But is my system *really* compatible w/the card I want?

[Angus514]

I've tried to investigate whether or not I can buy a GeForce GTX 550 for my ASUS M5A87 and I feel I've done my due diligence, but am still confused. I was close to buying a Radeon HD 6850, when I realized that it is PCIe 2.1 and my mobo is 2.0. The GeForce is 2.0, so I guess I'm safe there, but I want to make sure I've covered all bases.
What's more is I went to an article that helps w/calculations and it tells me that my current power supply is way too inadequate for my current system. What do I think?
My current system is:

• 
  ■ ASUS M5A87
  ■ AMD Phenom II X4 955
  ■ GeForece GTS 250 (want to upgrade to GTX 550)
  ■ 3 memory modules amounting to 8Gb
  ■ RS-500-PCAR-A3

The power supply part I find kind of weird, too. It says on it "MAX POWER 360W" but then it's advertised as 500W. What's also confusing is the power supply calculator seems to think I need well over 500W. Is my supply underpowered? What has been the consequences over the last few years?

 

[joshmoyer]

PCIE is backwards compatible. I'm fairly certain even 3.0 cards will work in 2.0 slots, just at reduced speeds. Second, i would agree with psu calculator and say 500 is not enough for safe long term operation, as it is not generally a good idea to run a psu at its max unless its a fairly high end unit.

 

[hang-the-9]

I would upgrade the power supply, it's not a "real" 500 watt unit and has efficiency issues past 300 watts.

Why are you getting a GTX 550 now? If you are getting a used card, look for a GTX 750 Ti instead, twice as fast while using half the power.

You won't need a new power supply if you get a GTX 750 Ti, unless you want to get a more stable. This SeaSonic is only $40 and is much better than your current PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151074&cm_re=SeaSonic_S12II-_-17-151-074-_-Product

 

[Angus514]

What are the consequences of running an underpowered PSU? I haven't done a heck of a lot of gaming on my system the last few years, but I've logged a few hours. (Think SOTA pre-release. I noticed choppy behaviour at the last release, but who knows? Maybe it's a weak power supply that's at fault)

So you're saying that my current power supply is underpowered, but if I switch from a GTS 250 to a GTX 750 it won't be? That's amazing.
Well, it is more money, but so is replacing a power supply and trying to get the salvage value out of the old one. (And considering what my government has done w/hydro, every W saved is money going into my kids' college fund!) So I guess my only problem is that the 750 is PCIe 3.0 (I assume it's 16X) and my mobo is 2.0. Does that just mean that the card will simply run as inefficiently as any 2.0 device, or will it be less efficient than that?

 

[hang-the-9]

It's not just the power of the power supply, it's the quality. Bad quality power supply has a greater chance to dying and taking the rest of the system with it. Think of it as having good tires and brakes for your car. Sure cheap ones will work 80% of the time. But that 20% when you need to stop in snow, or rain or just very quickly, you crash and ruin a $10,000 over saving $100 on tires and brakes.

Both the GTS 250 and the 550 you are looking at use double or more over the 750 Ti. The 750 Ti is about 60, depending on the model, plus it's faster.

So you don't have to worry as much about your power supply, even if you don't change that out.

PCIe 3 and 2 are backwards compatible. Just check for a newer BIOS and chipset driver before you change cards.

 

[Angus514]

"Depending on the model"? How many models of 750 are there? As far as I can tell, there's only one.

Well, the OS is Linux, which isn't always good at supporting newer hardware, but I'm sure this older chipset is supported. I'll check into the BIOS though.

 

[hang-the-9]

"Depending on the model"? How many models of 750 are there? As far as I can tell, there's only one.

Well, the OS is Linux, which isn't always good at supporting newer hardware, but I'm sure this older chipset is supported. I'll check into the BIOS though.

I said the Ti, not the base 750, and there are many models of both, what you are looking at is the core chip, not the actual cards.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709&IsNodeId=1&Description=GTX%20750&name=Desktop%20Graphics%20Cards&Order=BESTMATCH&isdeptsrh=1

Some are larger, some are over-clocked and use more power, some have large fans for cooling, some are 10-20-30 more than others.

 

[Angus514]

, some are 10-20-30 more than others.

What's that?

Ok, I didn't realize other manufacturers used nVidia's chips. Ok, so why the wildly different prices? What performance do I gain by buying an EVGA for over 200$ when I can score an ASUS for 100$?

 

[hang-the-9]

, some are 10-20-30 more than others.

What's that?

Ok, I didn't realize other manufacturers used nVidia's chips. Ok, so why the wildly different prices? What performance do I gain by buying an EVGA for over 200$ when I can score an ASUS for 100$?

There should not be a doubling of prices in the same range of cards. nVidia does not sell any cards directly, it's all "other manufacturers". The GTS 250 you have now was made by someone that used nVidia chips.

You can look up reviews of speeds and cooling for the different models to see if any price differences matter to you or not.

 

[Angus514]

There should not be a doubling of prices in the same range of cards.

Check it out, you got this one for 100$ then you got this for over 2.5x that.

The reviews I've found just focus on the chipsets. I don't see any comparison to other card manufacturers w/the same chipset. You say speed is different: the two examples I posted there do have different speeds, but the funny thing is, the cheaper one has faster clock speeds. Other than that, the only difference that stand out for me are the monitor ports.
Why would I pay more for cooling? Don't all cards coming off the assembly line just have the cooling they require--no more, no less?

 

[hang-the-9]

There should not be a doubling of prices in the same range of cards.

Check it out, you got this one for 100$ then you got this for over 2.5x that.

The reviews I've found just focus on the chipsets. I don't see any comparison to other card manufacturers w/the same chipset. You say speed is different: the two examples I posted there do have different speeds, but the funny thing is, the cheaper one has faster clock speeds. Other than that, the only difference that stand out for me are the monitor ports.
Why would I pay more for cooling? Don't all cards coming off the assembly line just have the cooling they require--no more, no less?

Look at the seller of the pricey one, Sold and Shipped by: ETopSell

The 750 Ti was never over $200 even when new, it was about a $150 card. That is just a really bad vendor. You can find over-prices items all over the place, look up some 10 year old plasma TVs, some places online sell them for original $2,000 prices. Which makes things a bit funny when people on craigslist find that price and list their 10 year old 42" 720p plasma at $500 because it's cheaper than online.

Not all cooling solutions are the same, the better ones are quieter and keep the card cooler, expending life or allowing for higher clock speeds. All cars come from the factory with the oil they require, but there is a big market for good synthetic oils right? Or tires, or gas that cleans better, just to use one example.

 

[Angus514]

I went and I bought the ASUS and I thought that I found a spec sheet saying that it consumes 60W but now I can't find it and I'm looking at the manufacturer's web site saying it's 150W. So what do I think? Am I in trouble?

 

[Angus514]

*bump*

 

[hang-the-9]

I went and I bought the ASUS and I thought that I found a spec sheet saying that it consumes 60W but now I can't find it and I'm looking at the manufacturer's web site saying it's 150W. So what do I think? Am I in trouble?

Does your power supply have a PCIe 6-pin connection? If yes, it will work with the card. Even if it does not, the card should come with adapters you can use, but that is not recommended. You are better off either getting a lower power card or replacing the power supply.

You got the overclocked version of the 750 Ti, those tend to have additional power requirements over a basic model.

 

[Angus514]

You know I kept forgetting to check my power supply connector.
If "PCI-E 6 Pin x 1" is what you're thinking of on the spec page then I guess I've got it.
So do you think that I'm in any danger getting the overclocked version? I always had the idea that overclockable hardware had the overclocking off by default. Remember, this card is PCIe 3.0 and my mobo is 2.0. I imagine that would mean less power consumption--not more.

 

[hang-the-9]

You know I kept forgetting to check my power supply connector.
If "PCI-E 6 Pin x 1" is what you're thinking of on the spec page then I guess I've got it.
So do you think that I'm in any danger getting the overclocked version? I always had the idea that overclockable hardware had the overclocking off by default. Remember, this card is PCIe 3.0 and my mobo is 2.0. I imagine that would mean less power consumption--not more.

If you have the PCIe power on the power supply, it should work with that card. Your power supply is poor quality though, so keep that in mind if something is not stable. If you want to be safer, get a non-OC version that does not need additional power. PCIe 3 or 2 does not matter about how much power the card needs.

 

[Angus514]

I stopped by a retail store, belonging to the same company from which I bought the card on-line, and only asking me about what PSU and CPU I had, I was told that the PSU could keep up w/my system w/the OC'd GTX 750.
Funny thing, my PSU has a 6-pin connector, but it also came w/an adapter for my 8-pin GTS 250. I guess I'm even better off not needing the adapter.
Thanks for all your guidance on the matter.