Why can my prebuilt pc get away with a 180W PSU?

[Shamrock428]

I have a prebuilt pc (HP power pavilion 580-000na). It has a gtx 1050, an i5-7400 and 8gb ram. What confuses me is that on Nvidia’s page it says the gtx 1050 requires 300W, and I’m on a 180W PSU (yes it really is 180W). I want to upgrade this machine in the future to a gtx 1060 and also 16gb ram. I know i’ll need to upgrade the PSU too but I don’t understand why these prebuilt pc’s run fine on low watt PSU’s.

[trufret]

Pre-builts know exactly what parts are in them and exactly how much power draw their will be and use the minimum PSU required to feed it.

Nvidia can't know exactly what parts you will be using with the video card so they error on the high side as it's better to have too much wattage than too little.

[Aperture9999999]

This is because it it a prebuild. Computer companies have access to the exact power usage of every single component they put in the system. Nvidia lists 300W as the required PSU because they have to leave overhead for other components. They have no way of knowing what components you will put in your system, so they don't know the exact power consumption. Also, Nvidia always leaves some overhead with their requirements.

[Jarsky]

The GTX1050 doesnt require 300W, the 300W is the PSU recommendation for the recommended system that a GTX1050 would go in.

The actual TDP of a GTX1050 is 65-75W (which is why it doesnt have auxilary PCIE power), so with the i5 being approx 55-65W then thats about 140W. If you were overclocking the system then you'd probably find it becomes unstable. You wouldn't be able to run a GTX1060 with that PSU as they take considerably more power over the 1050. 

[Zando_]

3 minutes ago, TheDragonHawk said:

This is because it it a prebuild. Computer companies have access to the exact power usage of every single component they put in the system. Nvidia lists 300W as the required PSU because they have to leave overhead for other components. They have no way of knowing what components you will put in your system, so they don't know the exact power consumption. Also, Nvidia always leaves some overhead with their requirements.

^^^ This. The 1050 doesn't eat close to 300W. Both the 1050 and 1050 Ti can run off the PCIe slot, and that can only push up to 75W. They're just leaving overhead in case you run other hungry components. My 980 Ti quoted a 600-650W PSU as the minimum, I ran that with an i5 off a 450W with no issues. 

[Fasauceome]

13 minutes ago, Shamrock428 said:

I want to upgrade this machine in the future to a gtx 1060

With only 180 watts, that's really pushing it. A 1060 3gb takes at least a 6 pin PCIe connector, for 75 watts, plus the available 75 watts from the motherboard. That means you're already able to push 150 if you really go for it (though out of the box it would pull a bit less) and that leaves no room for your processor, fans, storage devices, etc. 

 

However, that pre-built looks to use standard ATX parts, so you could buy an affordable power supply like a Corsair cx450 and never have to worry about it

[Shamrock428]

3 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

With only 180 watts, that's really pushing it. A 1060 3gb takes at least a 6 pin PCIe connector, for 75 watts, plus the available 75 watts from the motherboard. That means you're already able to push 150 if you really go for it (though out of the box it would pull a bit less) and that leaves no room for your processor, fans, storage devices, etc. 

 

However, that pre-built looks to use standard ATX parts, so you could buy an affordable power supply like a Corsair cx450 and never have to worry about it

So could I use a 450W to power a 1060 3gb? Or maybe even a 6GB? 

[appleache]

it said require but it actually never needed that much power, you can buy a $10 power meter to see how much you pc draws. 1050 don't even needed more than 75w to function normally. it don't even have a pcie power connector normally. your entire pc prob only consume about 150w or less.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1050-ti,4787-6.html

[appleache]

Just now, Shamrock428 said:

So could I use a 450W to power a 1060 3gb? Or maybe even a 6GB? 

if you are buying a new psu for newegg etc, 450w is minimum for you to get a decent psu from retail. any psu rating lower than 450w are either a OEM (like HP) specific psu or a complete garbage that cost $15 on alibaba

[Fasauceome]

9 minutes ago, Shamrock428 said:

So could I use a 450W to power a 1060 3gb? Or maybe even a 6GB? 

my own rig, and its power draw, is in my signature. a 450 watt power supply can power most PCs out here.

[Yoinkerman]

My 1070 takes about 120w while mining so 180 is lots for a 1050