putting new GPU in system with low wattage PSU. What might happen?

[Taitor]

just curious what would happen if i bought a new GPU and installed it in my system and my PSU turned out to not have enough wattage? would something break or just cause my PC not to work until i get a better PSU?

[Amazingasian]

A good one might power down.  A bad one might blow up.

[comicsansms]

You PC could become a fire hazard, it might damage your PC, It may not turn on, or it could be unstable.

It really depends.

[ReesZRB]

Don't listen to him. Power Supply can't just blow out of the blue for not having not enough wattage. So far with my cheap power supply(all kinds of sketchy brands) normal won't power up.

[comicsansms]

2 minutes ago, ReesZRB said:

Don't listen to him. Power Supply can't just blow out of the blue for not having not enough wattage. So far with my cheap power supply(all kinds of sketchy brands) normal won't power up.

Yes they can.

 

 

 

 

[ReesZRB]

Just now, Comic_Sans_MS said:

-snip-

I literally mean blow up. Not sparks

[comicsansms]

Just now, ReesZRB said:

I literally mean blow up. Not sparks

The PSU will not explode into nothingness, but it did very much explode.

 

[Roawoao]

6 minutes ago, ReesZRB said:

I literally mean blow up. Not sparks

Internally the caps/parts may explode this could cause flames to shoot out the vents which could then start secondary fires and burn your house down.

 

So 1st thing is the power supply a good quality name brand unit (Should have overload protections), wattage rating (capacity), and GPU/CPU/HDD being used would determine the total system draw.

[ReesZRB]

Just now, Comic_Sans_MS said:

The PSU will not explode into nothingness, but it did very much explode.

 

I'm sold. PSU do explode

[Roawoao]

2 minutes ago, Comic_Sans_MS said:

The PSU will not explode into nothingness, but it did very much explode.

 

That diode had a bad day. Uh that looks a like a really crappy PSU. Paper PCB, Discrete Diode bridge with what looks like differently sized diodes (4 in total all close together), that huge pink power resistor is wasteful at best and probably helped overheat that diode. Using an NTC for inrush protection is pretty old school (not to mention putting that near the primary cap is a bad idea as those get hot (>100degC) and I hope they switch it out after startup.

[comicsansms]

2 minutes ago, Roawoao said:

That diode had a bad day. Uh that looks a like a really crappy PSU. Paper PCB, Discrete Diode bridge with what looks like differently sized diodes (4 in total all close together), that huge pink power resistor is wasteful at best and probably helped overheat that diode. Using an NTC for inrush protection is pretty old school (not to mention putting that near the primary cap is a bad idea as those get hot (>100degC) and I hope they switch it out after startup.

I don't know what you are talking about, but I am going to replace my shit hole of a PSU hopefully before the end of the month.

[Roawoao]

1 minute ago, Comic_Sans_MS said:

I don't know what you are talking about, but I am going to replace my shit hole of a PSU hopefully before the end of the month.

I'm referring to the picture.

The blown up component is called a diode (one way electrical valve only letting them electrons go in one direction).

Paper PCB is crappy in general (also flammable because it is paper after all)

Diode bridge is usually four of those diodes that work to turn your wall power AC into really crappy DC power.

The pink thing with the colorful bands is clearly a power resistor which means it gets hot and that is bad for diodes.

The NTC is the green thing labeled NTC which when you switch the PSU on will get really hot but smooths the startup so your fuse/circuit breaking in the building doesn't trip.

This also gets very hot and that large black tube the the picture doesn't show completely is a large wet chemical thing which when heated doesn't last very long.

 

 

[comicsansms]

8 minutes ago, Roawoao said:

I'm referring to the picture.

The blown up component is called a diode (one way electrical valve only letting them electrons go in one direction).

Paper PCB is crappy in general (also flammable because it is paper after all)

Diode bridge is usually four of those diodes that work to turn your wall power AC into really crappy DC power.

The pink thing with the colorful bands is clearly a power resistor which means it gets hot and that is bad for diodes.

The NTC is the green thing labeled NTC which when you switch the PSU on will get really hot but smooths the startup so your fuse/circuit breaking in the building doesn't trip.

This also gets very hot and that large black tube the the picture doesn't show completely is a large wet chemical thing which when heated doesn't last very long.

 

 

Okay Thankyou.

[Conan1600]

certified master electrician who builds PC's here. You run the risk of melt down, explosion, fade out, ground out, or just wont start. MOST OFTEN what happens when you put to much amps on a psu outright is it just wont start up. the fan will chirp once and then everything goes quiet. but the risk for fire or damage to other devices is very real. ON ANY QUALITY PSU but certainly a cheaper one is more so. you simply can not expect to out spec your power. if you are close so say you are not exceeding the wattage capability of the psu on startup but on max output which happens mostly, you will start up but your cpu and gpu will throttle because they are power starved BUT if you red line a car long enough it will eventually blow, mate, and so will a psu. you will overheat or stay at the red line of heat ans eventually .... pop ... or ...BBOOOMMMMM.