Q9400, Rx 460 on 240w psu??

[Hunter666]

Hi.
Currently i am running an old core 2 duo machine with an rx 460 on a 240 w psu and it is working perfectly. I am willing to update my core 2 duo to core 2 quad 9400 for a couple of weeks. After that I will be shifting on a core i5 setup.
I just wanted to know should i go for it or it is too much for my psu to handle.
Thanks.

 

[King_V]

That's sort of pushing it. The Q9400 is a 95W chip (I think all Core 2 Duo CPUs are 65W) , and the RX460 is a 75W card. That's 160W. 130W for your current CPU with that video card.

Add in more for RAM, fans, the motherboard, hard drive, etc. and you are likely pushing that PSU to the ragged edge if you have the Q9400, and that's assuming your PSU can provide almost all of its rated power to the 12V rail.

We'd need to know the brand and model of the PSU, or at least a clear photo of the label that shows how many amps are available on the 12V rail(s) to give a good estimate of whether it could handle it.

 

[hang-the-9]

With that 460 you are already over the wattage that would be considered OK for a 240 watt CPU to run. The video card will draw 70 watts of power, the C2Q 9500 is 95 watts, 160 right there without counting anything else.

 

[Hunter666]

Its hp branded psu.
It has reading in the following way.
------------- 240 W -------------
+5.06 V |
17 A |

+3.33V |
15 A |

+12V |
7.5A |

+12Vcpu |
11.5A |

-12V |
0.15A |

+5.08V aux |
3A |

 

[King_V]

Ok, so, combined that's 19A on the 12V rail, which puts it at 228W.

There might also be some indication of max continuous output, as well as max continuous output on the 12V rail, but not all labels will necessarily state that info.

First, is this a normal tower, or some kind of small form factor desktop system? If the latter, then getting an upgraded PSU might be impossible.

If it's a tower, then your options are possibly better - some OEM towers (Dell, HP, etc) use standard PSUs, but others (Dell's Inspiron towers, for example) use a sort of proprietary setup.

Still, with your existing setup, it MIGHT work, but I wouldn't count on it lasting very long. I assume that all the other parts, while probably they'll never be running maxed out simultaneously, could take up to 60-70 watts. That on top of the 160 combined from the GPU and the upgraded CPU would be asking for trouble.

If it were not my primary system, and it were my own system, I might chance it. If it were a system that I *need* to stay reliable, then I wouldn't take the gamble without a better power supply.


On the other hand, between a better PSU, and the CPU, how much money are we talking total? Would that be better if it were set aside to build up enough for a new system on a modern platform?