Can my PSU power a R9 280x

[dgibson132]

My current specs:

CPU: Intel Pentium G2030 3.00 GHz
RAM: 8GB Dual Channel 1333 MHz
Power Supply: Seasonic S12ii Bronze 520W
GPU: Nvidia GT 210

Hi I'm planning on upgrading my PC. I bought my PSU about 2 months ago because i had a 450w no-name brand PSU (probably not even 450W, i think it was only like 300W xD) which came already installed when i got the PC. I then decided to buy the Seasonic S12ii 520W because i thought it was a good idea at the time because the cards i wanted only needed a minimum PSU wattage of 400W - 500W. My number one priority at the moment is upgrading to a R9 280X, then later on upgrade my CPU to an i3 and my RAM to a single stick of 8GB 1600MHz RAM. Will my PSU be sufficient enough to power the R9 280X, (600W required) and the rest of the system without any problems. Ive read many discussions in different forums and none of them gave a clear answer. Please help it would be much appreciated and please give any suggestions I'm really confused. I still have the slip and original packaging for the psu and i have enough money to get the 620W, do you think i should take it back?

Thanks

Dorian

 

[datguy20]

Yes it'll handle that card. Whole build uses less than ~400W. It's a decent PSU also, so I wouldn't be worried. Take it back and get the 620W only if you expect to get a top-of-the-line GPU.

But why would you upgrade from a G2030 to an i3? The i3's are still dual-core. Even with hyperthreading, it's not really worth it in my opinion (an i5 is a more worthwhile upgrade). Also, I would recommend against using a single stick of RAM. Most PC's, as of now, (except for the i7-5xxxk series, and some others) use dual-channel, which performs best with dual-channel RAM kits (so 2x4GB sticks). You would get worse performance even though it would be faster RAM.

The 280x will be a huge upgrade though. Might be somewhat bottlenecked by that CPU.

 

[dgibson132]

Thanks for your opinion, it helps alot. I knew that there was going to be a chance of bottlenecking between the CPU and GPU. But the GPU is my number 1 priority. I will rather get the i5 instead of the i3 but that will come later this year. What you say makes sense. I'm going rather keep the PSU its fine im not planning on getting anything better than the R9 280X.