[SOLVED] How can you tell if your psu is proprietary or a standard one?

[SnowYuki]

So I got myself a prebuilt i5 2nd gen Dell gateway dt 71.Since it's my first prebuilt machine I was overexcited .I didn't even thought about the power supply .I spent my that week looking around for a gpu that can run my favorite games at some pretty good settings . When I finally decided to pick up the Gtx 970 I realized that my PSU is a real issue and then again after I start looking for a new PSU for my PC a friend of mine told me that a new PSU might roast my machine's parts . So is there any way to find out if I can replace my PSU safely?
Here's a similar pc of mine: https://stationdetravail.ma/fr/station-fixe/2454-acer-gateway-dt71-tower-.html

 

[Ralston18]

First total up the wattage requirements for all components in your build. Then add 25% more.

(There are online calculators available - try two or three to get a "concensus".

Then look for PSU product reviews by professional reviewers and verified purchasers.

Here:

https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/psu-calculator.236527/

And here:

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-psus,4229.html

Should get you started...

 

[cin19]

That PSU is the 300W ATX format PSU, which is not enough for the gtx970. You will need a good brand 500W PSU for the gtx 970. Find the PSU in the best PSU list in the linker.

 

[Karadjgne]

Friend is right, and oh so wrong. A really cheap, underpowered piece of junk might very well roast your parts, but for the most part as long as you replace the stock psu with something good quality you'll be better off than where you started from. A pc only uses what it needs, so you could throw a 1000w psu in there and only use 350w. It's not going to ram all 1000w through the pc. So no roasting there.

Recommended psu size for a gtx970 is 500w. Unfortunately there isn't a single good quality 500w unit I'm aware of, they are all 450/520/550w.

A gtx970 pulls @ 150 ish watts. The rest of your pc will only pull @ 200 ish watts at best and there's no worries about any OC, not gonna happen there. So maxed out you'll pull @ 350w, gaming loads are approximately 70% of max, so roughly 250w loads.

So you could easily go with a very good quality 450w, or a decent 520w/550w and be perfectly fine.

As an example, I'm running a i7-3770k OC 4.6GHz (was 4.9GHz for 4 years) with a gtx970 OC 124% on an Evga G2 550w. The pc runs 24/7 for the last 6 years and only shuts down for the odd cleaning. Your pc will pull considerably less power, no matter what you do.

 

[SnowYuki]

Friend is right, and oh so wrong. A really cheap, underpowered piece of junk might very well roast your parts, but for the most part as long as you replace the stock psu with something good quality you'll be better off than where you started from. A pc only uses what it needs, so you could throw a 1000w psu in there and only use 350w. It's not going to ram all 1000w through the pc. So no roasting there.

Recommended psu size for a gtx970 is 500w. Unfortunately there isn't a single good quality 500w unit I'm aware of, they are all 450/520/550w.

A gtx970 pulls @ 150 ish watts. The rest of your pc will only pull @ 200 ish watts at best and there's no worries about any OC, not gonna happen there. So maxed out you'll pull @ 350w, gaming loads are approximately 70% of max, so roughly 250w loads.

So you could easily go with a very good quality 450w, or a decent 520w/550w and be perfectly fine.

As an example, I'm running a i7-3770k OC 4.6GHz (was 4.9GHz for 4 years) with a gtx970 OC 124% on an Evga G2 550w. The pc runs 24/7 for the last 6 years and only shuts down for the odd cleaning. Your pc will pull considerably less power, no matter what you do.

First of all , thank you for all the details i'll get a pretty good 550w psu .But the real issue here is i'm unsure if my pc will run safely with something else than the stock psu .As i pointed before it might be a proprietary psu .

 

[SnowYuki]

That PSU is the 300W ATX format PSU, which is not enough for the gtx970. You will need a good brand 500W PSU for the gtx 970. Find the PSU in the best PSU list in the linker.

i see thx for fast replying

 

[Karadjgne]

Standard ATX. There are some Dell and Lenovo and HP and Sony motherboards that use proprietary connections, like Lenovo is quite happy using a 14pin main power block vrs the standard 20+4, but the psu is the same regardless. You'd just need an adapter.

Proprietary psus are usually found in the SFX or slim mini-towers or some of the oddball designs like the All in One Monitors. But pretty much most everything else uses standard ATX. Just be aware of size differences. Height and width are all to standard, but some use 140mm fans and are longer, upto @ 170mm or better, whereas some designs use 120mm fans and are more small box friendly at 140mm deep.

 

[SnowYuki]

Standard ATX. There are some Dell and Lenovo and HP and Sony motherboards that use proprietary connections, like Lenovo is quite happy using a 14pin main power block vrs the standard 20+4, but the psu is the same regardless. You'd just need an adapter.

Proprietary psus are usually found in the SFX or slim mini-towers or some of the oddball designs like the All in One Monitors. But pretty much most everything else uses standard ATX. Just be aware of size differences. Height and width are all to standard, but some use 140mm fans and are longer, upto @ 170mm or better, whereas some designs use 120mm fans and are more small box friendly at 140mm deep.

Oh i see ! Well I think that answer my question thanks for all of you for fast replying ! I thought it'll take moer than a week to get an answer.

 

[Karadjgne]

Not to say that hasn't happened, but yours was relatively easy to answer, so you'll get a broader amount of ppl able to answer. If your query was highly technical and specific, you might have waited longer for someone who could answer.