Advice on CPU and GPU for 500 Watt Corsair Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H fairly clueless

Scoz0 · 3 Aug 2011 at 22:28

Hello there,

In february I bought a standard budget rig the Titan Nero.

It came with a Dual Core Athlon II 3.2Ghz and a HTPC GT 430 card.

I'm looking to upgrade this rig to a nice AMD quad core and a graphics card and I am looking for some suggestions I will of course be buying from OcUK since they were brilliant on my first purchase.

However my PSU is only 500 watt's and well I'm hearing all these scare stories about not having enough power...

My budget is probably £90 for the CPU and maximum of £150 for the GPU.

I've been thinking about the 6870... But I'd like advice on both and suggestions

I'm fairly clueless and really a helping hand in the world of hardware...

My motherboard also is a Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H

I know roughly how to swap these both out I'm just terrified of pushing the wattage and such. Also a PSU replacement isn't realistic for me right now

stulid · 3 Aug 2011 at 22:38

The XFX 6870 is a stunning price at £130 pre-order.

The motherboard supports 125W CPU's, so a Phenom 955be is a good choice.

Get some new thermal paste to to re-attach the cooler.

Scoz0 · 3 Aug 2011 at 22:46

stulid said:
The XFX 6870 is a stunning price at £130 pre-order.

The motherboard supports 125W CPU's, so a Phenom 955be is a good choice.

Get some new thermal paste to to re-attach the cooler.

Thanks very much for replying!

My worry is the wattage and infact I phoned the OcUK system support and they actually had a chuckle when I mentioned trying to run it on my 500Watt PSU he said I should for something less heavy on power...

Also will any AM3 socket Quad core work? I'm really just looking for reassurance about this PSU business... Just a bit worrying for me.

Also the guy had a chuckle at running the 6870 and I wasn't particularly suprised although I've heard people running it on 500w with a quad amd.

stulid · 3 Aug 2011 at 23:02

Your board CPU support list is good - http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=3475

What PSU is it? CX500? they are good.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/his-radeon-6850-6870-review/8

Radeon HD 6870 - On your average system the card requires you to have a 500 Watt power supply unit.

Scoz0 · 3 Aug 2011 at 23:15

stulid said:
Your board CPU support list is good - http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=3475

What PSU is it? CX500? they are good.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/his-radeon-6850-6870-review/8

I can't be certain on the actual model of the PSU. But from opening my tower and looking at the top it says Corsair 500.

So you recommend the 6870 when it's released and 955 black edition?

Also one last question then, noob out. All I have running aside from the CPU and GPU is just 4gigs of RAM, DVD-RW and one single WD HDD.

So just again 500 watts is definitely enough for all of this? Sorry just really this is for reassurance. I was a bit thrown off when I phoned systems support...

stulid · 3 Aug 2011 at 23:18

500W is more than enough, you have hardly anything in the PC and Corsair are a great reputable PSU supplier.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/290

They got 277W from the wall socket playing crysis and 306watts under full stress.

A 6870 isnt a power hungry card at all.

The Guru3D result was from the wall socket too, both test systems using more powerful systems than you have.

Scoz0 · 3 Aug 2011 at 23:33

stulid said:
500W is more than enough, you have hardly anything in the PC and Corsair are a great reputable PSU supplier.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/290

They got 277W from the wall socket playing crysis and 306watts under full stress.

A 6870 isnt a power hungry card at all.

The Guru3D result was from the wall socket too, both test systems using more powerful systems than you have.

I know I said last question but here is my one last, last question and thanks very much for advising me been very useful.

I've seen the 6870 and the thing is a brick... I have a GT 430 when I fit the 6870 will it be exactly the same or will it need any cables that I should know about?

stulid · 3 Aug 2011 at 23:36

It needs two 6pin PCI-E cables plugged in from the PSU.

Scoz0 · 4 Aug 2011 at 00:18

stulid said:
It needs two 6pin PCI-E cables plugged in from the PSU.

Ah bugger just realised that my PSU won't support that which is why I think the systems support fella told me no dice.

Could you maybe recommend another card that doesnt require the PCI E?

A bit like the GT 430 just plug it in to the express slot and go.

stulid · 4 Aug 2011 at 00:19

Surely your PSU has PCI-E cables? 6pins etc 8+2pins ? its a Corsair after all.

Scoz0 · 4 Aug 2011 at 00:22

I'm not particularly sure it has any remaining. Sorry I'm a complete newbie but I don't remember seeing any running out of it that were not out of use.

stulid · 4 Aug 2011 at 00:23

Is there a cable going into the GT430 card inside the PC?

Can you take a picture and get it up?

Slowly but surely we will get there

Scoz0 · 4 Aug 2011 at 00:41

stulid said:
Is there a cable going into the GT430 card inside the PC?

Can you take a picture and get it up?

Slowly but surely we will get there

Slowly... I've had another look and I took some useless photos however.

I can say the only cable I can see is one from the fan that is plugged into another part of the card itself. Otherwise I cannot see any cables from the PSU itself, strange...

Is it maybe worth getting a slightly lesser card?

Also would it be possible to fit a GTX 460?

stulid · 4 Aug 2011 at 00:44

Get a photo up, but try and hold your arms steady as you take it to get it steady and in focus.

There must be cables from the PSU, its at the top of the case? so are they tucked up the top drive?

Does it look like this - http://www.corsair.com/power-supply-units/builder-series/builder-series-cx500.html

Scoz0 · 4 Aug 2011 at 00:49

stulid said:
Get a photo up, but try and hold your arms steady as you take it to get it steady and in focus.

There must be cables from the PSU, its at the top of the case? so are they tucked up the top drive?

Does it look like this - http://www.corsair.com/power-supply-units/builder-series/builder-series-cx500.html

Yes that's my exact PSU, unfortunately I'll have to postpone on the photos for now... Although I think I only have one PCI-E cable.

stulid · 4 Aug 2011 at 00:50

Well that PSU has two PCI-E cables and will work fine.

The cables are just tucked away in the case for neatness no doubt, its not a modular PSU so they are there somewhere.

Scoz0 · 4 Aug 2011 at 00:54

I'll take a look later today I know there's a great big wad of cables shoved under part of the case. Should I drag those out and see if can find them?

Possibly the GT 430 doesn't use them because what it looks like is that they've just been shoved under part of the case and just a couple are plugged into my HDD and DVD-RW.

stulid · 4 Aug 2011 at 01:02

its the two the arrow points too.

All these cables and connectors are permanently attached to the PSU.

Scoz0 · 4 Aug 2011 at 01:13

stulid said:
its the two the arrow points too.

All these cables and connectors are permanently attached to the PSU.

Look what I found hidden on the other side of my case... Brilliant stuff and an idea to keep it less cluttered.

Basically on the other side there is a huge mass of connectors etc and a hole where you can pop the ones you want through the other side to avoid masses of clutter.

Also I took a photo I'm guessing these two will get my 6870 running?

So when I get the 6870 I slide those through and plug them in? Of course I also pop it into the express slot.

stulid · 4 Aug 2011 at 01:19

that is it, un install the nvidia driver, turn off, remove card, fit new card, put those cables in with the 2pins dangling, start up and install the latest ATI driver for your operating system.

Or do a fresh clean install of everything.