Can my old Power Supply run GTX 780 and Phenom II x6 1045T?

Hello!

I'm new to this forum, but I hope you guys can help me. ))

Now, to the main topic:

I'm sitting on a very old pc - 4 years build.

Power Supply: http://www.benchmark.pl/artykuly/testy/10_zasilaczy/GPS_500_ABA/gps-tabliczka.jpg
GeForce 9600gt
Gigabyte ga-ma770t-ud3p
Phenom ii x2 545
Somewhat new Kingston 2x4gb ddr3 1333mhz cl9
Somewhat new western digital green 2tb HDD
IRRELEVANT dvd and cd roms
Case is something I can't recognize, all the older parts were bought by my father so I got no idea what type of case is it but it has no dust filters and no fans etc., yet it is metal.

I decided to upgrade my gaming pc and need the best bang for the buck with future upgradability on the CPU side of things.

So I thought I may reuse some components because I'm on a tight budget right now, under 1000$ and it doesnt help I'm from Poland where electronics are relatively expensive.

So I want to get a 780 alongside phenom ii x6 1045t (the only model available in Poland), which should both fit on my motherboard GA-MA770T-UD3P or something. I will not change my no-airflow case right now and will not change the mobo or the whole platform until I get my hands on another couple hundred bucks.

Now, I'm currently sitting with 9600gt and phenom ii x2 545.

My main concern is, will my roughly 4-years-old power supply suffice?

I'm not aiming to overclock out of the box, definitely not with current fanless case and PSU. Still will my power supply run these, or will it not? If it won't, can I do some underclock to get it to work?

Thanks for help in advance and don't hesitate to ask me for details.

I'm aiming to stick with this upgraded parts for a while (3 years at least) like with my last build and only upgrade the non-vital parts of the PC like hdd/ram if anything etc.

I will stick with Phenom II x6 1045t until i find money for upgrading CPU/mobo to intell haswell (refresh perhaps?) or even broadwell if this CPU suffices.

I'm all for upgrading the PSU but i just dont have the funds right now and need the best bang for the buck during summer holidays right now when i have time to enjoy my enormous Steam library.

 

The GTX 780 requires a 550W PSU at minimum.

The one you own is an old low-end 500W which doesn't even have an 8-pin PCI-E cable.

It isn't worth risking damage to an expensive video card on such a shoddy PSU.

 

I do not belive that power supply is going to be enough at all.Nvidia sugests a 600 w power supply minimum for the 780.But from my poin of view the 780 is goin to boottleneck the cpu you chose.Better wait until you have more money,becouse that MB does no support FX cpu,and it only supports 1333 mhz native mem.Better wait and go with something better .I would sugest you to go with intel in any case ,a Core i5 3570K and a gtx 770 becouse of the high prices is goin to do the trick and is going to last also.

 

That psu will not run a gtx 780, I'm surprised it runs your current rig. And tbh, I wouldn't be buying a gtx 780 to use with that cpu.

 

Not recommended.

 

AMD X6 and GTX 780 is sufficient ballance but games are newer only.
Best option: I recommend you may buy "old" CPU Sandy Bridge i5 or i7 is cheaper.

NOTICE: Need new PSU minimum 650 or 700W because your PSU is bad.

 

I just upgraded my whole rig only kept my psu but mine was 750w. This is my first intel setup I'd have to say I'm happy with it.

Id day save up and get a better rig you'll have to build a from scratch to get a better overall comp that'll last u a good amount of time.

 

Well any reasoning behind why my chieftec can't take GTX 780?

Can you give me any REAL (not some crappy bull**** from nvidia database) info about real power draw of GTX 780? And remember 12v * amper = wattage, my PSU can push 360w on 12v rails.

I'd be grateful if somebody could make some tests or whatever, because from my calculations a GTX 780 should be fine with my PSU but I need some confirmation. Also underclocking until i get a better PSU is viable solution i guess?

I hope you can help me

As to the Phenom x6 it'll be fine, lagging 50% behind i5 in games when they are 4 or less threaded but when playing games with more cores the distance is reduced dramatically (25% and beyond) and that's fine for my mobo's capability (i will not change it until i get enough funds). Best bang for the buck this holidays is the most important thing for me.

 

Here's your reasoning:

Your PSU has no 8 pin PCI-E connector. So please explain how you plan to run a 780 with that PSU.

 

Easy enough, 2x 4pin molex into 8pin that should be fairly easy with what Gigabyte sends in the box with GPU i've seen Linus unboxing.

 

just get a 760 and be done with it

 

You serious bro?

On the second thought at least you didn't put HD7950 in there...

Go home, you're drunk

 

I second the 760 and upgrade the rest of your rig. 2500k,3570k,4670k m/b and ram.
you will have a much better experience imo than being horribly bottlecked with all that gpu power.

 

Don't mind this one being Polish, but i think you can see what phenom does there with Radeon 7970 Vapor X running Max Payne 3:

http://pclab.pl/art50000-22.html

Now now. That game is using 6 cores for sure since Phenom x6 goes a bit ahead of Phenom x4...

BUT here the CPU clocks were:
Phenom II x6 1045t @2,7GHz
Phenom II x4 965 @3,4GHz

Here's clock to clock comparison overclocked @4,0GHz:

http://pclab.pl/art50000-65.html

of course im not gonna overclock so far on this mobo and this PSU - for now i will not overclock at all. BUT... you can see it scales well. ) And Radeons suck when paired with multiple threaded CPUs when compared to GeForces paired with multiple threaded CPUs. not to mention how far behind 780 radeons are.

 

Just did a test with corsair link. With one GTX 670 and 3570k at 4.5 i'm using between 315 - 330 watts with furmark and prime95. You said your psu is rated 360 on 12v, also is that even continuous? So for you with a power hungry phenom x6 and 250w plus gtx 780 it's a no go. Besides the fact that you lack an 8 pin PCIe connector on your psu. So, end of discussion. If you don't want to take advice go ahead and kill your psu and brand new 780, it doesn't change my gaming experience.

 

The OP asked a question, got a bunch of responses that he didn't like, and has pretty much proceeded to ignore the advice. He should just go ahead and get the upgrades he wants, if the PSU works out, cool, if not, then it's only his comp he blows up, not ours.

 

You really should heed the advice from these people. You're much better off getting a 760 and saving to upgrade your motherboard and processor to an IB build. A 3570k + 760 takes a lot less power than a Phenom + 760, let alone a 780. There's literally no point in you wasting $650 (USD) on a 780 with that processor, anyway. Gaming doesn't depend on how many cores you have, it depends on how well each core can shuttle data. As it is, AMD is no where near equivalent to Intel's line-up. That Phenom will be a major bottleneck and you truly do not want to throw a 780 into that mix as its performance wouldn't be up to par with what it would be.

 

I'm still on the topic that i WILL be upgrading to Intel asap (possibly, in 3 months), but i want to get best gaming performance (bang for the buck) during these holidays. Maybe i didnt express myself correctly.

I am getting a Phenom because it fits to my Mobo without upgrading it further, because it would be a waste, BECAUSE i am going to upgrade to intel soon.

Phenom would be temporary solution to rock my brand new 780 meanwhile, because with phenom ii x2 it would be a total waste and I just want to play some games while holidays last. I wont have that much time over the next three months.

If i bought a worse GPU card like 760 now and upgraded the mobo/cpu to intel I would waste money. Because i intend to pair intel haswell Xeon/i7 with 780 eventually.

Phenom is a temporary solution to drive me through holidays while enjoying the games with the new GPU until I buy myself whole new platform.

The topic was whether my PSU can take it and the answer apparently is "no", in which case I am opting to buy some better PSU alongside Phenom and 780.

Also, thank you Supernoob for the test. Indeed you got your CPU overclocked so much that it probably exceeds what Phenom drains at stock. The PSU proved reliable over last 4 years without doubt but i understand the risks behind pairing my Chieftec with something power hungry. I'll upgrade the PSU

You also seem to have liquid cooling and whatnot. That adds up to power drain. I dare to say that GTX 780 + Phenom at stock speed wouldnt drain more than 330w at full load.

 

@cowie adviced "bad" because GTX 760 isn't good but GTX 780 is very good - I advice very good.

If you want GRID 2 with 2 Intel features enabled then you should buy CPU Haswell (Probably Sandy Bridge can work Intel features due to AVX support but I don't test this game yet).

 

A 780 will be so bottlenecked in your current PC that it would be better just to leave it in the box and put it in your closet until you can afford a real CPU+Board that can actually run it. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but it's just a fact. It also makes 100% no sense to buy an outdated chip that you will replace in three months to try and lessen the bottleneck (Which will still be large).