Will 500 Watts Work For These

[XILEGEND]

Hey guys, I was planning on upgrading my processor from a Pentium G3258 to a i7-4790k (I was also going to get a 120mm Evo 212 cooler). I was also going to upgrade my GPU from a GTX 950 to either a Strix Radeon RX 580 T8g Top OC Edition or a GTX 970 (Depending on the Wattage). I was wondering if my PC could handle the upgrades with the 500 Watt power supply I am currently running. Would it work or just ruin the whole set up? I tried 2 tests on powersupplycalculator.net, one for my current build, and one for my planned build. The screenshots of the results are below. The results with the 345 watt is the new build (with the GTX 970 because they didn't have the Radeon to compare :/) and the one with the 283 watt is the current build. I'm not sure how reliable those results are and it would be great to get some advice on whether I should keep the power supply i am currently using, or if i should upgrade. I know I should keep the total close to the actual amount the supply put out to improve efficiency but i obviously don't want to go over. This is a very important part and I didn't want to just slap the upgrade and pray it doesn't break lol. Thanks for taking the time to read  

 

Current Build:                                                                                  Planned Build: 

Processor- Pentium G3258                                                            Processor- I7-4790k (Devils Canyon) 

Motherboard-MSI Intel H81M-E34(DDR3 and LGA1150)              Motherboard- Same    

RAM- HyperX FURY 8gb 1866MHz                                               Ram-Same

Graphics Card-MSI GTX 950 (2Gb)                                              Graphics Card- Strix RadeonRX 580 T8G Top OC Edition OR GTX 970

Windows 10 64 bit                                                                          Windows-Same

Hard Drive-WD Blue 2tb Hard Disk Drive-5400 RPM                     Hard Drive- Same

Power Supply-EVGA 500 W1                                                         Power Supply-???

Case- Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-02                                        Case- Same

[STRMfrmXMN]

Bro your motherboard A. cannot OC that 4790K and B. Probably has such crap VRMs that the CPU won't turbo boost. Definitely upgrade that board when you get a 4790K.

 

If you get an RX 580 then a Corsair CX450M would be a decent upgrade.

[XILEGEND]

Just now, STRMfrmXMN said:

Bro your motherboard A. cannot OC that 4790K and B. Probably has such crap VRMs that the CPU won't turbo boost. Definitely upgrade that board when you get a 4790K.

 

If you get an RX 580 then a Corsair CX450M would be a decent upgrade.

I wasn't planning on overclocking it which i know sounds stupid but i was planning on taking advantage of its 4ghz base clock. Not sure if that changes your opinion on the motherboard upgrade or not lol. But if you still think I shouldn't even when using base clock, what other 4th gen processors would you recommend? Thanks for quick response btw 

[STRMfrmXMN]

Just now, XILEGEND said:

I wasn't planning on overclocking it which i know sounds stupid but i was planning on taking advantage of its 4ghz base clock. Not sure if that changes your opinion on the motherboard upgrade or not lol. But if you still think I shouldn't even when using base clock, what other 4th gen processors would you recommend? Thanks for quick response btw 

It kind of does still. I've had low-end boards with a Haswell i7 and the VRMs get too hot on the board and the CPU will never turbo and will often throttle to 800 MHz because the VRMs can't handle the current being put through them when the CPU is under load. Haswell motherboards still seem to be holding up in value though so it's ultimately up to you if you want to get a new board and CPU on an old platform or if something newer is a better way of spending your money.

 

That board would easily handle an i5 but I'd not buy a non-hyperthreaded quad core in this day and age for modern high refresh rate PC games.

[vanished]

I run a similar CPU (4770k) and a R9 Fury on 550 W so you should be just fine, provided the 500 W is coming from a good PSU

[XILEGEND]

1 minute ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

I run a similar CPU (4770k) and a R9 Fury on 550 W so you should be just fine, provided the 500 W is coming from a good PSU

The PSU im using now is a EVGA 500 W1 

[XILEGEND]

3 minutes ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

It kind of does still. I've had low-end boards with a Haswell i7 and the VRMs get too hot on the board and the CPU will never turbo and will often throttle to 800 MHz because the VRMs can't handle the current being put through them when the CPU is under load. Haswell motherboards still seem to be holding up in value though so it's ultimately up to you if you want to get a new board and CPU on an old platform or if something newer is a better way of spending your money.

 

That board would easily handle an i5 but I'd not buy a non-hyperthreaded quad core in this day and age for modern high refresh rate PC games.

So you think I would be better off using a i5-4690, i5-4670, or i5-4570 rather than the i7-4960k? (Based off my motherboard) And would the PSU be able to handle the GTX 970 or that Strix Radeon as well?

[vanished]

7 minutes ago, XILEGEND said:

The PSU im using now is a EVGA 500 W1 

Definitely not what I would call good, but it should also be good enough to not instantly explode You're in good hands here with respect to whether or not that will do though so I'll be on my way now...

[STRMfrmXMN]

8 minutes ago, XILEGEND said:

So you think I would be better off using a i5-4690, i5-4670, or i5-4570 rather than the i7-4960k? (Based off my motherboard) And would the PSU be able to handle the GTX 970 or that Strix Radeon as well?

Your PSU is pretty crap TBH, I'd upgrade it if you want an expensive GPU.

 

I think your board would handle an i5 better but it depends on what refresh rate and resolution you're playing at and what games. An i7 shows a substantial gain in many modern games.

[XILEGEND]

3 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Definitely not what I would call good, but it should also be good enough to not instantly explode You're in good hands here with respect to whether or not that will do though so I'll be on my way now...

Ok, im sorry to keep annoying you but just to clarify (I really dont want to mess this up lol) that PSU would run both those graphics cards? And should i stick with an i5 since i have a c

 

1 minute ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

Your PSU is pretty crap TBH, I'd upgrade it if you want an expensive GPU.

 

I think your board would handle an i5 better but it depends on what refresh rate and resolution you're playing at and what games. An i7 shows a substantial gain in many modern games.

Do you have any recommendations for a power supply that would run those GPUs? Id like to keep it under 100 if possible. Id be playing games like CS , H1, PUBG, Beam NG Drive, and other new games that might peak interest. Im slowly getting more and more into PC gaming (RN still ps4 pleb) Im not sure if this makes a difference but if i did get the i7-4790k, id be cooling it with an EVO 212. Id like to run everything at 1080p 60fps. But like previously said, since the PSU i have now isnt the best quality, would you say get a better brand at 500 watts or just get more wattage period. 

[vanished]

3 minutes ago, XILEGEND said:

Ok, im sorry to keep annoying you but just to clarify (I really dont want to mess this up lol) that PSU would run both those graphics cards? And should i stick with an i5 since i have a c

It's fine, you're not annoying me it's just that I can't really provide anything @STRMfrmXMN can't in this space

Yes, yours should handle a 580 (although I wouldn't try the 580 and 950 at the same time) but it probably won't be happy about it Having a better PSU will greatly decrease the odds that it dies suddenly, as well as the odds of it killing other things when that happens.

[XILEGEND]

2 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

It's fine, you're not annoying me it's just that I can't really provide anything @STRMfrmXMN can't in this space

Yes, yours should handle a 580 (although I wouldn't try the 580 and 950 at the same time) but it probably won't be happy about it Having a better PSU will greatly decrease the odds that it dies suddenly, as well as the odds of it killing other things when that happens.

Oh no i was only going to use one or the other lol, i only brought up both because I wasn't sure which would run better. Do you have any recommendations for a PSU that would run those processors and GPUs? And which GPU/CPU combo would work best?Ik i recently asked STRM but im just looking for more advice. Sorry if im repeating myself at all its a bit overwhelming trying to figure all the mix and matches of parts as someone who is pretty new to this...

[STRMfrmXMN]

19 minutes ago, XILEGEND said:

Oh no i was only going to use one or the other lol, i only brought up both because I wasn't sure which would run better. Do you have any recommendations for a PSU that would run those processors and GPUs? And which GPU/CPU combo would work best?Ik i recently asked STRM but im just looking for more advice. Sorry if im repeating myself at all its a bit overwhelming trying to figure all the mix and matches of parts as someone who is pretty new to this...

A 580 is a much better GPU than a 950 which was antiquated when it was new. Don't even bother with 2 GB VRAM in 2017 lol.

 

No worries though, basically just get the best PSU you can afford. For a 580 at 1080P 60 you should be fine with an i5 with the games you play. 

[XILEGEND]

28 minutes ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

A 580 is a much better GPU than a 950 which was antiquated when it was new. Don't even bother with 2 GB VRAM in 2017 lol.

 

No worries though, basically just get the best PSU you can afford. For a 580 at 1080P 60 you should be fine with an i5 with the games you play. 

Ok, thanks for the help guys! I think im gonna go with that Strix Radeon 580, i5-4690, and either the Cooler Master V650 650W or the Cooler Master v550 550W. Which of those 2 do you guys think would fit best? And where could i maybe sell my old parts (LAST QUESTIONS i promise haha) 

Edited December 7, 2017 by XILEGEND

[STRMfrmXMN]

2 hours ago, XILEGEND said:

Ok, thanks for the help guys! I think im gonna go with that Strix Radeon 580, i5-4690, and either the Cooler Master V650 650W or the Cooler Master v550 550W. Which of those 2 do you guys think would fit best? And where could i maybe sell my old parts (LAST QUESTIONS i promise haha) 

Either PSU is fine, get the 550W if it's cheaper since your system will never draw more than maybe 225W.

 

Craigslist would be good, Ebay is good too, used on Amazon if you have a seller account, etc.

[Stefan Payne]

If you have to replace the motherboard anyway, why not go for a 6core or 8 core?
I imagine that you have to pay a redicilous amount of money for the (used??) i7-4970K so that you won't really save much at all.

 

And also take a look at X79 and X99, sometimes you can get them dirt cheap (like I did, for example an i7-3930K for 125€ at the door)...

If you want a system you can use until it dies, you should look for 6 or 8 core CPUs, also think about Ryzen because AMD is really good right now (and not that expensive)...