Question 4k Graphics Card question

All the brands you've listed are reputable. I personally have used XFX, EVGA, and more so Corsair, and all are rock solid.

It depends on how much the bids end up. You can get good deals on brand new items for an affordable amount, but if your a staunch 'ebayer' you'll need to keep your eye on the ball since some of those bids look a bit higher than what I'd pay for a used PSU.
That's good - my choice shows I'm learning :) . Would you recommend one type in particular - I'm maybe leaning towards the Corsair as that seems to be one of the most popular brands. Given what i need it for, would a 600w unit be way too much?
Also and maybe a "piece of string" question, regards the psu's I'm looking at, what sort of prices should I be thinking about?
 
No 600w won't be too much.

I can't really advise you on what to spend but for anything you buy second hand I'd say you should decide how much you'd spend against a new item.
Given that you could get a brand new unit to suit your needs (up to about 550w) from a reputable manufacturer on ebuyer.com for under £35 plus shipping, I'd be hard pushed to justify spending more than that for a second hand unit.
 
A contrarian view here would be that your psu is fine. The wattage usage between your old and the new card is unlikely to push it over the edge.
 
A contrarian view here would be that your psu is fine. The wattage usage between your old and the new card is unlikely to push it over the edge.
:) Please educate - The GT1030 specs state psu minimum should be 300w...mines is only 250w?
 
Somewhere there is a spec of the actual draw from the 1030. My poor recollection is that it’s actually a fairly low figure. Maybe 60w max. Your old card was inefficient. It could well have been between 40w and 80w under load. Your thread does not imply you are a heavy user. Doesn’t sound like your PC is loaded to the gills with drives and accessories. Graphics card vendors cover themselves by overspeccing.
I think you have plenty of spare watts
It seems crazy to be upgrading an old pc with a new power supply as I think that is just wasted money. If you are worried I would look at the actual wattage the 1030 uses and add up the other wattage in your case. Your cpu is probably 100w-120w at full tilt.
 
A quick google seems to show the new card is 30w max. Probably less than what you have in there today
 
Hi and thanks for your time - That all sounds great - If it helps, I have at least 3 HDD drives and one SSD. At most I can hook up another 3 HDD's but that's really just various forms of backing up files etc. I'm also using usb slots for charging, wireless keyboard and mouse and 12 hrs a day a usb for my OBS camera CCTV monitoring which records onto a drive. Monitor wise I just have my BenQ and sometimes run the pc via HDMI to the Optoma PJ for movies etc. Does that help to add watts up?

Is there anyway I can access the pc to list the power usage of attachments for you?
 
I don’t think so. My main takeaway from this is that a 1030 card actually uses less power than what you have today. So will only improve on any issues you have today.
 
I don’t think so. My main takeaway from this is that a 1030 card actually uses less power than what you have today. So will only improve on any issues you have today.
So... how does a bigger card use less power - is it just more efficient?
Also, with all my attachments- How do i know my present psu wont be underpowered?
sorry - just trying to understand;)
 
Well Pixel. You have had some conflicting views and ultimately the choice must be your own. I would simply always err on the side of caution and beware of advice that claims you can run equipment safely over or under recommended parameters. These recommendations are there for good reason and if you ignore them do so at your peril.

However, let us have a quick tally of the PSU consumption figures quoted. (max figures)

100 for the CPU
60 for the GPU (the figure given for the Nvidia card he listed)
10 for chipset/montherboard
24 for the 2 x HDD's - a typical drive takes about 12 watts, thought typically they draw more at startup to get them spinning, but we'll ignore that.
5 for 1 SSD.

have I missed anything? probably but hey, lets be cavalier. After all its only electricity what's the worst that could happen, you have home insurance if your house burns down right?

Your at about 200 watts which means your power supply is already running at 80% under load. You are at, or close to the limit of the most efficient operating range of your PSU.

If you add anything else, like say... a USB device that draws any current your power consumption climbs and efficiency falls all that extra energy is released as heat and at 80% your PSU is already nice and warm.

For those in doubt I suggest a little reading on just how PSU's work is in order, also note how the 80% efficiency standards are achieved.

At any rate I think the information I've given through the thread is sufficient for a sensible decision. Any further information from certified sources is freely available with a little googling, and hence an informed decision can be achieved without prejudice, opinion or misinformation.
 
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...have I missed anything? probably but hey, lets be cavalier. After all its only electricity what's the worst that could happen, you have home insurance if your house burns down right?

Your at about 200 watts which means your power supply is already running at 80% under load. You are at, or close to the limit of the most efficient operating range of your PSU.

If you add anything else, like say... a USB device that draws any current your power consumption climbs and efficiency falls all that extra energy is released as heat and at 80% your PSU is already nice and warm...
The issue of PSU's is frying my head never mind the house lol
Kidding aside though - Yeah I agree that safety is paramount and as I've said before I'd rather go that bit extra just in case. The card i'm settled with - It'll be the 1030 because I've read loads on that and most say it's the one for the job - All be it several years back but I reckon I'll be paying about 50-60 for that if I'm lucky (about 75 new) as the dual HDMI/DP ones seem to be rare.
With the PSU, I'll go for a better brand most likely off Ebay at a price within my budget.

Q. Some cards say it's the OC edition.... MSI GEFORCE GT 1030 2GB GDDR5 OC EDITION SILENT LOW PROFILE PASSIVE BOXED | eBay ...what's that?
 
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The issue of PSU's is frying my head never mind the house lol
Kidding aside though - Yeah I agree that safety is paramount and as I've said before I'd rather go that bit extra just in case. The card i'm settled with - It'll be the 1030 because I've read loads on that and most say it's the one for the job - All be it several years back but I reckon I'll be paying about 50-60 for that if I'm lucky (about 75 new) as the dual HDMI/DP ones seem to be rare.
With the PSU, I'll go for a better brand most likely off Ebay at a price within my budget.

Q. Some cards say it's the OC edition.... MSI GEFORCE GT 1030 2GB GDDR5 OC EDITION SILENT LOW PROFILE PASSIVE BOXED | eBay ...what's that?
Hi, I appreciate this is an old thread but did you actually get the 1030 to work? I have the exact same PC I'm currently upgrading... I'm more concerned after reading various forums that the bios may not support it?
Thanks
Healy
 
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Hi, I appreciate this is an old thread but did you actually get the 1030 to work? I have the exact same PC I'm currently upgrading... I'm more concerned after reading various forums that the bios may not support it?
Thanks
Healy
Morning
Yeah - I bought the MSI GeForce GT 1030 2GH LP OC Passive 2GB GDDR5 Graphics Card, 384 Core, 1265MHz GPU, 1518MHz Boost $6SSFK from Scan - cost about £70

I did upgrade the PSU to 650 odds but the jury’s out as to whether that was requiyor not. Ive had no issues and can do everything i ask of it which is really just streaming HD UHD etc 👍
 

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