Question Concerns regarding my current power supply and the new components (CPU/GPU/Motherboard) I'm hoping to purchase...

[DUAL33s]

EDIT: I've now been running my system with my 650W power supply and it is more than enough to fully supprt my system. I also have no problem with overclocking both my CPU and my memory. I am posting this edit at the top of the post for anyone who might have the same concern, so they can easily find my final result. Hope this helps...

Okay... I'm currently planning to completely overhaul my system by upgrading to a new motherboard, CPU and GPU. However, I have a few questions/concerns regarding my current power supply not being 'powerful enough' to run the components I'm hoping to purchase.

I own a Corsair CX650 (650W - 80+ Bronze) power supply that I purchased just a few months ago and it is basically in perfect condition.

The parts I'm looking to purchase are as follows:

CPU - Ryzen 3600X
MOBO - Gigabyte Aorus X570 Elite Wifi -or- Gigabyte Aorus X570 Pro Wifi
GPU - Power Color Red Devil 5700XT

Questions/concerns:

1) The Aorus X570 Pro Wifi comes equipped with (2) power supply connectors (an 8-pin and a 4-pin). However, my PSU only has a single 8-pin (12V) power cable. The PSU is not modular unfortunately, so I dont have the option to add an additional 4-pin connector.

So, is a single 8-pin (12V) power cable enough to power a 3600X on the Pro Wifi? Or is the additional 4-pin connector necessary?

2) The 'official' spec sheet for the Power Color Red Devil 5700XT recommends a 700W power supply and the card has (2) 8 pin PCIe power connectors. My PSU has 2 PCIe 8-pin connectors so Im okay there. But my PSU falls 50W shy of the 'recommended' 700W mark.

Is a 700W PSU really necessary to power this card? I guess it just seems like a lot, and I would imagine you could get away with much less (like maybe a 550W - 600W PSU).

I've used multiple 'power supply calculators' that I've found online and each one recommends between 580W to 600W in total for a system with a 3600X and a 5700Xt on an X570 board.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

My current system:
Ryzen 5 2600X
MSI B450 Tomahawk
G.Skill Flare X 3200 CL14 (2x8)
Zotac RTX 2060
Samsung 970 Evo NVME M.2 (500gb)
WD Blue SSD (1tb)
Cooler Master Hyper 212 RGB
Corsair CX650M
Acer KG271 27" 144hz

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Get at least a decent 650w:

PCPartPicker Part List

Power Supply: Corsair RM (2019) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $84.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-11-10 19:30 EST-0500

 

[NightHawkRMX]

1) The Aorus X570 Pro Wifi comes equipped with (2) power supply connectors (an 8-pin and a 4-pin). However, my PSU on has a single 8-pin (12V) power cable. The PSU is not modular unfortunately, so I dont have the option to add an additional 4-pin connector.

So, is a single 8-pin (12V) power cable enough to power a 3600X on the Pro Wifi? Or is the additional 4-pin connector necessary?

Not needed at all for your hardware.

The 'official' spec sheet for the Power Color Red Devil 5700XT recommends a 700W power supply and the card has (2) 8 pin PCIe power connectors. My PSU has 2 PCIe 8-pin connectors so Im okay there. But my PSU falls 50W shy of the 'recommended' 700W mark.

650w is fine. If you really want to you can undervolt the card to make it draw less.


Your PSU is a decent model. Not great, but adequate for your system.

 

[GoldenLag]

Get at least a decent 650w:

cx650 (non-modular greylabel) is a decent 650w. and 550w would be more than enough.

So, is a single 8-pin (12V) power cable enough to power a 3600X on the Pro Wifi? Or is the additional 4-pin connector necessary?

a single EPS 8 pin can deliver 384w on its minimum spec configuration. outside of HEDT, the extra connectors dont do anything but act as a marketing point.

in other words, you dont have to worry about anything.

2) The 'official' spec sheet for the Power Color Red Devil 5700XT recommends a 700W power supply and the card has (2) 8 pin PCIe power connectors. My PSU has 2 PCIe 8-pin connectors so Im okay there. But my PSU falls 50W shy of the 'recommended' 700W mark

GPU manufacturers often overestimate the needed wattage by a lot to avoid complaints from customers. its also partially related to the Navi GPUs having issues with certain older PSUs like the old XFX TS (i believe thats the S12ii plattform).

your PSU is more than fine for the task, its a very good budget unit

 

[yourilevoye]

Just from my own experience:
I have the exact same with the pins. What I did was just plug in the CPU_PWR1 in (so the first 8) and left the other 4 of CPU_PWR2 unoccupied. People informed that the extra power might be needed for overclocking and stuff, but can be fine if you don't. Other B450 MSI boards where I was looking at only had 8 and the one I got was kind of an exception. I just gave it a try and I have 0 issues, however, since my PSU is modulair anyway I will be getting an extra CPU power cable, just to make sure.

 

[GoldenLag]

People informed that the extra power might be needed for overclocking and stuff, but can be fine if you don't. Other B450 MSI boards where I was looking at only had 8 and the one I got was kind of an exception. I just gave it a try and I have 0 issues, however, since my PSU is modulair anyway I will be getting an extra CPU power cable, just to make sure.

the extra 8 pin or 4 pin is completely unnecessary outside of LN2 overclocking and high end HEDT hardware. (Skylake X, Cascade Lake and wx CPUs from AMD)

outside of that, the extra 4 or 8 pin doesnt do anything

 

[DUAL33s]

Get at least a decent 650w:

Well...the whole point of my post is that I am trying to figure out whether I can use my current PSU or not. I really dont want to buy a new PSU...especially since this one is only like 3 months old and in perfect condition lol but thanks for the comment

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Your current PSU is fine. Its nothing spectacular, but adequate for your uses.

 

[DUAL33s]

Not needed at all for your hardware.

650w is fine. If you really want to you can undervolt the card to make it draw less.


Your PSU is a decent model. Not great, but adequate for your system.

okay thank you for the feedback! So just to clarify, I will be able to run the Aorus Pro WiFi using only an 8-pin connector? even though it has an additional 4-pin as well?

 

[NightHawkRMX]

okay thank you for the feedback! So just to clarify, I will be able to run the Aorus Pro WiFi using only an 8-pin connector? even though it has an additional 4-pin as well?

Yes, you can. The extra 4 pin is for extreme overclocking and not needed for your hardware.

Your system will boot and function 100% correctly without the extra 4 pin populated.

 

[DUAL33s]

a single EPS 8 pin can deliver 384w on its minimum spec configuration. outside of HEDT, the extra connectors dont do anything but act as a marketing point.

in other words, you dont have to worry about anything.

Thank you very much for the feedback! So, basically, I can connect my single 8-pin to the specified port on the mobo and just leave the 4-pin unpopulated? and it will still boot up and run correctly in that setup?

 

[DUAL33s]

Just from my own experience:
I have the exact same with the pins. What I did was just plug in the CPU_PWR1 in (so the first 8) and left the other 4 of CPU_PWR2 unoccupied. People informed that the extra power might be needed for overclocking and stuff, but can be fine if you don't. Other B450 MSI boards where I was looking at only had 8 and the one I got was kind of an exception. I just gave it a try and I have 0 issues, however, since my PSU is modulair anyway I will be getting an extra CPU power cable, just to make sure.

Thanks for the reply! And okay, cool...so basically these "extra" 4-pin connectors are pretty much useless and seem to be some type of marketting ploy. Except for ppl who intend to do hardcore overclocking (which i dont). I only plan to run my 3600X with PBO enabled at the very most. And run my DRAM with a slight overclock possibly (from 3200mhz to maybe 3466 tops). so im thinking i should be good to go. thanks again!

 

[DUAL33s]

the extra 8 pin or 4 pin is completely unnecessary outside of LN2 overclocking and high end HEDT hardware. (Skylake X, Cascade Lake and wx CPUs from AMD)

outside of that, the extra 4 or 8 pin doesnt do anything

okay cool... thanks for the feedback. much appreciated!