Just bought a gtx 960 and minimum power supply is 400w

[mustaphab]

My pc max is 350ish and that lasts 30 seconds according to label. Average is 315. When I installed it, my pc turned on fine.

What will happen if I use the gtx 960 when it says 400w on my pc?

 

[okcnaline]

Don't understand. What's 350? 315? What lasts 30 seconds?

 

[mustaphab]

Says 315 watt average, max 350 which lasts 30 seconds

 

[okcnaline]

Eh... Eh...

Whatever... Screw it... Replace the PSU. If 350W max lasts for 30 seconds, it seems like a really bad PSU. First time I ever heard of that.

 

[Geekwad]

Says 315 watt average, max 350 which lasts 30 seconds

This is how very inexpensive power supplies get around what's really under the hood......and essentially mislabel (legally) what you're buying. You really have a 300w power supply, and not a very good one at that.

For a gaming computer, you have the minimum sustained wattage requirement but then also must take into consideration the minimum quality required too. Maintaining high current flow is not a task for cheap electronics, and a PSU is not the place where you want to save $30-40.

For a system with a single GTX960, and 450w PSU would be best (if you overclock both the CPU and GPU, then you may want a bit more). If you ever had thoughts of doing SLI, then you'd want a 600w PSU (again, go one step up if you OC).

http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

At $60 after rebate, this is a great deal right now:

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220g20650y1