Question Will my 600W psu be enough for a 3060 + i7 3.6ghz?

[topeira]

Hi guys.
My current rig is using a 1060 6gb, i7-9700 3.6ghz and 16gb ram. Im using a 600W PSU.
My 1060 broke and i might swap it with a 3060.

I am using 3 hard drives , no special cooling systems nor additional fans that didnt come with the MB, and I do not intend on OCing.
Also, I dont have any DVD drives, nor 3.5 drives. I use multiple USB devices like a graphic tablet and a usb keyboard and mouse etc. don't know if thats relevant.

Will my PSU be enough or should i upgrade that too?
If I chose not to upgrade, what would be issues that would tell me my PSU is the culprit?

 

[sizzling]

What is the make and model of the psu? Wattage alone is fairly meaningless.

 

[topeira]

What is the make and model of the psu? Wattage alone is fairly meaningless.

on the side of the PSU it says "Dual Forward Power Supply - ZM600-LX" (Zalman).

 

[Karadjgne]

The ZM600-LX originally came out in 2008? and uses the same platform as the OCZ GameXStream 600w which came out in 2005.

Meaning it'll work, but there's no guarantee on just for how long because the instant demands of high current by the 3060 are considerably higher than that of the 1060. And that's not taking into consideration the transient load spikes 3k series cards are well known for.

Taking an old, dry stick and bending it often has different results to taking a new, green stick and bending it. The 1060 was barely flexing that old dry stick, the 3060 is going to try bending it in half.

 

[topeira]

The ZM600-LX originally came out in 2008? and uses the same platform as the OCZ GameXStream 600w which came out in 2005.

Meaning it'll work, but there's no guarantee on just for how long because the instant demands of high current by the 3060 are considerably higher than that of the 1060. And that's not taking into consideration the transient load spikes 3k series cards are well known for.

Taking an old, dry stick and bending it often has different results to taking a new, green stick and bending it. The 1060 was barely flexing that old dry stick, the 3060 is going to try bending it in half.

thanks for the feedback, mate.

So what kind of issues should I expect if my current PSU is not enough?
Will the computer suddenly crash mid-gaming? will games not even start?
What should I expect from insufficient power unit?

Also, what is the least amount of power I should get to have a stable gaming experience.? 650W? 700W?

 

[DSzymborski]

Again, you're focusing on wattage rather than the quality of the PSU. Now, this PSU also isn't actually a 600W in any modern sense because, unlike any competent PSU made today which can do all or almost all of the load in +12V power, it can only do 530W.

But that's just the start of the problems.

It's a very old unit so you have that natural deterioration of a unit that long should have been recycled. And the obsolete topology that was intended to be used with Pentium III era PCs that causes it not to be able to max out +12V power also will result in awful crossloads, with poor voltage regulation and ripple mitigation. These can slowly damage your components in the long-term. Hardware Insights tested this PSU way back and it completely failed their tests, even falling out of ATX spec, which is notoriously lax.

The ZM600-LX runs from warm to hot depending on the load and cooling. I have some serious concerns as to whether the unit actually delivers the promised efficiency. And this is also the main reason why it runs so hot. At the same time, it runs with noise ranging from audible to extremely loud. Zalman has been pushing their prices down very hard in the last few years so the price is nice. But for that money you only get garbage capacitors and a 2-year warranty which makes for a very bad combination with all that heat. It is possible that for builds with very low power demands, the 400W version may be OK with the waste heat. It could also actually keep the regulation and ripple suppression in spec because of the low power. But that’s the only case in which I would dare to use this model. Not that I am suggesting it for any use at all.

They finally got this PSU to fall into spec...by fixing shoddy soldering and upgrading the capacitors.

If you're lucky, you'll get black screen. If you're not, your first sign of trouble may be magic smoke from somewhere in your components.

I wouldn't let this PSU even touch this GPU.

 

[topeira]

Again, you're focusing on wattage rather than the quality of the PSU. Now, this PSU also isn't actually a 600W in any modern sense because, unlike any competent PSU made today which can do all or almost all of the load in +12V power, it can only do 530W.

But that's just the start of the problems.

It's a very old unit so you have that natural deterioration of a unit that long should have been recycled. And the obsolete topology that was intended to be used with Pentium III era PCs that causes it not to be able to max out +12V power also will result in awful crossloads, with poor voltage regulation and ripple mitigation. These can slowly damage your components in the long-term. Hardware Insights tested this PSU way back and it completely failed their tests, even falling out of ATX spec, which is notoriously lax.



They finally got this PSU to fall into spec...by fixing shoddy soldering and upgrading the capacitors.

If you're lucky, you'll get black screen. If you're not, your first sign of trouble may be magic smoke from somewhere in your components.

I wouldn't let this PSU even touch this GPU.

Ouch. Harsh


So care to help me figure out how to chose a cheap PSU for my rig, if I chose to swap my 1060 to a 3060?

 

[Karadjgne]

chose a cheap PSU

The psu is the single most important yet overlooked component in a gaming pc. It's directly responsible for feeding power to everything, protecting everything from power issues. It's literally the heart of the pc, feeding live giving power everywhere its needed.

So ask yourself this. If you needed heart surgery to replace your ticking time bomb in your chest, if given a choice would you opt for the heart of a 60yr old, obese smoker who 'sampled' in the 70's for $50k or the heart of a 18yr old athletic non-smoker who never so much as inhaled, for $100k.

Cheap? Inexpensive is always preferred, but never at the cost of quality

 

[topeira]

The psu is the single most important yet overlooked component in a gaming pc. It's directly responsible for feeding power to everything, protecting everything from power issues. It's literally the heart of the pc, feeding live giving power everywhere its needed.

So ask yourself this. If you needed heart surgery to replace your ticking time bomb in your chest, if given a choice would you opt for the heart of a 60yr old, obese smoker who 'sampled' in the 70's for $50k or the heart of a 18yr old athletic non-smoker who never so much as inhaled, for $100k.

Cheap? Inexpensive is always preferred, but never at the cost of quality

Well, I have been building my own rigs for 20 years and never had a high quality PSU. Not on purpose, at least. As you can see, I dont know much about the hardware beyond GPUs and CPUs, and never had a single issue related to power. So either I had a lot of luck, or that it matters less than you say.

Either way, I would love a recommendation to the least expensive yet reliable PSU you can think of