[SOLVED] Do I need a PSU upgrade?

truckinboots

Honorable
Jul 13, 2018
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4
10,535
Hey Folks,

I have an existing system and I need to upgrade some of the components.

Existing System:

i5-2500
32GB DDR3 RAM
Asus P8Z77V-LX
2 x 500GB Samsung Evo SSD
Nvidia GTX 760 2GB
PSU - 450W

I'm not running windows, I don't game on it; its a Linux Box - Currently running Fedora 31 (kern 5.x.x) with XFCE 4.14

Anyway...I do alot of web development and graphics and will get into 3D animation. As you can see from a screen shot >>> https://ibb.co/k5q4kb2 >>>>> I'm maxing cores out with simple gradient rendering.

so I'm thinking of
Ryzen 5 3600X >>> $270
ASROCK B450M Pro4 >>> $100
G.Skills Ripjaws V Series (2x16GB) 32GB DD4-3200 RAM >>> $144

if I also upgrade the GPU from the existing GTX 760 2GB to a GTX 1660 6GB, according to Seasonic's wattage calculator I have a 350W load, with a recommended 400W PSU. I do have an existing 450W PSU, SO I mean does it really make sense that this needs an upgrade as well? IF I'm going up grade the PSU then is there any real difference in quality between

1) Seasonic S12II 620 Bronze 620W Intel ATX 12 V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC PSU (S12II620 BRONZE RETAIL) | NON-MODULAR | $75.00
2) Corsair Semi-Modular ATX CX650M Power Supply CP-9020103-NA | SEMI-MODULAR | $80.00

I do have multiple peripherials that plug in via USB, but the external audio card has its own power supply, as does the midi-keyboard, so the only thing the USB powers, is a keyboard / mouse / flash drives. The external monitor studio speakers are independently powered.

Trying to keep the price down on this....don't want to go all crazy n' stuff.


Look forward to your thoughts..

Thanks.
 
Solution
My opinions on power supplies:

80+ is just an efficiency rating. The difference between bronze and gold is just a few percent of efficiency. I believe the CX650m is actually 80+ silver in 240v but only achieves 80+ bronze in 120v countries. This makes the efficiency gap pretty negligible.

However, there are a lot of differences other than efficiency internally between cx650m, tx650m, and rmx650.

All of the Corsair units suggested will work but I would go for the tx650m if you can afford it.

It offers a newer design and higher quality components than the CX650m. The RMx is better and even more modular, but really it isn't needed with only a 1660.

For motherboards.

Both X and B series motherboards are capable of overclocking. X...
I would suggest to replace the power supply, PSU do degrade with time so it's a good time to change it. Seasonic is fine what you are building. just use the cheaper option.

honestly, it won't make much difference. between corsair and seasonic model.
 
Definitely avoid pairing turbolink PSU with modern hardware.

The CX650M is my choice of the 2 you suggested. It will power your new system just fine.

If you are in the US, here are some other options to consider.
Corsair CX650w non modular for $70. This is actually a little newer than the CX650m
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/3F...onze-certified-atx-power-supply-cp-9020122-na
Corsair TX650M gold $85 semi modular
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/PV...d-semi-modular-atx-power-supply-cp-9020132-na
EVGA Supernova G3 650w gold fully modular $90
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/y8...ed-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-220-g3-0650
 

truckinboots

Honorable
Jul 13, 2018
36
4
10,535
Definitely avoid pairing turbolink PSU with modern hardware.

The CX650M is my choice of the 2 you suggested. It will power your new system just fine.

If you are in the US, here are some other options to consider.
Corsair CX650w non modular for $70. This is actually a little newer than the CX650m
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/3F...onze-certified-atx-power-supply-cp-9020122-na
Corsair TX650M gold $85 semi modular
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/PV...d-semi-modular-atx-power-supply-cp-9020132-na
EVGA Supernova G3 650w gold fully modular $90
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/y8...ed-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-220-g3-0650

I'm up in the great white north, the land of Igloos (LOLOLOL - joking) I'm up in Canada. Things aren't so cheap up here 'eh.

I'm trying to go for best bang for buck (should make that a slogan BB4B or something)...i dunno - hahahaha - the thing is the all of these minor differences that the average person doesn't really think about, but could really affect them.

According to >> https://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator I will consume 398W (with a GTX 1660) and 401W with a GTX 1060 >>> Recommended Power supply == 448W. That said I wouldn't run a 450W PSU, there's too a small a margin for my liking. I'd probably go at least 550, 600, 650 or 700. SO with that in mind and given your suggestions, here's the what I came up with.

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product...-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-cp-9020194-na == $110

or

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product...d-semi-modular-atx-power-supply-cp-9020132-na $95

or

https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=33_442&item_id=096574 == $80 (on Sale ends Dec 24) => reg $110 (650W)

So the question becomes what's the difference between Bronze & Gold, Is it really worth it to go FULL modular or is semi-modular OK?

Moving on from the PSU ------------- to the Motherboard ....

I don't overclock - so I'm not 100% sure I any of the X board X370/X470/X570 etc. So I was thinking of AsRock B450M Pro4 ($65 - Vuugo)

There is such a massive variance >> https://ibb.co/kXdBLSh >> from $65 to $200 it boggles the mind !

If I pull up the specs for:

ASRock B450M Pro4 mATX AM4 Motherboard ======== > $65
ASRock B450M Steel Legend mATX AM4 Motherboard ==> $85
ASRock B450M Pro4-F mATX AM4 Motherboard =======> $101

Then there's the Gigabyte B450M Aorus and the only difference I can see is that its got 2 more 6GB/s Sata connections on the board (6 x 6GB/s Sata). Compared to ASRock's 4x 6GB/s Sata slots.
Gigabyte B450M Aorus is $100

I don't use optical drives, At best I can see 4 Sata's being used (2 in Raid 1), and potentially a 3rd SSD for a Hackintosh, build, on its own drive. Just switch boot drives in the Bios when I want to flip, although there maybe a boot manager for this (not sure still checking).

But I can't see any real difference between them. SO I try to justify the cost extra.

Last thing up for consideration are GPU's ....OI...what a swamp this is.

So now the question becomes all about who made the card. This is a workstation card for graphics and 3D rendering when I get there, although similar to gaming, its still slightly different.

There's GTX 1660 Ti / 1660 Super / 1660 OC / 1060 / and RX 580/590 but will the difference in price really translate into performance benefits?

AsRock Phantom Gaming X RX580 8GB ->>> $200
EVGA SSC Gaming GTX 1060 6GB ->>>>>>> $225
EVGA GTX 1660 XC Black Gaming 6GB ->>> $290
ASUS Tuf GTX 1660 OC Dual-Fan 6GB ->>>> $280
Zotac Gaming GTX 1660 Super 6GB AMP ->> $ 310
Gigtabyte OC GTX 1660 6GB ->>>>>>>>>>> $302
Asus Phoenix OC GTX 1660 SUPER 6GB ->>> $302
Gigabyte OC GTX 1660 Ti 6GB ->>>>>>>>>> $330
Gigabyte GTX 1660 Ti Windofrce 6GB ->>>>> $340
Ggigabyte Radeon Gaming 8G RX 590 8GB Rev 20 ->>>>>>> $230 (back order - but order-able).

More than likely I'll stick with Nvidia because of the cuda cores which Blender / Gimp utilize. But $225 to $330 is still a big spread when they all apparently are about the same.

SO what's best bang for buck? because the margins seem to be fairly close. I mean does 1 brand build better than another. I'm sure there's favorite brand amongst everyone, for example I tend to stay away from MSI. But alot of people swear by em. SO...

What's your thoughts - Sorry for the long post / reply...

Best...and Happy Holiday :)
 
Last edited:
My opinions on power supplies:

80+ is just an efficiency rating. The difference between bronze and gold is just a few percent of efficiency. I believe the CX650m is actually 80+ silver in 240v but only achieves 80+ bronze in 120v countries. This makes the efficiency gap pretty negligible.

However, there are a lot of differences other than efficiency internally between cx650m, tx650m, and rmx650.

All of the Corsair units suggested will work but I would go for the tx650m if you can afford it.

It offers a newer design and higher quality components than the CX650m. The RMx is better and even more modular, but really it isn't needed with only a 1660.

For motherboards.

Both X and B series motherboards are capable of overclocking. X support sli, whereas b do not.

X570 boards are a breed of their own with out of the box support for 3rd gen CPUs and pcie4.

B450 motherboards may need a bios update prior to supporting a 3600x.

Are any MSI b450 max boards available? These do not require a bios update for 3rd gen.

Even though you don't like MSI, their b450 boardd are some of the best, sometimes beating their own x570 board s that cost much more.
View: https://youtu.be/J69aiJJEHzQ

This video may pursuade you.

I believe the msi b450m gaming plus max has a simmilar vrm to the b450 tomahawk max.

For video card.
The 1060 and 580 are previous gen cards with comparable performance. They don't really hold up compared to the newer ones.

The 1660 is better, but not as powerful as a 1660 super or 1660ti which don't cost much more.

The 1660 super performs like a 1660ti, but the super is usually cheaper.

All things concidered, go for the Zotac Gaming GTX 1660 Super 6GB AMP. The cheaper Asus has a crappier heatsync.
 
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Solution

truckinboots

Honorable
Jul 13, 2018
36
4
10,535
For motherboards.

Both X and B series motherboards are capable of overclocking. X support sli, whereas b do not.

X570 boards are a breed of their own with out of the box support for 3rd gen CPUs and pcie4.

B450 motherboards may need a bios update prior to supporting a 3600x.

Are any MSI b450 max boards available? These do not require a bios update for 3rd gen.

Even though you don't like MSI, their b450 boardd are some of the best, sometimes beating their own x570 board s that cost much more.
View: https://youtu.be/J69aiJJEHzQ

This video may pursuade you.

I believe the msi b450m gaming plus max has a simmilar vrm to the b450 tomahawk max.

Thanks a bunch !!!!

See New Thread "Ryzen 5 3600x - Looking for motherboard...specific requirements. " IN Motherboard