How bad is GameMax RPG 700W Rampage PSU 80 Plus Bronze?

SkyTerran · 29 Sep 2024 at 22:31

I'd usually buy something like a Seasonic Gold PSU for any new PC. But today I'm helping my brother's kid upgrade his gaming PC - which is a prebuilt that has a GameMax RPG 700W Rampage PSU 80 Plus Bronze. The PC hasn't been used much at all, so the PSU is practically new. I'm wondering if it's really worth changing it. The PC spec is Radeon RX 6600 XT + i7 12700K @ no overclock.

Also the prebuilt had a Gigabyte H610M S2H V2 DDR4 motherboard, which has no radiators on the VRM. It used to run fine with an i3-12100, but I wonder how it's going to work with an i7-12700K. Is it going to just limit the amount of power the CPU gets when the VRM elements heat up to their limit? The CPU has a Noctua tower cooler, so not much air flow over the VRM.

SkyTerran · 30 Sep 2024 at 13:41

Not what i wanted to hear, but thank you very much for the information.

SkyTerran · 30 Sep 2024 at 15:02

I though of heatsinks, but I'm afraid over time the glue may give up and they can go flying and short something. Some motherboard without radiators on the VRMs still have holes for attaching radiators, but not this one.

I have a spare sealed EVGA 600 W1, 80+ WHITE 600W PSU, but it's probably no better than the Gamemax (bought it for 23 quid some time ago).

SkyTerran · 2 Oct 2024 at 06:03

Thank you very much for your help chaps

I grabbed a Seasonic PSU and an AsRock B660M Pro RS motherboard (later saw the Hardware Unboxed review of budget B600 boards, according to which this one has a very poor VRM, but oh well).

The PC actually has very good cable management, but there are a million very tight zip ties. What instrument do people use to remove those? Scissors do not fit in and using a knife is a little bit dangerous.