Amd Phenom II 940 bottle neck.

[Zypher20]

I need to upgrade up gpu. Using a gtx260 atm and was thinking of getting a r9 280x.

However I am unlikely to be able to upgrade the rest of my system untill next year. How much of a bottleneck will I suffer from having a 940 cpu?

Also pretty sure the pcie on mb is 2.0 not 3.0

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What are the specifications of your system including PSU,case and motherboard??

[Zypher20]

Cpu: Amd Phenom II 940
Case: Antec 300
Psu: unbranded 800w
Mb: asus M3N78 Pro
4gb ram pc1066

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

You would need a new PSU too. What graphics card do you have ATM??

What is your total budget??

[Zypher20]

I have a GTX260. Why would I need a new PSU, the R9 280 only needs a 600w psu so a 800W one, even unbranded which wont nessicarily give 800W (but it might) should still have plenty of headroom in it for the card.

At the moment I don't have a budget for replacing the computer, hence why that would need to wait to next year and just replacing the graphics card in the meantime.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would still replace it though,as it is bad enough many of them can cause problems new,let alone after a few years,when the capacitors are starting to wear out,since only the cheapest ones are usually used. Plus the other aspect is that people have actually ended up having lower performance with cheapo PSUs since they cannot really provide enough stable power due to very poor ripple(protection mechanisms on the motherboard can kick in),and in many cases you can get "silent" damage,ie,the poor ripple ends up causing progressive damage to parts. I have had too many instances of having to rebuild friends systems due to the cheap PSU eventually giving out,since most of the unbranded PSUs tend to lack basic protections too.

Plus the most important aspect of the PSU is the amps on the 12V line and the ripple on the 12V line. Wattage ratings are not really important.

My HX520W lasted me for nearly 7 years fine,and I only replaced it since I wanted a more compact PSU. An XFX PRO 550W costs around £45 to £50,comes with a 5 year warranty and will run an overclocked Core i5 and a R9 280X fine.

Any half decent 500W PSU would be fine and the PSU is the most important aspect of any build and one of the longest lived. It is the only part that can destroy the rest of your computer in one go if it fails.

[scaryjim]

Why would I need a new PSU

Psu: unbranded 800w

You already answered your own question. It won't take long to search the forum here and find many threads featuring lots of advice against cheap unbranded PSUs. There's a reason they're cheaper than reputable branded PSUs.

Quite apart from poor ripple and noise, regulation, efficiency, and longevity, a cheap PSU is also more likely to take out your expensive components when it blows up. For the sake of £20 to £30, you're far better off investing in a decent 500W PSU than "saving" money buying a cheap 800W unit. After all, if someone offered you a car with an "unbranded" 2l turbo engine for less than half the cost of a branded 1.2l engine, you'd probably start smelling lemon. So why take that risk with your PC?

[Zypher20]

But then you could buy a skoda for 12 grand. A seat for 13 grand a volkswagen for 15 grand or a audi for 17 grand and they all have the same engine.

Unbranded can be bad but so can any components yeah unbranded probably has a higher change of failure must most electricals will fail due to faults early in their life.

None of this however answers the question or how bottleneck ed thw gpu will be by the cpu.

[HalloweenJack]

im sorry to say but your analogy is very misguided.


ofc you can say all 800w psu`s can be the same , but for expensive ` branded` ones , the rated power output not the `balls to the wall` maximum , which for unbranded usually it is. My own Hyper type R is rated at 770w , yet its blow rating is over 900w.

Also there`s quality of the internals , cheaper psu`s , naturally use the cheapest parts they can get away with , with little headroom for voltage spikes or drops. and IMO the weight of a psu is a telling factor , if a baby can carry it , do you trust it for powering your expensive pc?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

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http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/low-co...iew-32182.html
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11...vs_reg_reader/

You do realise people like HP and Lenovo,use reasonable quality PSUs made by the like of Seasonic,Delta and FSP?? They don't tend to use very large PSUs(in regards wattage and amperage) which is the main problem,and that it is telling since they are huge companies which sell many units each year still use such companies,and if they could get away with a £5 PSU they would.All of the industrial units I have had a look at,use decent OEMs and decent enough quality components. All of the workstations I have used,have decent quality PSUs.

Nobody is going to look at those units,so there is no marketing angle,so its somewhat telling that the parts are not that crap.

The unbranded units tend to be based on ancient designs,use rubbish parts and more important lack any decent protections. If you want to run a £240 graphics card on a £10 PSU,then that is your call,but ultimately any tech forum worth its weight,would not recommend you do so,once the members know what PSU you have.

Many of us talk from experience of doing dozens of builds ourselves and having to troubleshoot people PC problems. You get what you pay for and skimping on your PSU is the not a great thing to do,especially when you are already spending hundreds on a computer and especially with highish end parts,which do consume a decent amount of power.

With regards to the CPU,it depends on the games,especially with Mantle being released. The CPU would bottleneck the graphics card,but it will be a noticeable upgrade in a number of games and in other games the CPU will hold you back,but I am making the assumption with a decent enough PSU powering the parts.