Powersupply for gtx 550ti

zkfltmxkf

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May 21, 2012
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18,510
hi, ive been trying to figure out whats holding my gtx 550ti back.

basically, through this thread > http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/335398-28-help#bas
i posted a day ago, i came down to a conclusion that its "severly bottlenecked" (props to everyone for help)

i know that eventually im gonna have to fully rebuild my computer or just buy a new computer, however im on a really short budget for now.

im trying to figure out if my power supply is really one of the problem thats holding my graphics card down, so i can atleast have an idea if i need a new power supply, or is it unnecessary to buy a new psu.

i currently use lite-on 300w psu, with gtx 550ti.

so is power supply really one of the problem ? if it is, can you guys please recommand a new psu ?

thank you, and helps much appreciated!
 

wr6133

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Feb 10, 2012
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Thats too small

You really want a 450 or 500 from a QUALITY brandname. If you have to go cheap brand name aim way off and get a 600 (it'll likely put out 400 on a good day)

However the CPU is choking you back as well

AM3 board + Phenom II + DDR3 = $200ish

Decent 500W PSU = $50-60ish

So around $250 would kill your issues.

Sell the old bits on Ebay would recoup some of that.
 

Traciatim

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Why not start with http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/travelpower/7657/ and plug your machine in to it, run the stuff you normally run and watch where the power sits.

Keep in mind that if your power supply is 80% efficient then the power from the wall will be higher than the power delivered to your machine. As in, if this reads 200 Watts, then 150 watts are being delivered to your machine. It's not quite 100% accurate, but certainly close enough to see if you are using more than 300 watts pulled from the wall you're probably cutting it too close and will run in to really strange power related issues (random restarts, blue screens, data corruption, machine shuts off... all kinds of weird stuff can be traced to power problems).

Plus you can use it on anything in your house, it's really nice to know how much power things actually use.

 
What do you mean by "holding my graphics card down"? If the PSU wasn't providing sufficient power during gaming, then you would be experiencing reboots, the computer locking up, pixellation of the graphics, or BSODs. Are you experiencing any of those indications or are you just having low frame rates or slow performance?

That GPU is definitely bottlenecked by the rest of your system. If you know you're going to be upgrading the rest of your system, then the first place that I would start is the PSU and there is a great deal at Newegg for Memorial Day weekend: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL052212&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL052212-_-EMC-052212-Index-_-PowerSupplies-_-17139027-L011B Corsair CX500 for $29.99 after MIR. A nice decent PSU that will support your future upgrades.