Hello guys quick question, I currently have an XFX 550w Bronze Certified power supply, and I want to upgrade to a R9 280x, and I've seen many people say that you can get away with a lower wattage than what the manufacturer recommends, in this case its 750w. Would 550w be enough? I run a 125w cpu and run 2 7400 RPM HDDs and 1 SSD.
I've got a R9 280x on a system that only has a PSU rated at 430watts without any issues.
The manufacturer recommendation is just to ensure that even if you have a cheap PSU you won't run into trouble. The key is to look to see how many amps your PSU is rated for on the 12volt rail. I think mine was over 36 amps so allowing around 20 amps for the card I still have enough for the hard drive etc.
If your 550w PSU is a decent one and you don't have many extra bits and pieces plugged in you will be fine.
Mine is rated 45v, so I think I will be good.
Thanks for the help.
No problem, you can use this site to help guide you if still unsure;
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine
Grab a 290, they can be had for around 240usd and are much better than a 280x, plus a whole generation ahead interms of technology. As long as it is a decent quality PSU it should be enough to power a 290.
power supply calc
http://coolermaster.outervision.com/
Yeah just doing the math in my head ... I can tell you a R9 290 would be too close to tapping out
- ATX mobo ...... 50w
- CPU cooler .... 20w
- CPU ............... 125w
- 7200 rpm HDD ... 25w
- 7200 rpm HDD ... 25w
- SSD ............ 5w
- 120mm case fans ... 10w times 3 = 30w
- R9 290 ............. .... 250w
that's around 530w .... way too close
You do not want to have system usage constantly within the 20% buffer zone of the maximum PSU 's output of 550w ....
so ... 440w is your ceiling.
Just an R9 280 is 200w ... and that will technically put you over with system usage of 480w
you are only 12.73% away from the wall
To be safe just upgrade the Power supply to a 650w that's the sweet spot for a gaming pc with 1 r9 290 and everything will work swell.
^^^ yeah that is what I was getting at ^^^
decent 550W psu will be more then enough, for allmost any single gpu setup.
Maybe an extreme powerhog like the Msi 290X lightning, could maybe push the psu a bit, but most other cards you will be fine with 550W.
TDP wattage does not mean anything about power consumption.
280x or 290, your psu should be fine - its xfx - seasonic unit under the hood.
Your Phenom II would bottleneck a 290 hard so stick with a 280x I reckon.