Can My PSU Handle A GTX 960?

[michaelnrn]

I have a very old Antec Earthwatts 650 (3x 12v rails). A link to the model is below:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015

I'm hoping to run an i7 3770 (Non K) with an affordable GPU for 1080p gaming. I have all the parts laying around already, I just need to pick up a cheap mobo, which I'm pretty settled on, and I'm hoping to confirm my PSU can handle the GPU I was thinking about buying (GTX 960).

I'm open to alternatives and any insight, thanks!

 

[Andrei-Florin Gogan]

the CPU and the GPU are pretty cracking parts, why cheap out on the motherboard?

 

[bailojustin]

Yes your PSU can handle the card and the processor. no need to worry about upgrading.

 

[lunyone]

Yes you can use the Antec Earthwatts 650 PSU (w/45A of combined 12v rail power). Hell you could probably use the 980 Ti with that PSU, if you liked. So I would get a GTX 970/980/980Ti GPU, which will depend on your budget. Although if you plan to stay on 1080p gaming for a few years, the GTX 960/970 will be fine for that resolution (with the GTX 970 doing 2560 x 1440 on Med/High settings well).

 

[michaelnrn]

the CPU and the GPU are pretty cracking parts, why cheap out on the motherboard?

I was hoping to keep my investment low since most of the build is old parts collected from previous builds. Do you think a better motherboard is appropriate?

 

[lunyone]

the CPU and the GPU are pretty cracking parts, why cheap out on the motherboard?

I was hoping to keep my investment low since most of the build is old parts collected from previous builds. Do you think a better motherboard is appropriate?

Not really needed, unless you want/need options that you might get with a more expensive and feature rich Mobo. If your gaming and doing most anything else, a good SSD and decent Mobo should do you just fine. I'd suggest getting at least a 240-256 gb SSD (Samsung 850 EVO/Pro, Crucial BX100, or SanDisk Extreme Pro models) for your boot/limited games drive. This will speed up your load times and make moving in and around Windows pretty snappy, assuming you can afford to get the SSD (should be around ~$60-100 for the brands/models I listed earlier).

 

[michaelnrn]

the CPU and the GPU are pretty cracking parts, why cheap out on the motherboard?

I was hoping to keep my investment low since most of the build is old parts collected from previous builds. Do you think a better motherboard is appropriate?

Not really needed, unless you want/need options that you might get with a more expensive and feature rich Mobo. If your gaming and doing most anything else, a good SSD and decent Mobo should do you just fine. I'd suggest getting at least a 240-256 gb SSD (Samsung 850 EVO/Pro, Crucial BX100, or SanDisk Extreme Pro models) for your boot/limited games drive. This will speed up your load times and make moving in and around Windows pretty snappy, assuming you can afford to get the SSD (should be around ~$60-100 for the brands/models I listed earlier).

That's good to know, I actually do have a 256GB SSD in my old case as well, which is where all this stuff will be going 😀
Again, all the parts are dated, but I'm hoping to get a decent use out of them. Link to the SSD I own is below (for the curious):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148443

 

[michaelnrn]

the CPU and the GPU are pretty cracking parts, why cheap out on the motherboard?

I was hoping to keep my investment low since most of the build is old parts collected from previous builds. Do you think a better motherboard is appropriate?

Not really needed, unless you want/need options that you might get with a more expensive and feature rich Mobo. If your gaming and doing most anything else, a good SSD and decent Mobo should do you just fine. I'd suggest getting at least a 240-256 gb SSD (Samsung 850 EVO/Pro, Crucial BX100, or SanDisk Extreme Pro models) for your boot/limited games drive. This will speed up your load times and make moving in and around Windows pretty snappy, assuming you can afford to get the SSD (should be around ~$60-100 for the brands/models I listed earlier).

I also don't have any particular features I'm interested in. It'll probably just be the kids computer for gaming and stuff. I found an H61 MSI motherboard for below $40, Micro ATX, seems good enough to me, I assume my case has the appropriate screw holes for it..

 

[lunyone]

Yeah most ATX cases have the usual holes for mITX, mATX, and ATX Mobo's. The M4 SSD is a decent SSD for your system and should do quite good for its use. The kids should enjoy the system for many years with the GTX 960 or whatever you put in it for 1080p gaming