Do i have the requirements?

[Triids]

Hello. I recently bought a EVGA GTX 560 Ti. They say on their site that the requirements are two available 6-pin PCI-E power dongles. How do i know if i have that?

 

[markwp]

What make/model of power supply do you have? The PCIe power connections (PEGs) are usually configured in a 6+2 pin manner.

Mark

 

[Triids]

I have a fsp450-60emdn.

 

[markwp]

No - that psu has only one 6 pin peg.

In my opinion, you need to upgrade your psu - the one you have now is of questionable quality and very possibly will cause you major problems.

Get a quality psu from corsair, seasonic, antec or the like. 500w will be fine to power that card and the rest of your system.

This psu (600w) is a good example of a well built psu at a good price.

Mark

 

[Onus]

That PSU is actually not that bad. Although apparently not made for the US market, it looks like it might have active PFC, indicating a reasonably modern design. Also, FSP units are generally capable of producing what is on their labels. Some of them are "peak rated," and the continuous wattage is typically 50W less, but the image I found of that one's label showed that the 450W is a continuous rating.
Still, it doesn't have the two connectors, and may not have quite enough juice to safely use adapters. I'd suggest replacing it, preferably with something built by Seasonic, (another) FSP, Enermax/LEPA, or Super Flower.

 

[Triids]

Is the Cooler Master GX750W any good?

 

[Onus]

No. CM offers few decent PSUs, only their very high end. The GX650 (made by the same OEM as the GX750) was summarized by HardOCP as a "polished turd in a box." Like many of their units, it is dishonestly labeled (although it is FAR from their worst). Treat it like a 600W-650W PSU, and as much as I despise willful dishonesty, if your selection is extremely limited, it may not be your worst choice.

 

[Triids]

And also where do i find out all this stuff about Power Supplies and stuff?

 

[Onus]

The best site for tutorial content is probably www.hardwaresecrets.com. For technical reviews, hardwaresecrets, www.jonnyguru.com, www.hardocp.com, and www.anandtech.com are the sites I most often visit, though there are a few others now doing competent technical reviews as well.
Hooking a PSU up to a set of PC components and running it for a while with a multimeter testing voltages is NOT a competent technical review. It should include load testing up to 100% of the label, oscilloscope readings of ripple and noise, some analysis of the parts used in the PSU, build quality, efficiency, etc.

 

[markwp]

Agree with Onus. JohnnyGuru and Anand both use good, hard, stressful testing geared to try and blow up a psu. If there is a weakness in a psu, they'll find it.

Mark

 

[Onus]

I'm not sure Oklahoma Wolf over Jonnyguru goes over 100% load any more, or under what circumstances. OTOH, if a PSU is still in spec at 100% load, Gabriel Torres at HardwareSecrets will continue to load it until it shuts down, in part to see if its protection circuits are working. He also does the most detailed dissections. Iirc, Anandtech does a small overload (110%? 115%?) on every one (assuming they haven't croaked).