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Hello, everyone. I've recently bought an old 2006 Dell Optiplex 745 and done some upgrading on it to make it passable in terms of being able to play low-demand games. I wanted to ask a specific question about the psu and also make sure I haven't forgotten anything important. I have already implemented all the upgrades I plan to and the computer runs smoothly so far. Originally, the computer had the 1.86GHz duo core processor, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, and on-board graphics. I replaced these with an old Radeon HD 5670 1024MB I had laying around, and an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz PCU as well as 4GB of RAM, both from Amazon. I feel pretty good about the whole thing because the computer was $50 and came with a desk and some other stuff, and I've spent less than $60 on upgrades so far, which is the maximum I wanted to spend upgrading this thing. That said, I'm thinking I'm going to need a better PSU because according to its specs the GPU requires a 400 W power supply. According to a few sources, this card only pulls between 65 and 75 W, and the TDP on the PCU is 105 W, so it seems to me, a tech moron who knows nothing of computers, that the 305 W PSU that the computer came with should be enough. But, like I said, the official requirement is a 400 W PSU. If I don't replace the PSU is my computer going to explode? Do I actually need to get a better PSU, and if so, can I afford to use the computer until I do (it would take 1-3 weeks for me to get one)? Why would I need a 400 W PSU for a card that ostensibly only pulls 70 W of power? Also, I didn't replace the heat sink or fan when upgrading the PCU, but the heat sink is literally the size of a brick and it and the fan combined take up about 1/3 of the space in the case so I assumed it would still work just fine. Is this correct? Zandorv fucked around with this message at 02:58 on Apr 23, 2016 |
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Apr 23, 2016 02:49
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| # ? May 7, 2024 20:39 |
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Zandorv posted:If I don't replace the PSU is my computer going to explode? Do I actually need to get a better PSU, and if so, can I afford to use the computer until I do (it would take 1-3 weeks for me to get one)? Why would I need a 400 W PSU for a card that ostensibly only pulls 70 W of power? It might work or it might die or it might kill some components. There's no way to be sure. That's a ten year old PSU that's underpowered so I'd recommend a newer one but really a ten year old machine like this can quickly become a money sink. Ideally you don't want to come close to using the W max of the PSU as it will drastically reduce its life and also open up the possibility of a lot of electrical issues even if it's still running. Zandorv posted:Also, I didn't replace the heat sink or fan when upgrading the PCU, but the heat sink is literally the size of a brick and it and the fan combined take up about 1/3 of the space in the case so I assumed it would still work just fine. Is this correct? IIRC those processors are similar enough to where it should work but I can't be 100% sure. Did you use new thermal paste and clean off the old stuff? If not, it'll definitely be running too hot.
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Apr 23, 2016 21:43
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Zogo posted:It might work or it might die or it might kill some components. There's no way to be sure. A friend of mine has an old 400 W or 450 W (can't remember which) PSU he said he'd be willing to give me, and he could get it to me in the next couple of weeks. Is the likelihood of the PSU burning out and taking other components with it high enough that it should probably stay off until the new PSU comes in? Zogo posted:IIRC those processors are similar enough to where it should work but I can't be 100% sure. Did you use new thermal paste and clean off the old stuff? If not, it'll definitely be running too hot. I did get new thermal paste and wiped the old stuff off when replacing the PCU. This is sort of a holdover PC for my roommate until he gets enough money to build his own gaming PC. His old PC died and I've been sharing mine since, but soon we'll be moving and my PC won't be in a common area anymore, so we've been working to cobble together something he can use and play at least a few games on in the meantime. We're definitely not looking to pay much more than the $60 the current components have cost, especially since he wants to build his own PC some time in the upcoming months. So I'm really only interested in buying a new power supply (assuming some obstacle arises with the one my friend is planning on giving us) if it's going to be a relatively immediate problem that might make the PC unusable some time in the next 6 months or so.
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Apr 23, 2016 23:52
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It is far from ideal but I wouldn't spend more money on it either. You are technically running far enough under the max to feel safe ... If it wasn't 10 years old. It could go at any time. Make sure that other psu isn't actually worse before you put it in. If he is building a new computer it could be am option to buy a quality psu now that he will use in his new computer later.
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Apr 24, 2016 03:03
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Zandorv posted:A friend of mine has an old 400 W or 450 W (can't remember which) PSU he said he'd be willing to give me, and he could get it to me in the next couple of weeks. Is the likelihood of the PSU burning out and taking other components with it high enough that it should probably stay off until the new PSU comes in? Another old PSU would be susceptible to some of the same issues so it depends on how old it is. With an old PSU you can never quite know as it'd depend on how much use it's had, the brand and the quality. Zandorv posted:This is sort of a holdover PC for my roommate until he gets enough money to build his own gaming PC. His old PC died and I've been sharing mine since, but soon we'll be moving and my PC won't be in a common area anymore, so we've been working to cobble together something he can use and play at least a few games on in the meantime. We're definitely not looking to pay much more than the $60 the current components have cost, especially since he wants to build his own PC some time in the upcoming months. So I'm really only interested in buying a new power supply (assuming some obstacle arises with the one my friend is planning on giving us) if it's going to be a relatively immediate problem that might make the PC unusable some time in the next 6 months or so. I'd agree with THE DOG HOUSE then and say go for it and hope the thing doesn't break in short order.
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Apr 24, 2016 05:05
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Echoing the others. You/your roommate could buy a good power supply that could be used in a later build. A newer/better PSU could also allow you to install a faster graphics card that could also be used in a later build. Your existing computer with a faster graphics card (GTX 950 for example) would provide a gaming experience that would be surprisingly good for a 10+ year old computer. The graphics card could be used along with the PSU in a later build.
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Apr 24, 2016 14:37
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PBCrunch posted:Echoing the others. You/your roommate could buy a good power supply that could be used in a later build. Unfortunately, the current graphics card barely fits because of how much space the heat sink and fan take up in the case, and it's pretty small. Any graphics gard he'd wanna get for a new build would almost certainly not fit. I'll mention everything that's been said, though. I know he's a little reluctant to use parts for his build in this computer because he doesn't want to waste some of their lifespan on a machine this old and worthless (plus it works about as well as it's going to at this point unless we decide to sink more money into it). I'll mention the possibility nonetheless. Thanks for the help, everyone!
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Apr 25, 2016 01:20
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Dell generally uses good quality PSUs that will hit and exceed their label rating and the duty cycle on the caps is spec'd for a 10 year service life. The 400W requirement that you often see with GPUs is because people building their own systems buy the cheapest, most garbage power supply available and "requiring" something with a higher rating label gives you more room for things like a crappy supply that can't meet its rating or a large numbers of hard drives. When a power supply can't output enough the first thing to happen is the voltages will start to sag which causes stability issues, and you can see that with something like CPUz if you run a benchmark while monitoring. You'd have to overshoot the rating by a lot to cause a catastrophic failure. You're probably fine with what you have and your TDP math is right. With that said, mid-2000's power supplies, especially the ones from OEMs like HP/Dell, were very inefficient. If your components are drawing 300W under load, the power supply is probably wasting another 100W as heat doing the AC/DC conversion. Newer supplies are generally 90%+ efficient so the amount of waste power drops from the 100W range to 30W so your room won't heat up as much and your power bill will be lower.
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Apr 25, 2016 21:46
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Weird question: is it standard ATX size and pin layout? The optiplexes I have at work do not use a standard, and even the standard size has a word, small pin out.
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May 27, 2016 01:08
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| # ? May 7, 2024 20:39 |
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edit: Lol I'm an idiot
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May 27, 2016 03:34
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