Graphics card and PSU help please

[markieboy]

Hi everyone, long time lurker, first time poster looking for some help.

I'm looking to replace my old graphics card with either the AMD R9 270 or the AMD R9 270x but I'm not sure if either of these cards will run with my existing Corsair cx600 PSU.

I've contacted a couple of retailers with this question, but unfortunately I've received conflicting advice (overclockers UK said that I should upgrade the PSU, while Scan said my current PSU was good enough)

Any help anyone could give on this problem would be greatly appreciated

[dfour]

Hello and welcome to the Hexus forums

I would have thought it would have been fine. How old is it and how many pcie power plugs does it have??

With regards to the graphics cards I would buy the 270 non-x because from what I looked at the X version is just an overclocked 270 non-x. Just overclock it and save yourself the money.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What are the specifications of your current PC?? What PSU and CPU do you have??

[slinger]

You will be fine with that psu, I have the 750w modular version and its running my 280x absolutely fine.
My card draws 250w max from what I've read and according to Toms Hardware the maximum draw of a 270x when gaming was 124w (12w when idle).
Also the 270 only requires 2 x 6 pin connectors, where as the 280x requires 2 x 8 pin.

[markieboy]

Thanks for the help guys

My machines about 3 years old and I haven't felt the need to upgrade anything on it until I checked out the minimum specs for BF4 and COD Ghosts.

My current set up is:

Intel Core i7 950
6gb Corsair Ram
Cx600 Corsair PSU
500gb HD
ATI Radeon HD 5570

I was thinking of upgrading a few things next year anyway, but the specs for Ghosts and BF4 brought the need for a new GPU forward by a few months (as usual the timing could have been better). Just glad I should be OK with my existing PSU.

[markieboy]

*Edit*

Sorry, forgot to mention a couple of things in my computer Specs. my full computer specs are:

Intel core i7 950

Asus p6x58d-e motherboard

6GB Corsair ram

500 GB Hard drive

Soundblaster Soundcard

ATI Radeon HD 5570 GPU

Corsair CX600 PSU

Corsair H50 Hydro series CPu cooler.

[YoloSwag]

Get the 270X, just a small price difference and you'll be sure you don't void the warranty by overclocking the 270 just to reach 270X level of performance, your 600W PSU can handle it, specially if you have native 2x2+6-pin connectors - it's some form of assurance from PSUs. DON'T FORGET TO CHECK IF YOU HAVE A GOOD PSU, one with at least bronze certification would be sweet. Don't go cheapo on PSUs, trust me, I learned my mistakes.

[pastymuncher]

Depending on which version of the CX600 you have it could have as little as 480w or 552w on the 12v rail. Providing you haven't got a heavily clocked FX8000 series cpu even the lower wattage version should be fine. At the end of the day the CX series are little more than a budget psu with cheap internals but i suppose they serve a purpose.

[markieboy]

Thanks for the replies and answers guys, very much appreciated.

I've decided to keep my existing power supply and go for the R9 270x

Once again, many thanks for the help

[markieboy]

Get the 270X, just a small price difference and you'll be sure you don't void the warranty by overclocking the 270 just to reach 270X level of performance, your 600W PSU can handle it, specially if you have native 2x2+6-pin connectors - it's some form of assurance from PSUs. DON'T FORGET TO CHECK IF YOU HAVE A GOOD PSU, one with at least bronze certification would be sweet. Don't go cheapo on PSUs, trust me, I learned my mistakes.

Just checked the Corsair website and found out that my CX600 psu has a bronze certificate and 2x2+6 pin connectors. It might be cheap, but it seems to be a quality PSU

[YoloSwag]

That's nice to know, at least you won't need those power adaptors for the peripherals cable Corsair is a good brand from what I've been reading in other reviews and forums, I've never read somewhere that one died. I don't have it myself though since it's more expensive from where I am. And that PSU isn't cheap either where I come from. Some notable brands are Be Quiet! (It's a Euro brand), FSP (less expensive but these guys actually make PSUs for other Big-Name brands), Seasonic and some others I forgot to mention.

Good for you! Congratulations on getting a new GPU. Happy 1080p

[YoloSwag]

Yeah. I've rarely heard of one dying before. So I think you're quite good with what you have at the moment. By the way, good PSUs are getting cheaper by the moment, I've found a PSU with Gold Certification for efficiency for just around $100.

Congratulations on going for the R9 270X. By the way, XFX might be the only manufacturer to bundle Battlefield 4 with the 270X so be sure to check it out.

Happy 1080p gaming

[markieboy]

Decided to go for the Sapphire Radeon R9 270X Boost OC 2048MB card in the end and got Battlefield 4 bundled in with it.

Well happy with the card

[YoloSwag]

Decided to go for the Sapphire Radeon R9 270X Boost OC 2048MB card in the end and got Battlefield 4 bundled in with it.

Well happy with the card

That's a pretty sweet deal. There are other games too in the AMD website, you might be eligible for those as well. But I don't know how it works since both AMD and Nvidia don't offer it in my country, I have to rely on AIB partners for the free games

[dfour]

thats a nice card. See you on the battlefield