Author Topic: Power supply for a gaming computer  (Read 2611 times)

DM Tarokka

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Power supply for a gaming computer
« on: January 17, 2019, 06:18:52 AM »
I'm going to buy a new computer and I've found an offer for something which, more or less, seems to be the match between my budget and what I expect.

The specs are these (they're in Italian, but I assume you all can understand what the things are for):

Marca   HP - HP Pc
serie   Pavilion 595-p0002nl
colore   Argento Naturale
Peso articolo   5,15 Kg
Dimensioni prodotto   33,8 x 17 x 27,7 cm
Numero modello articolo   Pavilion 595-p0002nl
Fattore di forma   Desktop PC
Marchio processore   Intel
Tipo processore   Core i7
Velocità processore   3.2 GHz
Numero processori   6
Dimensioni RAM   8 GB
Tipologia di memoria computer   DDR4 SDRAM
Dimensioni Hard-Disk   1000 GB
Descrizione Hard-Disk   HDD
Coprocessore grafico   Nvidia
Descrizione scheda grafica   NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
Tipo memoria scheda grafica   DDR5 SDRAM
Dimensioni memoria scheda grafica   4096
Interfaccia scheda grafica   PCI
Tipo di connettività   802_11_ABGNAC
Tipo wireless   802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Numero di porte USB 2.0   4
Numero di porte USB 3.0   5
Numero di porte HDMI   1
Wattaggio   180 watt
Tipologia di periferica ottica   DVD-writer
Sistema operativo   Windows 10 Home

What really concerns me is about the power supply, because, as far as I know when you play games (and I don't play only NWN) a lot of power is being used by the machine, so I was wondering whether that 180watt power supply can be a serious issue for it. Consider also that I'm completely useless with hardware and I'm not going to change the power supply by myself nor spending further money to have it done by someone else, thus if it can be a long-termed issue I will just wait for some other offer, for now the computer I'm using is behaving quite fine. I've tried to read as much as I could on the internet (including the reviews of others buyers of that one) and I've not clarified the doubt between these two options which I've found most times: a) one needs to change the power supply anyway; b) if HP sold the computer made like this it must necessarily work to support a 4GB GPU.

Any help, suggestion or explanation is very welcomed.
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Nemesis 24

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Re: Power supply for a gaming computer
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2019, 06:36:55 AM »
I understand being useless at hardware, but personally, I would not buy that PC.  Its specs for a start are significantly lower than they look.  You will also be paying for parts of the computer that are, frankly, useless.  The power supply is either going to be inefficient or barely the minimums - mass manufactured PC's are made to eventually fail at the cheapest possible cost, seldom to be long term investments.  Though the processor on that is likely good, the hard disk size and graphics most certainly are not, and the power supply seems woefully underpowered.

DM Tarokka

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Re: Power supply for a gaming computer
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2019, 06:55:16 AM »
I've actually had a good experience in my time with manufactured PCs and the duration of them has been even five years which for my standards is good. Its specs are anyway better than the one I'm using now which runs still quite good. My concern is really just the PSU.
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Destinysdesire

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Re: Power supply for a gaming computer
« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2019, 06:58:13 AM »
While I cant translate well, my biggest advice is to update the Ram to a 16GB at least.

Iridni Ren

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Re: Power supply for a gaming computer
« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2019, 11:38:24 AM »
Not a hardware expert, but I tried three different sites that have forms for entering specs and suggesting a power supply. They all recommended much more power than that for a computer with those specs.

Also, users report needing more power for similar HP models and finding it difficult to upgrade:


https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Upgrade-power-supply-PSU-on-595-p0084/td-p/6830226

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RestingLichFace

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Re: Power supply for a gaming computer
« Reply #5 on: January 17, 2019, 11:58:34 AM »
That looks like an exceptionally weak power supply which would likely end up blowing relatively soon trying to play today's modern game.  I'm no expert but happen to know a thing or two and my advice is, when concerning a power supply, I wouldn't use anything less than 400w and that would be my low end.  I ended up switch out my old one for a 600w and it's way more juice than needed but def on the safe side.  Good luck!

Jeebs

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Re: Power supply for a gaming computer
« Reply #6 on: January 17, 2019, 01:08:25 PM »
Yeah, 180W seems woefully under-powered. Most of the prefab computers I've bought in the past came with 300W or 350W power supplies and I found those to be under-powered. That being said, if your funds are limited you can always buy this rig and buy another power supply. Swapping them out isn't really all that hard, though if you're not confident you can always ask a friend who's a bit more familiar with this stuff to do it for you (if possible).

DM Nocturne

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Re: Power supply for a gaming computer
« Reply #7 on: January 17, 2019, 01:13:03 PM »
That looks like an exceptionally weak power supply which would likely end up blowing relatively soon trying to play today's modern game.  I'm no expert but happen to know a thing or two and my advice is, when concerning a power supply, I wouldn't use anything less than 400w and that would be my low end.  I ended up switch out my old one for a 600w and it's way more juice than needed but def on the safe side.  Good luck!

Agree with kissofsilver here. It won't 'blow' so to speak but it will just fail to power all your components and your machine either won't turn on, or will but will shut itself down frequently. With a 1050TI, Nividia recommends a minimum 300W PSU.

With what I can determine on your list, I'd go for a 600W reliable (i.e. trusted brand) power supply to be on the safe side.

The hardware is by no means the latest so you won't play games on max settings, but that's fine if you don't intend to.
« Last Edit: January 17, 2019, 01:14:36 PM by DM Nocturne »

zDark Shadowz

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Re: Power supply for a gaming computer
« Reply #8 on: January 17, 2019, 01:21:05 PM »
It'll only use as many watts as you need to power your computer so it's better to have a higher watt power supply that's not using its full capacity, than a lower one that may cap out.

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Re: Power supply for a gaming computer
« Reply #9 on: January 17, 2019, 01:22:49 PM »
The only real "problem" there is definitely the power supply.  I wouldn't settle for anything less than 600w.  Other then that you're looking at a machine that will most likely play most games on low-medium settings fairly well, imo.

You might also want to consider the current size of  games you play, though.  1000GB HDD is going to fill up pretty quick if you play a lot of recent games that came out last year.  It might also be worth noting that RAM prices seem to be dropping lately, so if you're not strapped for cash, upgrading to at least 16gb of RAM will do you good.  Just make sure your motherboard supports it.




Iyer

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Re: Power supply for a gaming computer
« Reply #10 on: January 18, 2019, 12:06:59 PM »
I bought a pavilion a few years back. It has half the specs your perspective rig has and it still functions and runs nwn smoothly. I've never had issue with it and don't regret it. I've long since replaced it, but it's still functioning good. The only issue to watch out for is the hinges that open and close the screen. They're kinda flimsy. Pavilion might not be the to of the line, but it's good for the price and customizable

haifisch021

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Re: Power supply for a gaming computer
« Reply #11 on: January 19, 2019, 10:03:01 AM »
I bought a pavilion a few years back. It has half the specs your perspective rig has and it still functions and runs nwn smoothly. I've never had issue with it and don't regret it. I've long since replaced it, but it's still functioning good. The only issue to watch out for is the hinges that open and close the screen. They're kinda flimsy. Pavilion might not be the to of the line, but it's good for the price and customizable

He's looking for something that can play modern titles as well.
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DM Tarokka

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Re: Power supply for a gaming computer
« Reply #12 on: February 06, 2019, 10:51:05 AM »
Got another one, thank you for the feedback!

Acer
serie   Aspire GX-781
colore   Nero
Peso articolo   1,4 Kg
Dimensioni prodotto   46,3 x 17,6 x 39,6 cm
Numero modello articolo   DG.B8CET.012
Fattore di forma   Desktop PC
Risoluzione schermo   nessun display
Max. risoluzione schermo   nessun display
Marchio processore   Intel
Tipo processore   Core i7
Velocità processore   3.6 GHz
Numero processori   4
Dimensioni RAM   16 GB
Tecnologia di memoria   DDR4
Tipologia di memoria computer   DDR4 SDRAM
Memoria massima supportata   32 GB
Dimensioni Hard-Disk   1000 GB
Descrizione Hard-Disk   HDD
Interfaccia Hard-Disk   Serial ATA
Coprocessore grafico   Nvidia
Descrizione scheda grafica   GTX 1060
Tipo memoria scheda grafica   DDR5 SDRAM
Dimensioni memoria scheda grafica   3072
Interfaccia scheda grafica   PCI-E
Tipo di connettività   802_11_AC
Tipo wireless   802.11.ac
Numero di porte USB 2.0   4
Numero di porte USB 3.0   3
Wattaggio   500 watt
Tipologia di periferica ottica   DVD-Writer
Sistema operativo   Windows 10 Home
« Last Edit: February 07, 2019, 12:56:44 AM by DM Tarokka »
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BonkemBerin

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Re: Power supply for a gaming computer
« Reply #13 on: February 08, 2019, 11:31:36 AM »
I know I'm late to the party, but you did a great job for avoiding the first one. 1050 Ti is terrible price for performance, 1060 is about as good as it gets and will do 1080p gaming very well. 500 Watts is enough for even some of the most powerful graphics cards in case anyone was wondering. It's just one of those things that is typically overestimated for!