What happens when my GPU power requirement doesnt meet my PSU?

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Guest

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Hello,
I was wondering about buying a new XPS 8500 and installing a new AMD Radeon HD 7950, but it requires on average a 500W PSU, but the XPS 8500 PSU is only 460W. I was just wondering if I did install the 7950, would it work or would it just ruin my PSU? (Also, if you have any recommendations for a gaming/performance computer about the region of £800 with minimum of 3.0Ghz processing speed and a good PSU, please say it.)
Cheers!!
 

davemaster84

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Jun 15, 2011
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Well it's simple. Most likely it will turn on since most graphic cards (latest at least) run with a lower clock speed at iddle 8mean when you'ren not using a heavy graphic application they will use less power) but when you start a game, or a high quality video or whatever uses your vga it will reach it's load clocks and your PSU wont be able to supply it correctly, which will result in blue screens or even hardware damage. My best advise, don't go cheap on your psu, a good 750w psu is around $150 or less. Regards
 

dj_crossbones

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Jun 30, 2011
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You should upgrade your power supply, you put a lot more at risk than just the power supply if you don't have enough juice to power everything, newegg.com has a power supply for just about every budget, it's a good place to start.
 
G

Guest

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Alright, cheers to you guys! I suppose I'll upgrade the power supply. But two more questions about upgrading the power supply.
1) Is it tricky to take out the old power supply and replace it with the newer one or is it simple?
2) Does the supply unit have to have anything special to replace the old one (Like when you get a new GPU, if it requires a PCIe slot, there has to be a PCIe slot for it to work. If you get my logic :p)
Sorry about asking so many questions. :p
 

dj_crossbones

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Jun 30, 2011
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Alright, cheers to you guys! I suppose I'll upgrade the power supply. But two more questions about upgrading the power supply.
1) Is it tricky to take out the old power supply and replace it with the newer one or is it simple?
2) Does the supply unit have to have anything special to replace the old one (Like when you get a new GPU, if it requires a PCIe slot, there has to be a PCIe slot for it to work. If you get my logic :p)
Sorry about asking so many questions. :p


You need to pay attention to a couple of things when getting a new power supply, some motherboards have a 20 pin connector (older boards), most now have a 24 pin connector for the motherboard and then there is question of do you have a 4 or 8 pin connector for you cpu. You also need to take into consideration how many pci-e 6 or 8 pin connectors there are and what kind of requirements do you need for such things as hard drives and optical drives and fans in your system. If you a newbie at this newegg has a wattage calculator you can use to help you take the guess work out of this, it will run you threw the steps required to figure out what you need. One last thing I prefer a modular power supply so I don't have to have a bunch of extra cables in my case, they generally cost more but help keep the inside of your case looking tidy. :)
 
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AMD recommends a 500w power supply with 2 x PCIe connectors for an HD 7950. Don't go cheap on a power supply. It is the single most important part of your system. Stick with a quality brand like Corsair, Seasonic, PC Power and Cooling, XFX, Silverstone, Enermax, OCZ or Antec.

If you are buying from newegg this is very hard to beat for the price. Jonnyguru recommended.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341047
 

matter37

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You will be fine, Dell has good quality PSU's, unless you have a LOT, of other things on the xps 8500, like a lot of drives, optical, hard drives, elc, pulling a lot of power then go for a better psu, otherwise your good, dell isnt stupid, they know what can run and what can, in fact my friend has a xps 8300 with a 460w psu and has a card that "requires" a 500w psu, and he hasnt had a SINGLE problem, the simple fact is that gfx card manufacturers over estimate the psu requirements to be completely safe in case you have a loaded pc with like 8 hard drives running in it lol