Is it safe to use a lower wattage powersupply?

[Oggtopus]

I'm helping a friend with upgrading his computer and was thinking about a 1050ti, but his power supply is about 15 watts lower than the load wattage, is it still safe to use and will it work?

 

[genthug]

Given that the PSU can't even handle a 1050ti... I'm assuming this is a prebuilt.

Given that assumption... no. Prebuilts often come with shoddy PSUs that aren't stable putting out their max wattage, nevermind OVER that, they do not have safety precautions in place for when something bad happens, etc.

What PSU does your friend have, and what does the rest of the system look like?

 

[Math Geek]

no it is not a good idea to use a power supply that is below what the system needs. it is likely this psu is not a very good one anyway and running it over max load for long periods is only asking for it to go the way of the dodo in a nice smoky *poof*

it may or may not damage anything else along with it but it certainly can.

just to be sure if the psu is good enough or not, can you provide more information abut the system being upgraded and the psu inside it. the model of the psu, or a pic of the label will be great to help decide what the psu can do and not do. the rest of the pc specs will allow some quick math to see what the power needs of the system will be with the added graphics card.

if needed, we can easily offer some upgrade options for the psu. can get a decent one for pretty cheap if you know what you're looking for.

 

[DigitalHamster]

It is not a good idea to use a lower than recommended power supply.

However, it can be safe under certain conditions:
- The current on the 12V rail is more than what the GPU and CPU combined require. I wouldn't use anything under 24 amps here.
- It is a quality PSU, with at least an 80plus Bronze rating. Look for reviews from Johnny Guru or even here on Tom's hardware. If the PSU has any problem working at full load, don't use it!
- It is not really old.

However, the best idea by far is to get a quality 400w unit or above, as this leaves you with a nice amount of extra power should you upgrade to something slightly more power hungry in the future.
Some of the common good brands include Seasonic, Corsair, EVGA, ThermalTake or Antec.