[SOLVED] I want to upgrade my old computer and i need help

[Nitchamada]

Helllo.
So i want to buy a new GPU but I'm afraid of compatibility problems. I'm still a beginner in this.
I have an old Packard Bell from 2013

CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3330 CPU @ 3.00GHz 4 Cores, 4 Threads

GPU: PALIT GeForce GT 710 2G GDDR3

RAM: Kingston 8GB Dual Channel DDR3

Motherboard; packard bell imedia L4875

I'm not sure if i can but i want to replace my GPU with a GTX 1650 or gtx 1660 super but I'm afraid of bottleneck and I'm not sure if it's compatible with my motherboard. I can also replace the CPU if mine is too slow with i3-9100F.

I need to know if this GPU upgrade is possible and what else should i change to have a good gaming experience without changing everything.
I would like to hear your suggestions.

Thank you in advance.

 

[RTX 2080]

Intel motherboards are usually only compatible with the generation of CPUs that came with the PC and the generation either before or after that; you will not be able to install an i3-9100F in your PC without replacing your motherboard (at which point you'd be better off with a new PC).

A GTX 1650 is probably the best GPU you should put in there. Not only is your CPU going to have trouble keeping up with anything faster than that, but anything more powerful will require a 8 pin power cable that your power supply is unlikely to have. Speaking of which, your power supply probably wont be able to handle anything more powerful than that either.

What is the wattage of your power supply?

 

[siaan312]

The 1650 and 1660 super are "compatible" with your board, but, whether you can run them or not depends on the power supply.

If you want to replace the cpu to an i3 9100F you need to replace... everything.
Probably the powersupply, the motherboard, ram, the cpu (duh) and maybe even the case.

 

[Nitchamada]

Intel motherboards are usually only compatible with the generation of CPUs that came with the PC and the generation either before or after that; you will not be able to install an i3-9100F in your PC without replacing your motherboard (at which point you'd be better off with a new PC).

A GTX 1650 is probably the best GPU you should put in there. Not only is your CPU going to have trouble keeping up with anything faster than that, but anything more powerful will require a 8 pin power cable that your power supply is unlikely to have. Speaking of which, your power supply probably wont be able to handle anything more powerful than that either.

What is the wattage of your power supply?

It's 200W max

 

[siaan312]

It's 200W max

uh...
not sure even the 1650 super will work in that.
just checked, it won't.

You can put a gt 1030 in there, which will be a meh upgrade, but should work.

 

[RTX 2080]

It's 200W max

Yeah, at that wattage its debatable whether you'll be able to run even with the low-power GTX 1650. If you're feeling lucky, you could buy it and see if it works ok, but there's a good chance your power supply wont be able to handle it.

 

[RTX 2080]

uh...
not sure even the 1650 super will work in that.
just checked, it won't.

You can put a gt 1030 in there, which will be a meh upgrade, but should work.

The 1650 Super definitely wouldn't, but the non-super 1650 is interesting because it can be had with no 8 pin power connector required. I'm not saying its a good idea to pair that with a 200 watt PSU, just saying that it might be theoretically possible.

 

[Nitchamada]

Hmm I see.
Is it possible to change the PSU?
If not what other GPU do you recommend? (and what about AMD equivalents?)

 

[RTX 2080]

Hmm I see.
Is it possible to change the PSU?
If not what other GPU do you recommend? (and what about AMD equivalents?)

AMD doesn't really make any good low-power GPUs. Almost all their stuff runs hotter and sucks more juice than Nvidia's GPUs.

Like @siaan312 said, "you can put a gt 1030 in there, which will be a meh upgrade, but should work."

It might be possible to change the PSU, but only if its in a non-proprietary form factor like ATX.

 

[siaan312]

Hmm I see.
Is it possible to change the PSU?
If not what other GPU do you recommend? (and what about AMD equivalents?)

AMD doesn't have low end equivalents to that.
Currently they have rx5500 for the 1660, the rx 5600 for the 2060/1660 ti, and then higher up with the rx 5700xt, and their new cards releasing next couple of weeks.

 

[siaan312]

AMD doesn't really make any good low-power GPUs. Almost all their stuff runs hotter and sucks more juice than Nvidia's GPUs.

Like @siaan312 said, "you can put a gt 1030 in there, which will be a meh upgrade, but should work."

It might be possible to change the PSU, but only if its in a non-proprietary form factor like ATX.

Their low end stuff sucks lots of power and sucks lots of juice since it's old by this point, like the rx 580.

 

[sucroc]

1) Your PSU must be upgraded. As a comparison, the GTX1650 uses 77W and the GT 710 uses 19W and a Radeon HD 7990 consumes 491W [99W at idle], 425W is recommended for GTX1650 and 725W for Rad HD 7990. The 7990 is about 41% faster than GTX1650, but 7990 is still very expensive. (Reference - EBAY - [Radeon HD 7990 - $350 Buy it now or $79 Bid price vs NVIDIA GTX1650 - $109 Buy it now or 19.99 Bid price).

2) Your CPU should be upgraded (to get maximum potential out of all the other devices). Your I5-3330 scores 63 vs the I7-3770K scores 86 (Reference cpu.userbenchmark.com). I7-3770K is pricey (Reference - EBAY - at $127 Buy it now and $60 Bid price) but still only about 1/3 of a XEON E3-1285V6 [ comparable performance with ability to use Non-ECC memory] (Reference - EBAY at $400 or best offer)

3) Your Drive should be upgraded to an SSD, like a Samsung 1TB 860EVO (Reference - EBAY $99 Buy it now and $59 bid price). I recommend Samsung SSDs, as the performance with the Samsung Magician Software is 5 to 20 times higher. In addition, adding an SSD drive to an existing system will "Improve the performance of the other devices like the CPU, Video Card, and memory like putting them on steroids." However, beware of Samsung OEM SSDs such as PM851, PM861, and other Samsung branded SSDs that are actually OEM Drives. They are NOT supported by Samsung. Therefore they will: NOT Download current Firmware, NOT Allow Over-provisioning, NOT Run in Rapid mode, NOT receive any support from Samsung/Samsung Magician. Just to be safe, always go to Samsung Magician Website to verify your SSD Model # is supported - (Reference - https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools/). I can tell you from personal experience, even if the OEM supports firmware updates for the PM### SSDs, they still won't support performance updates like Over-Provisioning and Rapid Mode which are critical apps for getting the maximum potential from the SSD and the maximum life expectancy.

4) You Kingston RAM should be replaced or upgraded. With this chipset, I had numerous issues with the Kingston Hyper-X DDR3 1600 8GB Memory Sticks. I had 2 sets of brand new Kingston Hyper-X 8GB"Factory Matched Sets for Dual Channel." On my ASRock MOBO with H61 chipset, the Kingston Hyper-x Memory sticks would not correctly ID themselves to the Bios yielding only 4GB out of 8GB and NO dual channel mode and with my ASUS MOBO with H61 Chipset it would address all 8 GB in Dual channel mode but only if underclocked to 1333 vs the 1600 that they were rated. I purchased 16 GB (2 x 8GB) of used G-Skills Ripjaws 1600 memory sticks and it was instantly and correctly detected as DDR3 1600 in Dual channel mode on both MOBOs offered auto overclock to 2200 with XMP memory protocol.

5) What is the estimated cost for a similar upgrade I performed in August of 2020? $470 into a used CPU, Power Supply, GPU, and SSD. This raised my Passmark Performance Score from 1,250 to 4,750. Remember; the MOBO H61 chipset only supports SATA-2 which lowers the overall perfomance score by about 500-750 as compare to SATA-3 [3GB/sec vs 6GB/sec]. I have an ASUS p8H61-M MOBO. This rig is in a Mid tower case and is basically identical to yours; as far as CPU, Chipset, GPU, RAM, and PSU. I upgraded it with a $25 A-Power 680 Watt PSU, a $45 used I7-3770K, $20 used 16 GB DDR3 Ram 1600, a $300 used AMD Radeon HD 7990, a $100 open box Samsung 860EVO SSD. This rig is in a Mid tower case. I can give dimensions and or pics. This setup runs like lightning and scores in the 4500-5000 on a Passmark Performance Test (Version - 9). I had to cut - Sheet metal shears - a space out of my HD Area to Squeeze in the Card (Radeon HD 7990 12.6 X 2.5 inches and takes 3 slots) With a 250W PSU, the 7990 couldn't get out of Idle and scored in the 2,250 range for Passmark Performance Test 3D. A $25 upgrade to a 680 W PSU raised the bar to an 8,250 range for Passmark Performance Test 3D. Your MOBO should support a Top notch CPU like the I7-3770K or Xeon E3-1285V6. It will support the GTX1650, probably without any cutting of your drive bays and may support a Full size card like the Radeon HD 7990 or GTX 1080 TI FTW with a little minor trimming of the drive bay frame.

 

[dotas1]

1) Your PSU must be upgraded. As a comparison, the GTX1650 uses 77W and the GT 710 uses 19W and a Radeon HD 7990 consumes 491W [99W at idle], 425W is recommended for GTX1650 and 725W for Rad HD 7990. The 7990 is about 41% faster than GTX1650, but 7990 is still very expensive. (Reference - EBAY - [Radeon HD 7990 - $350 Buy it now or $79 Bid price vs NVIDIA GTX1650 - $109 Buy it now or 19.99 Bid price).

Noone in their right mind would buy a Radeon HD 7990 in 2020 unless it's for a specific system that can't handle anything newer or collecting. It's a card that came out in 2013, very power hungry and the only reason it's expensive on ebay it's because it isn't produced anymore.
You can buy similar performance GPUs that use no more than 150W.

I upgraded it with a $25 A-Power 680 Watt PSU

Let's see how much this $25 A-Power 680 Watt PSU will last and what will take along with it when it fails.

 

[hang-the-9]

All this would be a really bad use of money, especially getting a 7990 card for $300 which is slower than a 1650 super at almost half the price.

A $25 power supply, you may as well just toss your computer over the side of a boat, it would be about as safe to do either one.

1) Your PSU must be upgraded. As a comparison, the GTX1650 uses 77W and the GT 710 uses 19W and a Radeon HD 7990 consumes 491W [99W at idle], 425W is recommended for GTX1650 and 725W for Rad HD 7990. The 7990 is about 41% faster than GTX1650, but 7990 is still very expensive. (Reference - EBAY - [Radeon HD 7990 - $350 Buy it now or $79 Bid price vs NVIDIA GTX1650 - $109 Buy it now or 19.99 Bid price).

2) Your CPU should be upgraded (to get maximum potential out of all the other devices). Your I5-3330 scores 63 vs the I7-3770K scores 86 (Reference cpu.userbenchmark.com). I7-3770K is pricey (Reference - EBAY - at $127 Buy it now and $60 Bid price) but still only about 1/3 of a XEON E3-1285V6 [ comparable performance with ability to use Non-ECC memory] (Reference - EBAY at $400 or best offer)

3) Your Drive should be upgraded to an SSD, like a Samsung 1TB 860EVO (Reference - EBAY $99 Buy it now and $59 bid price). I recommend Samsung SSDs, as the performance with the Samsung Magician Software is 5 to 20 times higher. In addition, adding an SSD drive to an existing system will "Improve the performance of the other devices like the CPU, Video Card, and memory like putting them on steroids." However, beware of Samsung OEM SSDs such as PM851, PM861, and other Samsung branded SSDs that are actually OEM Drives. They are NOT supported by Samsung. Therefore they will: NOT Download current Firmware, NOT Allow Over-provisioning, NOT Run in Rapid mode, NOT receive any support from Samsung/Samsung Magician. Just to be safe, always go to Samsung Magician Website to verify your SSD Model # is supported - (Reference - https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools/). I can tell you from personal experience, even if the OEM supports firmware updates for the PM### SSDs, they still won't support performance updates like Over-Provisioning and Rapid Mode which are critical apps for getting the maximum potential from the SSD and the maximum life expectancy.

4) You Kingston RAM should be replaced or upgraded. With this chipset, I had numerous issues with the Kingston Hyper-X DDR3 1600 8GB Memory Sticks. I had 2 sets of brand new Kingston Hyper-X 8GB"Factory Matched Sets for Dual Channel." On my ASRock MOBO with H61 chipset, the Kingston Hyper-x Memory sticks would not correctly ID themselves to the Bios yielding only 4GB out of 8GB and NO dual channel mode and with my ASUS MOBO with H61 Chipset it would address all 8 GB in Dual channel mode but only if underclocked to 1333 vs the 1600 that they were rated. I purchased 16 GB (2 x 8GB) of used G-Skills Ripjaws 1600 memory sticks and it was instantly and correctly detected as DDR3 1600 in Dual channel mode on both MOBOs offered auto overclock to 2200 with XMP memory protocol.

5) What is the estimated cost for a similar upgrade I performed in August of 2020? $470 into a used CPU, Power Supply, GPU, and SSD. This raised my Passmark Performance Score from 1,250 to 4,750. Remember; the MOBO H61 chipset only supports SATA-2 which lowers the overall perfomance score by about 500-750 as compare to SATA-3 [3GB/sec vs 6GB/sec]. I have an ASUS p8H61-M MOBO. This rig is in a Mid tower case and is basically identical to yours; as far as CPU, Chipset, GPU, RAM, and PSU. I upgraded it with a $25 A-Power 680 Watt PSU, a $45 used I7-3770K, $20 used 16 GB DDR3 Ram 1600, a $300 used AMD Radeon HD 7990, a $100 open box Samsung 860EVO SSD. This rig is in a Mid tower case. I can give dimensions and or pics. This setup runs like lightning and scores in the 4500-5000 on a Passmark Performance Test (Version - 9). I had to cut - Sheet metal shears - a space out of my HD Area to Squeeze in the Card (Radeon HD 7990 12.6 X 2.5 inches and takes 3 slots) With a 250W PSU, the 7990 couldn't get out of Idle and scored in the 2,250 range for Passmark Performance Test 3D. A $25 upgrade to a 680 W PSU raised the bar to an 8,250 range for Passmark Performance Test 3D. Your MOBO should support a Top notch CPU like the I7-3770K or Xeon E3-1285V6. It will support the GTX1650, probably without any cutting of your drive bays and may support a Full size card like the Radeon HD 7990 or GTX 1080 TI FTW with a little minor trimming of the drive bay frame.

 

[sucroc]

Noone in their right mind would buy a Radeon HD 7990 in 2020 unless it's for a specific system that can't handle anything newer or collecting. It's a card that came out in 2013, very power hungry and the only reason it's expensive on ebay it's because it isn't produced anymore.
You can buy similar performance GPUs that use no more than 150W.


Let's see how much this $25 A-Power 680 Watt PSU will last and what will take along with it when it fails.

Yes, you a absolutely correct, there are at least 13 different GPUs that score higher than the 7990 G3D score of 8250 in G3D test scores registered at Passmark.com that are $300 or less and use less power. The question that begs to be asked, how many of these 13 scored were in a Rig with SATA-2 standard vs SATA-3?
As far as the 7990 card goes, don't you think that a 9 year old Desktop with 7 year old PSU and GPU, Running Full Overclock in a PC with all "Junk quality" parts getting an overall G3D score of 8250 is Amazing? I also agree the 7990 is outdated and high power, I only mentioned it to provide a reference for comparison of required PSU Wattage for Three different levels of GPU power consumption. In addition, please understand, even though I performed the upgrade August of 2020, the parts were from 5 different broken computers, that I purchased whole and in parts, between 6 and 12 years ago. You are correct in calling me a collector. I take pride in taking computers that are old, slow, and non-functional and adding cannibalized on-hand, closeout and salvaged parts, and having a performance equivalent to a new computer for only a fraction of the cost.

As for the A-power GPU comment, I have the same 680 W GPU in six different computers; At the top end a 3.5 year old Z270 Gigabite Aoris - i7-7700K- GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 Hybrid, H100 - Corsair Dual Radiator Liquid Cooler for CPU, 16 GB Crucial Ballistics DDR4 2600 that scores 7348 overall Passmark Performance Test and at the low end a 17 year old Generic Alien computer with an AMD RADEON HD 4870 AGP socket, running Windows 10 version from July of 2015, with 2 GB DDR2 - 5300 (MAX), with an AMD Athlon X2 - 4800+ CPU, 5% OC, with a 5200 RPM HD and an overall scors of 970 (no DX12 Support) along with 4 others with AMD Athlon 6000, Core 2 Q9650, X3480, X5670, I7-3770X, and I7-7700K. All 6 of them are still functioning, some for over 10 years. Please don't knock them, as they are excellent quality for the price and have been faithful for me and for 84 Newegg customers that left 5 of 5 eggs review of a total 121 reviews with average rating of 4 out of 5 eggs. Looking at the most negative reviews gives credibility to your comment - Since 14 of the 121 were only 1 egg. Maybe there is a Quality Control problem at the factory. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[dotas1]

I take pride in taking computers that are old, slow, and non-functional and adding cannibalized on-hand, closeout and salvaged parts, and having a performance equivalent to a new computer for only a fraction of the cost.

You should be proud. I have only but respect for that decision. It's not gonna be equivalent to a new computer, not even by a long shot. Except if you mean new as a refreshed computer which I MIGHT agree.

The question that begs to be asked, how many of these 13 scored were in a Rig with SATA-2 standard vs SATA-3?

SATA generation has NO impact on GPU performance.

As for the A-power GPU comment, I have the same 680 W GPU in six different computers; At the top end a 3.5 year old Z270 Gigabite Aoris - i7-7700K- GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 Hybrid, H100 - Corsair Dual Radiator Liquid Cooler for CPU, 16 GB Crucial Ballistics DDR4 2600 that scores 7348 overall Passmark Performance Test and at the low end a 17 year old Generic Alien computer with an AMD RADEON HD 4870 AGP socket, running Windows 10 version from July of 2015, with 2 GB DDR2 - 5300 (MAX), with an AMD Athlon X2 - 4800+ CPU, 5% OC, with a 5200 RPM HD and an overall scors of 970 (no DX12 Support) along with 4 others with AMD Athlon 6000, Core 2 Q9650, X3480, X5670, I7-3770X, and I7-7700K. All 6 of them are still functioning, some for over 10 years. Please don't knock them, as they are excellent quality for the price and have been faithful for me and for 84 Newegg customers that left 5 of 5 eggs review of a total 121 reviews with average rating of 4 out of 5 eggs. Looking at the most negative reviews gives credibility to your comment - Since 14 of the 121 were only 1 egg. Maybe there is a Quality Control problem at the factory. Thanks for the feedback.

It literally means nothing. You are risking multiple systems with a PSU from a brand that most of it's models WHEN reviewed (because professional reviewers won't go over cheap and crappy PSUs and that's for a reason), are BAD, with FALSE claims (just like Trump! ) and generally not even worth the time spent on them.

You never know when a bad quality PSU will fail but most of the times it takes hardware with it.

 

[sucroc]

Thanks alot for planting those seeds in my mind. Now, everytime I go down to my dungeon, I smell something burning. What economical power supply do you recommend? I don't mean cheap, I mean one that is both good and affordable. I probably should change all six computers. Also in reference to the SATA 2 vs SATA 3, one must consider that a gaming PC is not a GPU alone. Every instruction between the CPU and harddrive requires bandwidth. The SATA 2 only goes 3GB the SATA 3 goes 6 GB. SATA 2 causes a bottleneck that slows the CPU and indirectly slows the GPU, as the GPU is not 100% of the total processing and inter-device communication required to run a game or heavy demand video. The reason I made the comment about SATA 2 is that the PC's with SATA 2 are probably scoring lower overall for the same GPU when a perfomance utility is run. I will definitely investigate this as I have just recieived a M2 to SATA 3 adapter that only runs at SATA 2 speed. I'll pop that into my ASROCK Z270 killer/sli in place of the hard drive, and compare for myself and you if your interested. It currently scores 6335 with Passmark performance test (V-9). This is a another junker computer with a bad mobo that can only see two out of 4 cores of the I7-7700. It worked perfect and scored between 6500 and 7000 with W10 version 1506, 1607, and 1709 but krapped out with version 1803. I may just reinstall W10 version 1607 to see if that is it, but I think the MOBO is toast [Maybe from the ghetto power supply?].

 

[sucroc]

Helllo.
So i want to buy a new GPU but I'm afraid of compatibility problems. I'm still a beginner in this.
I have an old Packard Bell from 2013

CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3330 CPU @ 3.00GHz 4 Cores, 4 Threads

GPU: PALIT GeForce GT 710 2G GDDR3

RAM: Kingston 8GB Dual Channel DDR3

Motherboard; packard bell imedia L4875

I'm not sure if i can but i want to replace my GPU with a GTX 1650 or gtx 1660 super but I'm afraid of bottleneck and I'm not sure if it's compatible with my motherboard. I can also replace the CPU if mine is too slow with i3-9100F.

I need to know if this GPU upgrade is possible and what else should i change to have a good gaming experience without changing everything.
I would like to hear your suggestions.

Thank you in advance.

Heres an upgade without a new power supply for $140 and $21 for shipping and tax. Why not a PSU, my H320 has a very small form factor, and basically there is no room. I tried a AMD Radeon r7-350 [used for $45] in my H320 Lenovo. It only has a 180 watt PSU from the factory. I upgraded the CPU to a XEON X3480 [$65]. In addition I upgraded the RAM to 8 GB (2 X 4GB) Corsair Vengeance [$27.99] 1600 [Real pain to get the H320 to see the RAM had to 1) reset the cmos with bios jumper, 2)pop the bios battery, and 3) run it in slot 1 and 3 which is the 2nd and 4th slot from the CPU [backward of most MOBOS I've had], took about 25 tries but Its working now. Seems to me I remember this problem with all Lenovos and the solution is to reload the bios every time you upgrade the CPU or RAM. Unfortuneately, with the Corsair Vengeance memory th eheat shilds are so big, I cant fit the DVD back in. IF the PC could read the RAM sticks in slotr 2 and slot 4 then I can barely squeeze it in with only mild warping of the chip against the back and below the Sata connector. I'll try reloading the BIOS and stick the RAM sticks in the slot 2 and 4 to see if it will boot. SO far I can only get it to runa perfect with the 4GB sticks in slot 1 and 3, IE [ slot 3 ] [ slot 4 ] [ slot 1 ] [ slot 2 ] [{ CPU}] Really? I can't believe they order the slots this way, but it is printed on the MOBO, I always used the rule of thumb that the closest and the third closest were the best, but not for Lenovos.

 

[sucroc]

Yes, you a absolutely correct, there are at least 13 different GPUs that score higher than the 7990 G3D score of 8250 in G3D test scores registered at Passmark.com that are $300 or less and use less power. The question that begs to be asked, how many of these 13 scored were in a Rig with SATA-2 standard vs SATA-3?
As far as the 7990 card goes, don't you think that a 9 year old Desktop with 7 year old PSU and GPU, Running Full Overclock in a PC with all "Junk quality" parts getting an overall G3D score of 8250 is Amazing? I also agree the 7990 is outdated and high power, I only mentioned it to provide a reference for comparison of required PSU Wattage for Three different levels of GPU power consumption. In addition, please understand, even though I performed the upgrade August of 2020, the parts were from 5 different broken computers, that I purchased whole and in parts, between 6 and 12 years ago. You are correct in calling me a collector. I take pride in taking computers that are old, slow, and non-functional and adding cannibalized on-hand, closeout and salvaged parts, and having a performance equivalent to a new computer for only a fraction of the cost.

As for the A-power GPU comment, I have the same 680 W GPU in six different computers; At the top end a 3.5 year old Z270 Gigabite Aoris - i7-7700K- GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 Hybrid, H100 - Corsair Dual Radiator Liquid Cooler for CPU, 16 GB Crucial Ballistics DDR4 2600 that scores 7348 overall Passmark Performance Test and at the low end a 17 year old Generic Alien computer with an AMD RADEON HD 4870 AGP socket, running Windows 10 version from July of 2015, with 2 GB DDR2 - 5300 (MAX), with an AMD Athlon X2 - 4800+ CPU, 5% OC, with a 5200 RPM HD and an overall scors of 970 (no DX12 Support) along with 4 others with AMD Athlon 6000, Core 2 Q9650, X3480, X5670, I7-3770X, and I7-7700K. All 6 of them are still functioning, some for over 10 years. Please don't knock them, as they are excellent quality for the price and have been faithful for me and for 84 Newegg customers that left 5 of 5 eggs review of a total 121 reviews with average rating of 4 out of 5 eggs. Looking at the most negative reviews gives credibility to your comment - Since 14 of the 121 were only 1 egg. Maybe there is a Quality Control problem at the factory. Thanks for the feedback.

By the way it was a $40 GPU, I got it mixed up with another GPU I bought, and you were right, It krapped out within a year and its sister krapped out in a year and a half. Also, the wires were like 22 gauge and the Sata power connectors had no tight grip. They really were $#%^. So far I like the A-Power, but your reviews are really scaring me. Have you had bad experience with the A-Power or do you know someone who has. I run the heck out of my computers. I even have an A-Power 680 Watt on the ASUS H61 MOBO, with 17-3770, RAD HD 7990 Dual GPU in Crossfire mode, Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 X 4GB) RAM with multi cooling fans and I run the tar out of it. It must be pretty near the 680 advertised Watts to run the 7990 in almost full over clock with AMD overdrive. You would love to see a picture of this rig. Genuine cardboard box cover panels, home created Video card Dual 8 pin power connectors, Hacksawed opening in the botton of the drive bay to fit in the 7990. It really scores a 4600-4900 Passmark score overall with a 650-850 2D and 6250-7000 D3D.