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Hardware damage because PSU isn't powerful enough?

D

DyslexicHobo

Senior member
Hi all,

I just purchased a GTX 280 and realized I only have a 500W PSU. Here are the other components in my PC:

5 hard drives (4 SATA 1 IDE)
1 DVD burner
2x 80mm fan
Zalman CNPS 9700 CPU heatsink (~80mm fan)
PCI sound card
4 GB RAM (2x2gb)
Intel C2D e6400 CPU

Is there any chance of damaging my computer if I try to install the GTX 280 and boot it up?

From the PSU calculators out there (and using an estimated ~270W peak power from my GPU) I'm going to peak my power at around 470W. I realize that my PSU will definitely not be able to crank out 480W, but I'd like to at least try. I've got an 85% efficiency PSU so I'm pretty close to fulfilling the power requirements.

To sum it up... Will using a PSU that doesn't meet my PC's power requirements cause any hardware damage?
 
You may cook the PSU, but more likely parts will just start shutting off under load.

Be warned that if a PSU goes, it can take other things with it. A surge to the motherboard, or that pretty new GTX 280...

Newegg has a deal on an Antec Earthwatts 650 PSU for $65 using coupon code EMCYSYR56.
 
Just what happens when a PSU fails depends a lot on what over current protection it has.

That's what you get when you buy a quality PSU.
 
You did not mention a graphics card. Some of the new ones can really put a load on the PSU.
 
What you are asking is quite difficult to prove. I had 2 PSUs from OCZ that failed within 2 months of each other after ~4 or 5 years. These 2 computers were on mostly 24X7. To get those systems back up, the mother boards (different) needed to be replaced. This was a little over a year ago.

Your question is like the chicken & the egg. What caused what to fail? I suspect that it was the PSU & it over volted in some odd way. I am an EE and have worked some what in the details of electronics as this for a long time. BUT, because I have ... also tells me that there is doubt. When I was pissing & moaning about this at the time the general opinion agreed with me that it was the PSUs. But that is only opinion! Never the less, *educated* opinion goes with PSUs are more likely to fail than mother boards.

But m/bs have more components so statistically ought to be more likely to fail!

Does this tell you anything? I hope not, but I still suspect the PSUs!:\
 
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