Is 500W enough?

Associate
Joined
28 Feb 2009
Posts
589
Hi all,

"Is 500W enough for a PSU in a gaming PC?"

To clarify the main components:
Intel i7 6700k @ 4GHz (stock, watercooled)
16 GB (2x8) memory
GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB)
2x Samsung SSDs (256GB and 1TB)
BluRay drive/dvdrw (ASUS)
500W PSU

Used for mainly moderate gaming (in 1080p, if that matters), games played in high quality/resolution where possible/bearable.

In years gone by, I used to be more "into" building PCs and would at the time shove the largest PSU I could find, even though I probably had no real use for a 1200W beast. My current PC is a few years old and was custom built for me by a friend who is (or was, at the time) more up to date with PC hardware than I am.

From looking at performance monitors my GPU seems to be the bottleneck in terms of overall performance and I am thinking of investing in a newer 1440p monitor. In order to still have enjoyable games to my preference, I'm thinking about upgrading the graphics card to around the RTX2060 (or equiv) range.

Hence the question around PSU.

I have attached a mains current/voltage/watt tester to the socket in which the PC AC cable is plugged into, and playing a series of games over a period of an hour (graphics pushed to high/high-max, GPU dancing between 95%-100%) I notice that the maximum power drawn by the whole PC box was 248W.

Does this give me enough "room" to upgrade just the graphics card or would I ideally need to upgrade the PSU, and if so, to what?
 
Associate
Joined
3 Feb 2012
Posts
2,267
Location
Bath
Without working it out, and going from existing experience, it's fine for what you have now.

If I wanted to slot a 2080Ti in, I'd probably be wanting 750-800W for a bit of headroom.
Also, new PSU with a top-end GPU is a no brainer.
Why risk a 1k GPU for the sake of a ton on a new, freshly-warrantied PSU?

That's my take anyway...

Edit: A 2060 should be fine, if, as mentioned, it's a good quality 500W PSU, not some unbranded junk.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
26 May 2012
Posts
16,460
Just found the original receipt for my PC, the PSU is: Cooler Master 500 Watts B500 B2 Gaming Power Supply, 80+
The b500 V2 is really a 450w PSU...
And an entry level one at that...but it should be okay to run a stock 6700k and a 2060
6700k = 100w
2060 = 200w
Other components = 40w

Max power draw = 340w
 
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