Is my current PSU enough?

p123 · January 5, 2020

So,I am planning to buy a gpu (since currently I am using igpu) however I am hesitating because I am not sure if my PSU can handle the watts necessary for my gpu I am planning to buy.The gpu I have in mind is a RX 570 from MSI

The company reccomends consumers to have AT LEAST a 450Watt PSU,to use this gpu, and I have right now a 450W watt PSU(corsair CX 450).Is it safe to go on with the purchase of the graphics card since I have the minimum PSU requirement?Should I buy a new PSU?Right now the only part of Pc that consumes the most energy is the 2200g CPU with aTDP of 65W

Thank you

Princess Luna · January 5, 2020

The CX450 will handle a 2200G+RX 570 just fine.

mariushm · January 5, 2020

It will be enough.

The RX 570 consumes up to around 175 watts from the 12v output of your power supply.

The 2200g consumes up to around 50 watts from the 12v output of your power supply.

Everything else in your computer (fans, mechanical hard drives, onboard stuff on the motherboard) consumes maybe 25 watts from the 12v of your power supply.

So overall, your computer is unlikely to consume more than 250-300 watts from the 12v output of the power supply.

Manufacturers recommend at least 450w power supplies because

* they have no way of knowing if you have a 4 core cpu like 2200g that consumes 50w max, or you have a 12 core cpu like Ryzen 3900x which may consume 100 watts (they have to account for various configurations and they have to think of total power consumption of such systems)

* they have no way of knowing if you have a quality psu from a brand name that doesn't LIE on the label or is a bit optimistic about the maximum capabilities of the power supply - it's safer for them (less warranty costs, less RMA, less complaints) if they inflate the minimum requirements by asking for something better than the minimum

* by asking for at least 450 watts, they make sure you have the minimum required on 12v output if the power supply is an older design that has fixed amount of watts on each voltage output (for example some older power supplies would have 100-150w locked to the 3.3v and 5v output , and 250-300w reserved for the 12v output, and they'll put on the label 350w-450w which is technically true, but the most power hungry components in the computer the cpu and the video card take energy from the 12v output only which is lower)