[SOLVED] 250 Watt PSU

Tom_77

Reputable
Mar 16, 2016
20
0
4,510
I currently have a cheap gaming setup, its fashioned from a Dell Optiplex 790 SFF, The setup includes 16GB's of cheap DD3 RAM and a GTX 1050ti Low Profile,
61CRO4s7wML._SX355_.jpg


The setup has been running fine and achieves medium to high FPS on most games (Low to medium settings)
I have been considering an upgrade for a while now and have been looking at a CPU upgrade. my main concern is the PSU as it is only a 240 Watt the CPU im considering upgrading to is a Intel Core i7-2700k it has the same chipset as my current i5-2500 my only concern is will a CPU upgrade significantly increase the power supply draw. I have been trying to compare the draw of my current i5 to the i7 to see if an upgrade like this would be possible.

The maximum draw of the GPU is 75 watt as it draws its power from the PCI-E slot.
I have a generic 22'' Monitor
I have two 8GB DDR3 RAM sticks,
I have a USB gaming keyboard and mouse but their draw shouldn't be more than a few mA

I know that the setup isnt ideal but there is no thermal throttling, the CPU sits at around 60 degree and i haven't had any trouble with crashing or under performance from the hardware.
The GPU sits at around 45 degree. I would love to hear peoples hatred of this botch job of a gaming PC but i would also like to ask, would an upgrade to an i7 be feesible, and more importantly would it be safe in terms of thermals.

Id really love to hear from a knowledgeable community as i have spent a few days now browsing around 100's of pages of various forums and hardware specification pages, id love to see numbers, how did you reach your conclusion in your reply?
 
Solution
Both CPUs are 95w TDP, and you're not overclocking with that old Dell motherboard so the power draw is nearly identical. If you want to see this you can look both CPUs up on

http://ark.intel.com

You should not have any thermal issues as again that 2700 doesn't pull much more power down at all compared to the 2500. I would advise against spending TOO much money on this as your gains won't be huge. But for the right price its a worthy upgrade.

Rogue Leader

It's a trap!
Moderator
Both CPUs are 95w TDP, and you're not overclocking with that old Dell motherboard so the power draw is nearly identical. If you want to see this you can look both CPUs up on

http://ark.intel.com

You should not have any thermal issues as again that 2700 doesn't pull much more power down at all compared to the 2500. I would advise against spending TOO much money on this as your gains won't be huge. But for the right price its a worthy upgrade.
 
Solution

Tom_77

Reputable
Mar 16, 2016
20
0
4,510
I appreciate the quick reply! Im glad to hear that the i7 is identical in terms of power consumption to the i5 you answered my biggest question in seconds compared to my days of forum trawling
 

Tom_77

Reputable
Mar 16, 2016
20
0
4,510
Both CPUs are 95w TDP, and you're not overclocking with that old Dell motherboard so the power draw is nearly identical. If you want to see this you can look both CPUs up on

http://ark.intel.com

You should not have any thermal issues as again that 2700 doesn't pull much more power down at all compared to the 2500. I would advise against spending TOO much money on this as your gains won't be huge. But for the right price its a worthy upgrade.


In terms of the upgrade value would there be a noticeable difference in performance between the two cpus?
 

Rogue Leader

It's a trap!
Moderator
In terms of the upgrade value would there be a noticeable difference in performance between the two cpus?

Depends on the game, in some games none at all. If you happen to play something a bit more CPU intensive you may see some gains of maybe 15% or so. The turbo clock speed of the 2700 is a tad faster and it has hyperthreading which improves some programs, and doesn't improve some others. If you're getting the CPU for under $100 theres worse things you can do with $100. But any more than that IMO save up for some real upgrades.