305W PSU?

[manualmode]

Regrettably, I can't really afford a new power supply for a few weeks after building my PC, but I was wondering if a 305W PSU would be able to power a Pentium G4400 or i3-6100 and a GTX 950. The estimated wattage on PCPP is 232W, so 305W is supposed to be enough, but I just wanted to make sure if anybody has any experience with these two parts. 

 

The PSU is in nice condition and works completely fine, BTW. It's missing an 8-pin connector, but the 4-pin will work for now. 

[don_svetlio]

You can't power the GPU with the 4-pin since that's for the CPU. In short, it won't work. Not only does it not have the proper connectors, if the overall rating is 305W, the +12V rating is likely less than 230W so no. It will not work

[Rolling Potatoe]

1. If your mobo has a 8 pin cpu power connector you still only need a 4 pin, only high tdp xeons etc need the second 4pin.

2. assuming its a proper psu it should be enough, you could post the model number/voltage info so we can check its not stinker.

[don_svetlio]

Just now, Rolling Potatoe said:

1. If your mobo has a 8 pin cpu power connector you still only need a 4 pin, only high tdp xeons etc need the second 4pin.

2. assuming its a proper psu it should be enough, you could post the model number/voltage info so we can check its not stinker.

Almost every modern CPU needs the 8-pin
It's a pre-built PSU - no high quality PSUs in 305W versions exist

[Rolling Potatoe]

1 minute ago, don_svetlio said:

Almost every modern CPU needs the 8-pin
It's a pre-built PSU - no high quality PSUs in 305W versions exist

Nope, consumer cpus dont need the second 4 pin, there are even mobos and proper psus that only have the 4 pin.

Just try it out and take out the second 4 pin, there wont be difference even when overclocking......except maybe if youd

use one of those amd toaster chips.

 

Not all prebuild pc psus are shitty. If they can deliver whats on the label and what is on the label is suffiecient then thats enough.

 

A skylake i3 + a 950 will only need about 150w when stressed, the psu is probably fine.

[don_svetlio]

Just now, Rolling Potatoe said:

Nope, consumer cpus dont need the second 4 pin, there are even mobos and proper psus that only have the 4 pin.

Just try it out and take out the second 4 pin, there wont be difference even when overclocking......except maybe if youd

use one of those amd toaster chips.

 

Not all prebuild pc psus are shitty. If they can deliver whats on the label and what is on the label is suffiecient then thats enough.

 

A skylake i3 + a 950 will only need about 150w when stressed, the psu is probably fine.

My i5 doesn't boot without the 2nd 4-pin inserted. Trust me, it will NOT work with most CPUs.
950 uses 120W
i3 uses 60W
Rest of the system 40W
That's about 220W.

[porina]

I have:

MSI H81M-P33 mobo - 4 pin connector only.

i5-5675C on Asus Z97M-Plus - mobo has 8 pin socket, I'm using an ancient 300W with only 4 pin connector. It works fine and I can overclock it.

 

The difference between 4 pin and 8 pin is in maximum current delivery potential. Lower power CPUs like these aren't likely to stress it.

 

Neither of my systems listed above have GPUs though, but that power isn't delivered through the 4/8 pin connector, but the main 24 pin connector. As long as the PSU can handle the total power I can't see why this wouldn't work. Also it is unlikely for all components to run at full power draw anyway so you probably have more headroom than you think.

[don_svetlio]

1 minute ago, porina said:

I have:

MSI H81M-P33 mobo - 4 pin connector only.

i5-5675C on Asus Z97M-Plus - mobo has 8 pin socket, I'm using an ancient 300W with only 4 pin connector. It works fine and I can overclock it.

 

The difference between 4 pin and 8 pin is in maximum current delivery potential. Lower power CPUs like these aren't likely to stress it.

 

Neither of my systems listed above have GPUs though, but that power isn't delivered through the 4/8 pin connector, but the main 24 pin connector. As long as the PSU can handle the total power I can't see why this wouldn't work. Also it is unlikely for all components to run at full power draw anyway so you probably have more headroom than you think.

Thing is, your CPU is 14nm Broadwell so it's power draw is lower than Haswell AND Skylake (since Skylake has more stuff added to it like reverse HT and etc).

Anyway, his PSU is likely along the lines of 200W on the +12V rail as 99% of pre-built PSUs have half of the power on the +3.3 and +5 rails and those aren't the ones used. He'd also have to adapter off for the 950 which is VERY risky with cheap PSUs

[Rolling Potatoe]

12 minutes ago, don_svetlio said:

My i5 doesn't boot without the 2nd 4-pin inserted. Trust me, it will NOT work with most CPUs.
950 uses 120W
i3 uses 60W
Rest of the system 40W
That's about 220W.

if your i5 doesnt boot with only a 4 pin cpu power in then that  is your mobo 

artificially stopping you or your psu being wonky, I got a  i7 930 (130w tdp) that works just fine with a 4pin,

my i5 6600k also only needs a 4 pin.

 

If you look at the actual power needed that is going to be only about 150w max when gaming, about 180w from the wall when assumung about 85% efficiency.

 

If the oem pc the psu was from had some somewhat powerfull hardware chances are the psu is good  enough.

If the psu can handle 20 amps and the 12v rails or so there should be plenty of headroom.

[porina]

2 minutes ago, don_svetlio said:

Thing is, your CPU is 14nm Broadwell so it's power draw is lower than Haswell AND Skylake (since Skylake has more stuff added to it like reverse HT and etc).

Anyway, his PSU is likely along the lines of 200W on the +12V rail as 99% of pre-built PSUs have half of the power on the +3.3 and +5 rails and those aren't the ones used. He'd also have to adapter off for the 950 which is VERY risky with cheap PSUs

What is reverse HT? I don't recall Skylake getting any significant new instructions.

 

According to Intel TDP:

i5-5675C 65W

i3-6100 51W

G4400 54W

 

So either of those CPUs are lower power. I really do think the i3-6100 is a great value processor and would be my choice over the crippled G4400. It only loses out on per-core power usage since it is much higher clocked than the i5.

 

As for the PSU 12V rail, basically since they started using the additional 4 pin connector which only carries 12V, PSUs started to put most of their efforts into powering 12V. The 5V heavy PSUs would be much older than that.

 

We don't have all the facts, but I'd say on available info the probability is the OP's described system will likely work. At worst, the PSU will still get updated in a couple weeks as stated. 

[don_svetlio]

3 minutes ago, porina said:

What is reverse HT? I don't recall Skylake getting any significant new instructions.

 

According to Intel TDP:

i5-5675C 65W

i3-6100 51W

G4400 54W

 

So either of those CPUs are lower power. I really do think the i3-6100 is a great value processor and would be my choice over the crippled G4400. It only loses out on per-core power usage since it is much higher clocked than the i5.

 

As for the PSU 12V rail, basically since they started using the additional 4 pin connector which only carries 12V, PSUs started to put most of their efforts into powering 12V. The 5V heavy PSUs would be much older than that.

 

We don't have all the facts, but I'd say on available info the probability is the OP's described system will likely work. At worst, the PSU will still get updated in a couple weeks as stated. 

I was talking about i5s - the 6600K, 5675C's successor is 95W. The 6100 will work but he will be risking a lot by using molex adapters to power a 950. Firstly, pre-built PCs don't have GPUs and his pre-built likely didn't as the ones who do usually have i7s to drive costs up. Until he posts the table, however, it's guesswork.

As for worst case scenario - that's a house fire. I've seen a cheap 600W PSU with a 650 become a fire cracker. Not the best of ideas. @STRMfrmXMN will likely agree this is a very bad idea.

[porina]

9 minutes ago, don_svetlio said:

I was talking about i5s - the 6600K, 5675C's successor is 95W. The 6100 will work but he will be risking a lot by using molex adapters to power a 950. Firstly, pre-built PCs don't have GPUs and his pre-built likely didn't as the ones who do usually have i7s to drive costs up. Until he posts the table, however, it's guesswork.

That's not a good comparison. In terms of positioning, given price and overclocking ability, then you could say the 6600k succeeds the 5675C. But if you want to compare architecture power differences, that's not a good comparison. 5675C is 3.1 GHz base to 3.6 GHz turbo. The 6600k is 3.5 GHz base 3.9 GHz turbo. As I'm sure you know, more clock usually means more volts. Both more clock and more volts means more power consumption. A fairer comparison to the 5675C would be the 6500, at 3.2 GHz base and 3.6 GHz turbo. The 6500 has 100 MHz more base and same turbo clock as 5675C, yet shares the same 65W TDP.

 

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on the PSU question.

[STRMfrmXMN]

6 hours ago, don_svetlio said:

I was talking about i5s - the 6600K, 5675C's successor is 95W. The 6100 will work but he will be risking a lot by using molex adapters to power a 950. Firstly, pre-built PCs don't have GPUs and his pre-built likely didn't as the ones who do usually have i7s to drive costs up. Until he posts the table, however, it's guesswork.

As for worst case scenario - that's a house fire. I've seen a cheap 600W PSU with a 650 become a fire cracker. Not the best of ideas. @STRMfrmXMN will likely agree this is a very bad idea.

 

6 hours ago, porina said:

That's not a good comparison. In terms of positioning, given price and overclocking ability, then you could say the 6600k succeeds the 5675C. But if you want to compare architecture power differences, that's not a good comparison. 5675C is 3.1 GHz base to 3.6 GHz turbo. The 6600k is 3.5 GHz base 3.9 GHz turbo. As I'm sure you know, more clock usually means more volts. Both more clock and more volts means more power consumption. A fairer comparison to the 5675C would be the 6500, at 3.2 GHz base and 3.6 GHz turbo. The 6500 has 100 MHz more base and same turbo clock as 5675C, yet shares the same 65W TDP.

 

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on the PSU question.

I've never heard of an i5 not booting off a 4-pin as I have a friend with an OCd 3770 running off the 4-pin, but eh. Probably just a picky (I'm gonna guess Asus?) motherboard.

 

The PSU is definitely terrible if it claims to be a "305" watt unit. That's very bizarre and also low enough to arouse suspicion of the quality of the unit. For a GTX 950, an EVGA 500B/Corsair CX430M/Seasonic S12 shouldn't be out of the question when they don't cost much.

[manualmode]

8 hours ago, don_svetlio said:

You can't power the GPU with the 4-pin since that's for the CPU. In short, it won't work. Not only does it not have the proper connectors, if the overall rating is 305W, the +12V rating is likely less than 230W so no. It will not work

The 12V rating is 264W. And yeah, I'm aware that the 4-pin is for the CPU. I have a 4-pin and a 6-pin. The GTX 950 requires a 6-pin connector, and I can plug the 4-pin into my 8-pin on the motherboard. 

[don_svetlio]

Just now, manualmode said:

The 12V rating is 264W. And yeah, I'm aware that the 4-pin is for the CPU. I have a 4-pin and a 6-pin. The GTX 950 requires a 6-pin connector, and I can plug the 4-pin into my 8-pin on the motherboard. 

Trust me and him. You are going to regret stressing a cheap PSU at 100%. You are looking at a possible fire situation.

1 hour ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

 

I've never heard of an i5 not booting off a 4-pin as I have a friend with an OCd 3770 running off the 4-pin, but eh. Probably just a picky (I'm gonna guess Asus?) motherboard.

 

The PSU is definitely terrible if it claims to be a "305" watt unit. That's very bizarre and also low enough to arouse suspicion of the quality of the unit. For a GTX 950, an EVGA 500B/Corsair CX430M/Seasonic S12 shouldn't be out of the question when they don't cost much.

 

[manualmode]

1 hour ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

 

I've never heard of an i5 not booting off a 4-pin as I have a friend with an OCd 3770 running off the 4-pin, but eh. Probably just a picky (I'm gonna guess Asus?) motherboard.

 

The PSU is definitely terrible if it claims to be a "305" watt unit. That's very bizarre and also low enough to arouse suspicion of the quality of the unit. For a GTX 950, an EVGA 500B/Corsair CX430M/Seasonic S12 shouldn't be out of the question when they don't cost much.

Yeah, they actually do cost too much right now. Anyways, it's a Hipro power supply, and the "max output power" is 305W, so I think that it's a 305W PSU. Hipro has a nice reputation as one manufacturer who isn't as popular as others like Seasonic and EVGA, but the PSU has worked for a number of years. 

[manualmode]

8 hours ago, Rolling Potatoe said:

1. If your mobo has a 8 pin cpu power connector you still only need a 4 pin, only high tdp xeons etc need the second 4pin.

2. assuming its a proper psu it should be enough, you could post the model number/voltage info so we can check its not stinker.

The model number is HP-P3087F3. It's an old-ish Hipro PSU, but it works. 

[don_svetlio]

2 minutes ago, manualmode said:

Yeah, they actually do cost too much right now. Anyways, it's a Hipro power supply, and the "max output power" is 305W, so I think that it's a 305W PSU. Hipro has a nice reputation as one manufacturer who isn't as popular as others like Seasonic and EVGA, but the PSU has worked for a number of years. 

If it's several years old there is a 0% chance that it can deliver it's rated power. Capacitors degrade over time. I doubt you'll be able to draw more than 200W without it failing

[manualmode]

2 minutes ago, don_svetlio said:

If it's several years old there is a 0% chance that it can deliver it's rated power. Capacitors degrade over time. I doubt you'll be able to draw more than 200W without it failing

I've messed around with it in another system with similar power draw to this Skylake system. It should work for a few weeks, I think. I'll probably hold off on the GPU until I can get a PSU too, if you say it's dangerous. I've already bought the GPU, but I guess I can wait a week or two. 

[don_svetlio]

11 minutes ago, manualmode said:

I've messed around with it in another system with similar power draw to this Skylake system. It should work for a few weeks, I think. I'll probably hold off on the GPU until I can get a PSU too, if you say it's dangerous. I've already bought the GPU, but I guess I can wait a week or two. 

It's not safe. I had a cheap 400W PSU with a system that drew 300W max. It ran fine the first 2-3 years but afterwards all hell broke lose

PSU overheating, rattling, odd electrical clicking.

[manualmode]

Just now, don_svetlio said:

It's not safe. I had a cheap 400W PSU with a system that drew 300W max. It ran fine the first 2-3 years but afterwards all hell broke lose

PSU overheating, rattling, odd electrical clicking.

Uh, well, I won't have the PSU for 2-3 years.  

 

The PSU wasn't cheap at the time either.

[don_svetlio]

Just now, manualmode said:

Uh, well, I won't have the PSU for 2-3 years.  

 

The PSU wasn't cheap at the time either.

Mine wasn't either. I payed about 40 Euros for it. Thing is, cheaper components in low-end PSUs wear out MUCH quicker. Hence why they have 2-3 year warranties whereas my current S12G has a 5-year warranty and high-end EVGA units have 10-year warranties

[manualmode]

1 minute ago, don_svetlio said:

Mine wasn't either. I payed about 40 Euros for it. Thing is, cheaper components in low-end PSUs wear out MUCH quicker. Hence why they have 2-3 year warranties whereas my current S12G has a 5-year warranty and high-end EVGA units have 10-year warranties

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