg to see what I mean.
 
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M

My Pet Russian

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I live in the UK so no rebate for me sadly, I already have the 550W and it isn't very old so I was trying to avoid replacing it unless it absolutely calls for it :)
 
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Kasper Jorgensen

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Maybe i'm looking at it wrong but the 750w says 79.99 and the 650w says 89.99 minus 20 so total 69.99.
 
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M

My Pet Russian

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Okay, thank you :)
 
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volkgren

volkgren

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Yes the -$20 is the Mail-In Rebate. So the 650W has a higher initial cost than the 750W, and only after completing the MIR would you get the -$20 off.
 
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K

Kasper Jorgensen

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Okay, makes sense. I'm from Europe so i never buy from newegg.

As OP says he is from UK then this is the option and he should not buy from newegg as he will need the 230v version.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: Corsair - RMx 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£74.99 @ Corsair UK)
Total: £74.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-28 22:42 BST+0100
 
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