Whats the best gc for 280w psu?

[skayqz]

Its in the title, btw is there anything better that i can get (limitted by the psu) that can replace my gtx 1050 ti?

Well yes a psu upgrade but i wanna save energy.

I5-7400

16gb ddr4

The 280w psu

Asus prime b250m-k

One m.2 256gb and a sata ssd 512gb

 

[Eigenvektor]

1 minute ago, skayqz said:

Well yes a psu upgrade but i wanna save energy.

If you want to save energy, make sure to get a good quality PSU that has a good energy star rating and components with low power consumption on idle. Occasional gaming generally isn't going to cost that much. Or maybe consider something like a Laptop or Steamdeck instead.

 

280W is very weak for a gaming PC and you'll generally be limited to GPUs that don't need any extra power (i.e. 75W max from the PCIe slot). Even something as slow as the RTX 3050 4 GB has a 6-pin connector these days (since it uses up to 90W): https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-rtx-3050-4-gb.c3744

[skayqz]

18 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

If you want to save energy, make sure to get a good quality PSU that has a good energy star rating and components with low power consumption on idle. Occasional gaming generally isn't going to cost that much. Or maybe consider something like a Laptop or Steamdeck instead.

 

280W is very weak for a gaming PC and you'll generally be limited to GPUs that don't need any extra power (i.e. 75W max from the PCIe slot). Even something as slow as the RTX 3050 4 GB has a 6-pin connector these days (since it uses up to 90W): https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-rtx-3050-4-gb.c3744

As i am not home right now to check my psu there was a certification of 80 plus something like bronze but ill get back to you as soon as i can.

[RONOTHAN##]

The Quadro A2000 is probably the fastest low power GPU you can get, it's a decent uplift over the 1050 Ti (roughly the same performance of an RX 590) while not needing external power. The problem is it costs quite a lot even used, to the point where it would be cheaper to buy a new PSU and a midrange GPU like an RX 6700 XT instead, even if you want to factor in power consumption of running the card 24 hours a day for a few years (not realistic for a gaming rig). 

 

As @Eigenvektor said, if power consumption really is an issue for you, you should be going for some sort of laptop or Steam Deck instead, as then you'll be getting components specifically designed for performance per watt. 

[xAcid9]

If it a legit 280w, even a 4060 should be fine. 

[skayqz]

Will a 110-130 watt gc work?

[Bismut]

42 minutes ago, skayqz said:

Well yes a psu upgrade but i wanna save energy.

Getting a HDPlex 400W GaN or other highly efficient PSU would be the way to go then, that will save power in the long run. There are other efficient PSUs as well, the Corsair RMx series is supposed to be good (and I like mine, although 850W is way too much).

 

3 minutes ago, skayqz said:

Will a 110-130 watt gc work?

Depends, what are you planning to do with it?

[skayqz]

2 minutes ago, Bismut said:

Getting a HDPlex 400W GaN or other highly efficient PSU would be the way to go then, that will save power in the long run. There are other efficient PSUs as well, the Corsair RMx series is supposed to be good (and I like mine, although 850W is way too much).

 

Depends, what are you planning to do with it?

Gamin'

[Bismut]

Just now, skayqz said:

Gamin'

I read gc as PSU instead of GPU, my bad.

It should work, but it is also pretty limiting. You could get something like a 6600XT if you know how to undervolt and are okay with running your PSU at close to 90%.

[skayqz]

52 minutes ago, Bismut said:

I read gc as PSU instead of GPU, my bad.

It should work, but it is also pretty limiting. You could get something like a 6600XT if you know how to undervolt and are okay with running your PSU at close to 90%.

How about an rtx 3050? The one with a 6 pin

[Bismut]

16 minutes ago, skayqz said:

How about an rtx 3050? The one with a 6 pin

Could work, although I would not exactly recommend a 3050. A "better" PSU and a more powerful, used GPU would serve you better, especially in the long run.

[Eigenvektor]

6 hours ago, skayqz said:

Will a 110-130 watt gc work?

If the PSU is a good unit, possibly. But make sure it has the required connectors first.

 

A low power unit might not actually have the additional 6 or 8 pin cables.

 

~edit: Something else to consider.

 

Let's say your components draw 250W while gaming.

 

On a 280W PSU that is roughly 90% load. An 80 Plus Bronze PSU will have around 81% efficiency at that load. That means to provide 250W, it will be drawing (250 / 0.81 =) 309W from the wall.

 

Let's compare that to a 550W PSU that is 80 Plus Gold rated.

 

250W / 550W represents a 45% load. The PSU ahould be around 92% efficiency at that power draw. That means it'll draw (250 / 0.92 =) 272W from the wall.

 

In other words it will use less power than the 280W PSU at that point.

[mariushm]

Your computer components will consume only as much as they need. 

 

A power supply only produces as much power as the components need, so a 280 watts power supply is not necessarily more efficient than a good 500-600 watts gold or platinum efficiency power supply.

 

For example, your computer may idle (in Windows, typing in a word document, browsing this forum, watching a Youtube video ) at 80 watts. 

 

A 280w bronze efficiency power supply may be 80% efficient, so it will take 100 watts from the wall to produce those 80 watts for the components. 

A 500w platinum efficiency may be 85% efficient when it produces 80w, so it will take less than 100 watts from the wall to produce those 80 watts. 

 

So you're not really saving energy by forcing yourself to use a low wattage power supply. 

 

A powerful video card will also consume power only when you're gaming. In Windows or when watching movies, the power consumption will be very low, like under 10-20 watts.

 

A thermaltake toughpower gx2 600w is $60 at best buy, if you're in US : https://pcpartpicker.com/product/pG6qqs/thermaltake-toughpower-gx2-600-w-80-gold-certified-atx-power-supply-ps-tpd-0600nnfagu-2

 

 

[MadAnt250]

15 hours ago, skayqz said:

I5-7400

GTX 1650 Super - RTX 3050, anything with more performance may be a waste in the newer games because that 4 core 4 thread i5 7400 will fall on its face.

[skayqz]

On 1/29/2024 at 10:20 AM, mariushm said:

Your computer components will consume only as much as they need. 

 

A power supply only produces as much power as the components need, so a 280 watts power supply is not necessarily more efficient than a good 500-600 watts gold or platinum efficiency power supply.

 

For example, your computer may idle (in Windows, typing in a word document, browsing this forum, watching a Youtube video ) at 80 watts. 

 

A 280w bronze efficiency power supply may be 80% efficient, so it will take 100 watts from the wall to produce those 80 watts for the components. 

A 500w platinum efficiency may be 85% efficient when it produces 80w, so it will take less than 100 watts from the wall to produce those 80 watts. 

 

So you're not really saving energy by forcing yourself to use a low wattage power supply. 

 

A powerful video card will also consume power only when you're gaming. In Windows or when watching movies, the power consumption will be very low, like under 10-20 watts.

 

A thermaltake toughpower gx2 600w is $60 at best buy, if you're in US : https://pcpartpicker.com/product/pG6qqs/thermaltake-toughpower-gx2-600-w-80-gold-certified-atx-power-supply-ps-tpd-0600nnfagu-2

 

 

found a "Seasonic 550W, FOCUS PX Series, 80 PLUS Platinum" for 115 usd, is it good enough?

[mariushm]

Yeah, sure, it's gonna be perfectly fine.  

 

At low power consumption ( for example 100 watts or less) the efficiency difference between a gold efficiency power supply and platinum or titanium efficiency power supplies is extremely small, it's often not worth to pay more. 

 

It's like... maybe 2-3 watts difference ...even if you pay 0.5 eur for 1kWh, your computer would have to run for 500 hours ( 2 months if you go with 8 hours of use per day) to get that extra half eur on your electricity bill.  Basically, instead of paying 30-40 eur more on the power supply, just pay half an eur to 1 eur a month extra on your power bill by going with gold efficiency psu.

 

 

 

[starsmine]

44 minutes ago, mariushm said:

Yeah, sure, it's gonna be perfectly fine.  

 

At low power consumption ( for example 100 watts or less) the efficiency difference between a gold efficiency power supply and platinum or titanium efficiency power supplies is extremely small, it's often not worth to pay more. 

 

It's like... maybe 2-3 watts difference ...even if you pay 0.5 eur for 1kWh, your computer would have to run for 500 hours ( 2 months if you go with 8 hours of use per day) to get that extra half eur on your electricity bill.  Basically, instead of paying 30-40 eur more on the power supply, just pay half an eur to 1 eur a month extra on your power bill by going with gold efficiency psu.

 

 

 

That math assumes the PC is never used though. 
like yes its correct about the lowest of idle states. but a desktop will ramp to 100W with a few browsers open as they do hardware acceleration things, Or a poorly coded website, and then loading it will be at over 200W for hours. 

[mariushm]

5 hours ago, starsmine said:

That math assumes the PC is never used though. 
like yes its correct about the lowest of idle states. but a desktop will ramp to 100W with a few browsers open as they do hardware acceleration things, Or a poorly coded website, and then loading it will be at over 200W for hours. 

Websites will use pretty much only CPU and the i5-7400 will probably peak at around 60-70w of power consumption when running at 100% . With the rest of the system consuming less than 20-30 watts, overall the system shouldn't consume more than 100 watts.

 

A cheap modern Ryzen 1600/1600AF/2600 won't consume more than 80w at 100% cpu usage, here's the maximum power consumption of modern cpus (just cpu, measured at the 8 pin EPS cpu connector) :

 

The 6 core/12 threads 5600 consumes a maximum of 65 watts - the older 1600/2600/3600 will consume slightly more, up to around 80w, as you can see in the table in the picture. 

 

Modern cpus also have  better power management, they have more "levels" and can switch between multiple frequencies, can turn off cores to save power etc etc - while your 7400 may run at a constant 2 Ghz or whatever, and maybe go down to 1.5ghz or 1 ghz, a modern ryzen or intel cpu has more flexibility and will reduce core clocks and save power.

 

 

 

 

[starsmine]

1 hour ago, mariushm said:

Websites will use pretty much only CPU and the i5-7400 will probably peak at around 60-70w of power consumption when running at 100% . With the rest of the system consuming less than 20-30 watts, overall the system shouldn't consume more than 100 watts.

 

A cheap modern Ryzen 1600/1600AF/2600 won't consume more than 80w at 100% cpu usage, here's the maximum power consumption of modern cpus (just cpu, measured at the 8 pin EPS cpu connector) :

 

The 6 core/12 threads 5600 consumes a maximum of 65 watts - the older 1600/2600/3600 will consume slightly more, up to around 80w, as you can see in the table in the picture. 

 

Modern cpus also have  better power management, they have more "levels" and can switch between multiple frequencies, can turn off cores to save power etc etc - while your 7400 may run at a constant 2 Ghz or whatever, and maybe go down to 1.5ghz or 1 ghz, a modern ryzen or intel cpu has more flexibility and will reduce core clocks and save power.

 

 

 

 

 

couple of things, thats JUST what is going through the EPS12V cables. Not the 24 pin, not the Molex devices, not the fans, not the sata devices. and since OP is talking about adding a GPU. I thought that was the wattages we were talking about. 

I do agree that  CPUS and total system power management is better then ever and it does race to idle. But that race to idle assumes software will let it, and that is unfortunatly not guaranteed if you ever leave a laptop unplugged thinking it will go to sleep and it doesnt as some application is still being seen as active. 

[jaslion]

On 1/29/2024 at 7:17 AM, skayqz said:

Will a 110-130 watt gc work?

We need to know the psu. If it DOESNT have a extra pcie power cable then you should not get a gpu with a pcie power cable.

 

 

[jaslion]

13 hours ago, skayqz said:

found a "Seasonic 550W, FOCUS PX Series, 80 PLUS Platinum" for 115 usd, is it good enough?

Thats way expensive. That like corsair rm850w tier which is a far better deal.

 

Pcs use only as much power as they need. A 850w unit simply means that you can add components that consume up to 850w of power but your current system will at most ask like 180w from it.

 

Also a funny thing is that there is a efficiency curve where if you are at the top 80% of the psu's rated capacity it becomes a decent bit less efficient. So for your bronze unit it's currently at likr the 70% mark or so when gaming since its only 280w. However for that 850w gold (so even higher efficiency) its at the 20% mark right now. Which for the rm850w will mean it will have a VERY high efficiency rating of converting power and consume LESS power than your current psu that is being pushed.

 

What id' do here is get a decent psu and buy a USED rx480/rx580 8gb for like 80$. Do they consume a bit more power than a gtx 1650? Yes but they also perform a bit better.

 

Also lets say you play 2-3 hours a day that 40w difference between the 2 is going yo take YEARS UPON YEARS to eventually cost up to the 170$ new price tag of a 1650. Basically till the point both gpu's are barely even gaming capable anymore.

 

Also you have a 4core/4 thread i5. That eill be your main holding back point no matter the gpu in modern games as currently 8 threads is the bare minimum and that is starting to move to 10 now and probably stabilize at 12 for the remainder of this console generation.

 

 

[skayqz]

6 hours ago, jaslion said:

We need to know the psu. If it DOESNT have a extra pcie power cable then you should not get a gpu with a pcie power cable.

 

 

my 280w psu has an 6+2 pin pcie connector, will it be useful?

[jaslion]

25 minutes ago, skayqz said:

my 280w psu has an 6+2 pin pcie connector, will it be useful?

What psu is this?

 

Make and model please.

 

This just gets weirder and weirder because an 8 pin is 150w and that would be like euhh questionable on a 280w.

 

 

[skayqz]

30 minutes ago, jaslion said:

What psu is this?

 

Make and model please.

 

This just gets weirder and weirder because an 8 pin is 150w and that would be like euhh questionable on a 280w.

 

 

[jaslion]

1 hour ago, skayqz said:

Well then that sure is a oem af unit.

 

Id just get the psu I recommended as it will be at the very very worst just as efficient as the seasonic.

 

However at this point.

 

What is your upgrade budget for this system? Because like 120$ for a psu and like 180$ for a gpu is quite the budget for such an older pc and with 300$ total some interesting things can be done