Can I use this pc with this psu?

[Imscaredofpsus]

People on reddit said a few concerns about this pc I just bought. Yes, it’s old. People that used it before me said they had no issues with the pc. But now I’m scared, should I even use it? I don’t have the money to buy a new psu right now 

[tkitch]

What's in the system?  It's hard to make judgements based on no knowledge.

 

If it's been running on that PSU?  It's probably fine.  Upgrading to a better quality unit later wouldn't hurt, though.

[Imscaredofpsus]

3 minutes ago, tkitch said:

What's in the system?  It's hard to make judgements based on no knowledge.

 

If it's been running on that PSU?  It's probably fine.  Upgrading to a better quality unit later wouldn't hurt, though.

AMD A10 7870k

gtx 960 4gb

8gb ram

that’s what I was hoping to hear, because it’s been used before but everyone is telling me to replace it asap so I became scared to even use the pc now lol

[IIIIIIIIII]

12 minutes ago, Imscaredofpsus said:

People on reddit said a few concerns about this pc I just bought. Yes, it’s old. People that used it before me said they had no issues with the pc. But now I’m scared, should I even use it? I don’t have the money to buy a new psu right now 

Not A-PFC. 230W PSU but advertised as 500. Group regulation, 12V is only 156W.

You are lucky. Throw that bomb in the trash can as soon as possible.

[tkitch]

3 minutes ago, IIIIIIIIII said:

Not A-PFC. 230W PSU but advertised as 500. Group regulation, 12V is only 156W.

how do you figure?  It's got 2x 12V Rails supporting up to 144w each.  (230W Max PSU Load)

 

That being said, 230W isn't a lot for that build.  Finding a 350W PSU shouldn't be hard, or expensive, so should be considered an early acquisition goal.

[Imscaredofpsus]

8 minutes ago, tkitch said:

how do you figure?  It's got 2x 12V Rails supporting up to 144w each.  (230W Max PSU Load)

 

That being said, 230W isn't a lot for that build.  Finding a 350W PSU shouldn't be hard, or expensive, so should be considered an early acquisition goal.

Ok, but is it still safe to use while I get some money for a new? Should I try not to play any games that might be demanding? What can I do? 

[IIIIIIIIII]

12 minutes ago, tkitch said:

how do you figure?  It's got 2x 12V Rails supporting up to 144w each.  (230W Max PSU Load)

But the rest does not change and there are no reviews of it. The marked W means nothing.

[mariushm]

It says max power 230 watts.  That means all power supplied through 3.3v , 5v and 12v.

The psu may say there's 2 rails, each capable of maximum 144w but not at same time (that would be 2 x 115w = 230w) but you should assume it's lying .. such cheap and low wattage power supplies usually don't bother with separate rails and over current sensors and protections ... those are extra components that cost money.

 

The CPU consumes maybe around 60-70w at 100% load, all from 12v

The motherboard probably consumes around 10-15w, from 3.3v, 5v and less from 12v - the chipset is 5v, the onboard audio and network card may be 3.3v or 5v, the dc-dc converter which powers the ram slots is often powered from 5v.

The ram stick consumes around 2-3 watts, like I said, probably from 5v.

 

A GTX960 peaks somewhere around 120w, most of that from 12v

A hard drive consumes around 3-4w from 5v, 3-4w from 12v (to spin the motor)

Fans are around 2w each from 12v

 

So you're looking at 12v load:  60w cpu + 120w gpu + 2w cpu fan + 2w case fan + 5w mobo + 3w drives = ~ 190 watts.

Add around 10w on 3.3v and 5v on top of that and you're in total at around 200w.

 

 

In games the cpu won't be at 100% and the video card probably won't be at 100% at same time, so you're not gonna get up to 190 watts but fairly close to that.

 

Either way, you don't know how old and how dusty and how degraded components like capacitors are in that power supply and you don't know if the power supply is actually honest and doesn't lie about its capabilities. Running it at nearly 80-90% of its power when gaming is very very risky.

You should really make an effort to replace it with at least a 350-400w rated power supply, from a brand that won't lie on the label about power supply's capabilities.

 

 

[mariushm]

Oh and I forgot to mention it though it was the first thing that jumped to my eyes.

The cpu cooler is really positioned incorrectly. It should be rotated 90 degrees so that it takes air from the front of the case, pushes air through the cpu fins and out the case through the back.

Now you're taking warm air from the video card, blowing through fins, and out through the power supply ... so you're reducing cooler efficiency with the warmer air from video card, then reducing cooling efficiency of psu by pushing the warm air into the psu.

If possible (cooler may be designed to work only like that) try turning that cooler 90 degrees.

 

[--SID--]

34 minutes ago, Imscaredofpsus said:

Ok, but is it still safe to use while I get some money for a new?

No, it's a bomb. Also using a molex to PCI-e adapter is NOT recommanded.

 

Because of the position of the cpu cooler: is the CPU an AMD?

[Imscaredofpsus]

4 minutes ago, --SID-- said:

No, it's a bomb. Also using a molex to PCI-e adapter is NOT recommanded.

 

Because of the position of the cpu cooler: is the CPU an AMD?

Yes it is an AMD

[--SID--]

5 minutes ago, Imscaredofpsus said:

Yes it is an AMD

 It's a Arctic Freezer 64 Pro or 7 Pro. The cpu cooler is mounted on the retention brackets. This is the only position for the cpu cooler.