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I have a PSU question
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I have a PSU questionPosted:

buildafire
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So say I decide to upgrade my PC and put in a new video card and RAM then attach a bigger and newer monitor, but keeping the same PSU.

What happens if I then turn the PC on and the PSU isn't good enough quality or has enough wattage to power everything adequately? Can I cause damage or will the PC just refuse to turn on or will I get a message saying there isn't enough power?

I have plans to upgrade but to save money and time I don't want to change the PSU unless I really have to.
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A monitor is not going to draw power from your PC's PSU. RAM doesn't require much wattage. GPUs vary wildly and you could be upgrading to a GPU which requires less wattage for all we know, in which case you'd probably be fine.

Depending on the PSU, it may or may not have any protections so if it's a really low quality PSU, installing a new GPU could kill the PSU, and a bad PSU can take other components with it.
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buildafire wrote What happens if I then turn the PC on and the PSU isn't good enough quality or has enough wattage to power everything adequately? Can I cause damage or will the PC just refuse to turn on or will I get a message saying there isn't enough power?

It depends on the design of the power supply. If a PSU can't deliver enough power at startup, the PC might blue-screen or shut off. If the PC has started and then draws more than the PSU can deliver continuously, various protections built into the unit for temperature, current, or load can shut it off. Crappy PSUs might have none of these protections and zap your other hardware.
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buildafire
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Current specs:

Asus P8Z77-V LX Motherboard
Chillblast Vantage Black Midi Mesh Gaming Case
Intel Core i5 3570K @ 3.40GHz overclocked via multiplier to 3.9GHz
Nero 3 CPU cooler with Artic Silver premium thermal paste
8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 668MHz
931GB Seagate ST1000DM003-9YN162 (SATA)
OCZ StealthXstream 2 600W PSU
1024MB ATI AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series (6850)

I want to (as well as double the RAM) remove the above dated video card and replace with a "XFX Radeon RX 580 GTS XXX Edition OC 8 GB GDDR5"
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r00t
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That will support almost any card. The PSU is fine.
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buildafire
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Can I also ask if it is ok to mix branded and unbranded RAM sticks? Does it matter if two sticks are Corsair and the other two are unbranded as long as speed/capacity etc is all the same?
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buildafire wrote Can I also ask if it is ok to mix branded and unbranded RAM sticks? Does it matter if two sticks are Corsair and the other two are unbranded as long as speed/capacity etc is all the same?

It's fine, but they must be able to run at the same timings, speed, and voltages.
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buildafire
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so my GFX card came but when it came to installing it it turns out my PSU doesn't have the correct power cable for it (my new card needs one 8-pin connection, current card has two 6-pin connections). This is my fault because I did check but I must have seen the two 4-pin connectors and mistook them.

So do you have any recommendations for a new PSU?
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buildafire wrote so my GFX card came but when it came to installing it it turns out my PSU doesn't have the correct power cable for it (my new card needs one 8-pin connection, current card has two 6-pin connections). This is my fault because I did check but I must have seen the two 4-pin connectors and mistook them.

So do you have any recommendations for a new PSU?


If you've only got 6 pin connections and you need an 8 pin you should be able to use an adapter rather than buying an entirely new unit:

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