Do I have the appropriate PSU for a GTX 970?

[TomRL]

I have an FX-8350 with an R9 260 and I want to upgrade the gpu to a GTX 970. But I only have a 450w Corsair PSU. Should I upgrade my psu and to what wattage?

And if someone knows about this stuff. Will the gpu fit my motherboard?
Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-78LMT-USB3 (Socket M2) 31 °C

 

[dominirican3351]

You would need a new psu also the gpu will fit the motherboard but you have to make sure it will fit in your case

 

[TomRL]

I was thinking of upgrading to a 750watt. Also I think the gpu would fit, my case is a Zalman Z3.

 

[dominirican3351]

Yes it would fit what is your budget for psu

 

[TomRL]

I don't want to spend too much on a PSU. £75 is my limit.

 

[dominirican3351]

With that budget you can get a nice corsair or an evga psu

 

[TomRL]

Cool. Is 750 watt too much?

 

[Ethanh100]

No no no 450 watts is not nearly enough. I am saying at the very least 600, but i would go with 650w.

 

[dominirican3351]

750 watts leaves you room to add more components in the future. Used to have a 700 watt only reason I upgraded was to add another gpu and 2 more ssds. Its always better to have more power rather than not enough

 

[Ethanh100]

750 watts leaves you room to add more components in the future. Used to have a 700 watt only reason I upgraded was to add another gpu and 2 more ssds. Its always better to have more power rather than not enough

yes having more than enough power is good, but efficiency is greatly effected with an overpowered psu, so if thats important to you...

 

[TomRL]

Must it be a Corsair? I know Corsairs have a good reputation but the Alpine and ACE ones are a lot cheaper.

 

[Ethanh100]

Must it be a Corsair? I know Corsairs have a good reputation but the Alpine and ACE ones are a lot cheaper.

no it doesnt have to be corsair, but it should stay within the enthusiast brands of hardware such as thermaltake, evga, fracal design, rosewill, and some others. You dont want to cheap out on your power supply, its a mistake everyone does, and if you buy a cheap power supply, it can bottleneck or even break your components, despite its wattage.

 

[lcp1109]

That GPU will fit in your case,

As for the PSU, you can calculate the power that your system requires here http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp or give us a full description of its components and we will do it for you. But your system, with the new GPU will probably need at full load less then 500W.

I think you should get a tier 1 or tier 2 PSU: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

Here some recommendations:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1550bbefx (tier 1, but will not allow a future SLI, if you have plans to do it)

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1650bbefx (tier 1, SLI capable but with high stress on PSU, and only if you don't have overclocks, with single GPU it will be perfect)

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-110b20750vr (tier 2, SLI capable)

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1550gts3x (tier 2, for single card, 55 pounds)

 

[TomRL]

Thanks a lot guys, this has given me peace of mind. I think I'll go for the Corsair 750Watt since I'll be getting a second hdd further down the line.

 

[lcp1109]

you're wellcomed

which corsair do you plan on buying?

 

[TomRL]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CX750-Builder-Series-Bronze/dp/B008RJZR40/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1427811701&sr=8-3&keywords=psu
Does anyone know if the PSU will fit my Zalman Z3 case? I've had a look inside at my current one and it barely fits in there.
Also fixed cables vs modular cables. Is that something I should know about? Will those cables fit with my motherboard?

 

[madmatt30]

Yes itll fit but plain & simple this is a better quality PSU mate.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0079Y0EYM/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1431792655&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SY200_QL40&keywords=antec+hcg&dpPl=1&dpID=51cjkpDb%2BhL&ref=plSrch