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Using a 250W PSU with a GTX 950

Abdul Wahab

Hey

 

So I recently got my hands on a Galax gtx 950 sniper OC edition which I've put into my secondary pc that has a i5-4590 in an h81m Asus board with 2x4GB ddr3 RAM. 

The issue is that it has a standard 250W PSU but everything seems to run ok. Before running everything I plugged all the components into a PSU calculator, it came in at 253W. 

Here's the strange part, the gtx 950 I got should have a 6 pin power connector, but it doesn't and the whole system works. This means that the gpu pulls 75W instead of 90W. Just to be "safe" I used afterburner and turned down the power limit and clock speed to the lowest it allowed me to (-10% and -100Mhz), and used the OSD to monitor power usage of the components. The gpu power hovers around 84% and cpu doesn't go above 60W when playing Fortnite on 1080p Low.

I don't plan on using the 250W for very long and my wife only plays for about an hour max. Just wanted to share my findings and hear any opinions. I'm completely open to criticism and advice on psu upgrades (in terms of brands and pricing). 

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There are a couple of GTX 950s that are supposed to come with no PCIe power. 

 

I would pretty much get a new PSU eventually but I guess it would technically work.

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There was a 75W version of the 950 created for low-power systems. It was hot garbage, not really any better than the cheaper 750 Ti. Personally, I think you're cutting it really close. Who's the OEM and what's the model of the PSU?

I enjoy buying junk and sinking more money than it's worth into it to make it less junk.

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The exact model gtx 950 I have is actually supposed to have a 6 pin power connector (as seen in product images and review videos). 

The psu is a sparkle power unit

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7 minutes ago, Abdul Wahab said:

The exact model gtx 950 I have is actually supposed to have a 6 pin power connector (as seen in product images and review videos). 

Well it's not the exact model then, you have a low TDP 950 that only requires power input via PCIe.

 

9 minutes ago, Abdul Wahab said:

The psu is a sparkle power unit

I'd highly recommend a new PSU in the near future. 

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Had two second hands lined up but the one seller never got back to me and the other was actually selling a faulty unit. Thanks for the advice. I'm really just trying to find out how long I have to get a different PSU

 

11 minutes ago, TheDailyProcrastinator said:

Well it's not the exact model then, you have a low TDP 950 that only requires power input via PCIe.

As for the model, took a look at the box and it appears to be an "Unplugged" version. 

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Found the psu datasheet. It states that it is 70% efficient at a max load of 236W, and has a MTBF of 100,000 hours at max load at 25C ambient. So assuming that the PSU is 10 years old, and been used since then, there should be about a year of use left at 100% load. 😆 JK I won't use it for that long

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2 hours ago, Abdul Wahab said:

Found the psu datasheet. It states that it is 70% efficient at a max load of 236W, and has a MTBF of 100,000 hours at max load at 25C ambient. So assuming that the PSU is 10 years old, and been used since then, there should be about a year of use left at 100% load. 😆 JK I won't use it for that long

Good call haha!

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/14/2020 at 12:57 AM, TheDailyProcrastinator said:

Refer to this list

Thanks I'll take a look.

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6 hours ago, Abdul Wahab said:

Thanks I'll take a look.

No problem!

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LG 75UM8070PUA 4K UHD 120Hz IPS HDR TV  Corsair K63 Cherry MX Red Special Edition Wireless  Corsair Ironclaw RGB Wireless

 

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SFF ITX Home PC  i5-7500  MSI B250I Gaming Pro Wi-Fi AC ITX  G.Skill Ripjaws V 2x8GB 2800MHz  Intel Integrated Graphics  Seasonic SSP Flex ATX 300W PSU  Cryorig C7  Velka 3 rev 1.2 SFF ITX Case (Grey)  

 

Laptop  Dell XPS13 2-in-1 7390 (2020)  i7-1065G7  32GB 3733MHz LPDDR4x  Intel Integrated Graphics  1TB NVME M.2  UHD+ (3840 x 2400) InfinityEdge Touch Display 

 

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Key Cap Collection  GMK Boba Fett  GMK Red Samurai  GMK Laser CyberDeck +Novalties  GMK Arch  MaxKey B&W  Drop MT3 Camillo ‖ Matt3o MT3 /dev/tty  KBDfans Biip Torii Ext-2048  ePBT Less But Better +Novalties  EnjoyPBT Dolch  WinMix Mustard  Drop Skylight Horizon & Slate ‖ Glorious Black Aura   

 

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