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Somewhat Unplanned Upgrades

Dr. Will0hlep
By Dr. Will0hlep
in New Builds and Planning
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(I'm in the UK)

So to start, as part of Nvidia GTC, I've won a 4080 (no idea what make and model) which will replace the MSI SUPRIM X RTX 3080 10GB GPU in my system. At the same time my brother is in the market for his first ever GPU (and a couple other upgrades to turn his system from an everyday use machine into a decent gaming machine) and since the 3080 is now going spare, I thought "I'll give that to him".

 

There is only 1 issue with my plan. His PC only has a Cooler Master MasterWatt 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply. According to PCpartpicker, the estimated wattage of his system with a 3080 (plus a new 1TB NV2 and an extra 8GB of ram) is 601W (CPU is a i5 12400), which is a little too close to capacity for my liking.

 

As I see it there are 3 options to this problem:

  1. Leave the 650W in there and hope it will do the job. I don't like this option, but I'm not an expert on PSUs and if the majority think it will be good then I'll be happy.
  2. Upgrade my PSU and give him my Corsair RM850 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply. This option seems (IMO) to be slightly overkill cause my system (even with a very power hungry 4080) only has an estimated wattage of 670W to 700W, so I don't really think I need to upgrade my PSU. Also, I don't want to recable my machine (which tbh is probably my main objection to this plan 😂).
  3. Upgrade my brother's PSU. If I were to go this route I'd probably get a 750/800W which I think would be enough for a i5 12400 and a MSI SUPRIM X RTX 3080 10GB but am open to suggestions.

 

There are also 2 other decisions to make. IMO, my brother's PC needs it's RAM and storage upgrading to make it gaming ready. tbh, unlike with the PSU, I'm pretty certain what I want to do about this but I'm making this thread anyway, so I thought why not ask. I'm thinking I'll tell him to buy a second stick of Corsair Vengeance LPX 8 GB DDR4-3200 CL16 memory to get him upto 16GB of RAM and a 1TB Kingston NV2 for game storage cause currently his machine only has a 250GB NVMe boot drive and 2TB of HDD space. You can see what parts are in the machines and what I'm planning on spending for the RAM and Storage upgrades in the links below.

My Main PC
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/MNtWFg

with my current 850W PSU and a randomly selected 4080

My Brothers PC

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/9znG9r

with his current 650W PSU, the planned ram and storage upgrades and the 3080 from my system

 

What do people think?

 

Thanks in advance 🙂

I might be experienced, but I'm human and I do make mistakes. Trust but Verify! I edit my messages after sending them alot, please refresh before posting your reply. Please try to be clear and specific, you'll get a better answer. Please remember to mark solutions once you have the information you need. Expand this signature for common PC building advice, a short bio and a list of my components.

 

Common build advice:

1) Buy the cheapest (well reviewed) motherboard that has the features you need. Paying more typically only gets you features you won’t use. 2) only get as much RAM as you need, getting more won’t (typically) make your PC faster. 3) While I recommend getting an NVMe drive, you don’t need to splurge for an expensive drive with DRam cache, DRamless drives are fine for gamers. 4) paying for looks is fine, just don’t break the bank. 5) Tower coolers are usually good enough, unless you go top tier Intel or plan on OCing. 6) OCing is a dead meme, you probably shouldn’t bother. 7) "Bottlenecks" rarely matter and "Future-proofing" is a myth. 8) AIOs don't noticeably improve performance past 240mm and don't improve at all past 360mm. 9) RTFM.

 

Useful Websites:

https://www.productchart.com - helps compare monitors, https://uk.pcpartpicker.com - makes designing a PC easier.

 

Bio:

He/Him - I'm a PhD student working in the fields of reinforcement learning and traffic control. PCs are one of my hobbies and I've built many PCs and performed upgrades on a few laptops (for myself, friends and family). My personal computers include 4 windows (10/11) machines and a TrueNAS server (and I'm looking to move to dual booting Linux Mint on my main machine in future). Aside from computers, I also dabble in modding/homebrew retro consoles, support Southampton FC, and enjoy Scuba Diving and Skiing.

Fun Facts

1) When I was 3 years old my favourite toy was a scientific calculator. 2) My father is a British Champion ploughman in the Vintage Hydraulic Class. 3) On Speedrun.com, I'm the world record holder for the Dream Bobsleigh event on Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games 2010.

 

My Favourite Games: World of Tanks, Runescape, Subnautica, Metroid (Fusion and Dread), Spyro: Year of the Dragon (Original and Reignited Trilogy), Crash Bash, Mario Kart Wii, Balatro

 

My Computers: Primary: My main gaming rig - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/NByp3C Second: Hosts Discord bots as well as a Minecraft and Ark server, and also serves as a reinforcement learning sand box - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/cc9K7P NAS: TrueNAS Scale NAS hosting SMB shares, DDNS updater, pi-hole, and a Jellyfin server - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/m37w3C Foldatron: My folding@home and BOINC rig (partially donated to me by Folding Team Leader GOTSpectrum) - Mobile: Mini-ITX gaming rig for when I'm away from home -

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I would upgrade his PSU regardless of whether it works or not as it is only bronze rated but that is my personal preference. You do need a somewhat decent PSU to be able to handle the transient power spikes of the 3080 so it is a 50/50 on whether or not the PSU would work. 

My PC Specs: (expand to view)

 

 

Main Gaming Machine

CPU:  Intel Core i7-14700K
CPU Cooler: Deepcool LT720
Motherboard: MSI PRO Z790-P WIFI
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6400

Storage 1: Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB

Storage 2: Crucial P3 Plus 4 TB
Video Card: EVGA XC3 ULTRA GAMING GeForce RTX 3080 10GB

Power Supply: Corsair RM850 850W
Case: Corsair 7000D Airflow
Case Fan 140mm: Noctua A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140 mm (x7)
Monitor Main: MSI G274QPF-QD 27.0" 2560 x 1440 170 Hz
Monitor Vertical: Asus VA27EHE 27.0" 1920x1080 75 Hz

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Sell the lpx stick and buy a 2x8 kit for matching ram ics to make sure that theres no compatibility issues

 

Nv2 is dramless so look for a dram drive at a similar price, it performs like a gen3 so dont bother looking for a dram gen4 unless theyre literally the same price as a dram gen3

 

3080 power spikes have apparently been fixed in later models, you can upgrade the psu to be safe but a simple undervolt of the gpu core (oc vram to compensate) should make it work fine with a 650w

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  • Author

If I was to go option 3, (replace my brothers PSU) what wattage would people suggest? Has anyone got any specific suggestions for models to look at? (my main criteria would be a good warrenty and atleast semi modular)

I might be experienced, but I'm human and I do make mistakes. Trust but Verify! I edit my messages after sending them alot, please refresh before posting your reply. Please try to be clear and specific, you'll get a better answer. Please remember to mark solutions once you have the information you need. Expand this signature for common PC building advice, a short bio and a list of my components.

 

Common build advice:

1) Buy the cheapest (well reviewed) motherboard that has the features you need. Paying more typically only gets you features you won’t use. 2) only get as much RAM as you need, getting more won’t (typically) make your PC faster. 3) While I recommend getting an NVMe drive, you don’t need to splurge for an expensive drive with DRam cache, DRamless drives are fine for gamers. 4) paying for looks is fine, just don’t break the bank. 5) Tower coolers are usually good enough, unless you go top tier Intel or plan on OCing. 6) OCing is a dead meme, you probably shouldn’t bother. 7) "Bottlenecks" rarely matter and "Future-proofing" is a myth. 8) AIOs don't noticeably improve performance past 240mm and don't improve at all past 360mm. 9) RTFM.

 

Useful Websites:

https://www.productchart.com - helps compare monitors, https://uk.pcpartpicker.com - makes designing a PC easier.

 

Bio:

He/Him - I'm a PhD student working in the fields of reinforcement learning and traffic control. PCs are one of my hobbies and I've built many PCs and performed upgrades on a few laptops (for myself, friends and family). My personal computers include 4 windows (10/11) machines and a TrueNAS server (and I'm looking to move to dual booting Linux Mint on my main machine in future). Aside from computers, I also dabble in modding/homebrew retro consoles, support Southampton FC, and enjoy Scuba Diving and Skiing.

Fun Facts

1) When I was 3 years old my favourite toy was a scientific calculator. 2) My father is a British Champion ploughman in the Vintage Hydraulic Class. 3) On Speedrun.com, I'm the world record holder for the Dream Bobsleigh event on Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games 2010.

 

My Favourite Games: World of Tanks, Runescape, Subnautica, Metroid (Fusion and Dread), Spyro: Year of the Dragon (Original and Reignited Trilogy), Crash Bash, Mario Kart Wii, Balatro

 

My Computers: Primary: My main gaming rig - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/NByp3C Second: Hosts Discord bots as well as a Minecraft and Ark server, and also serves as a reinforcement learning sand box - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/cc9K7P NAS: TrueNAS Scale NAS hosting SMB shares, DDNS updater, pi-hole, and a Jellyfin server - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/m37w3C Foldatron: My folding@home and BOINC rig (partially donated to me by Folding Team Leader GOTSpectrum) - Mobile: Mini-ITX gaming rig for when I'm away from home -

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