HD 5570 with a 150 watt psu?

[happy medium]

My only other option is to go with a 5450 and use the Hybrid Crossfire.

Thats your best option or you must upgrade the psu.

edit: I just read a review on the new 6570 and the 6570 only uses 44 watts load and has 480 shaders. Just make sure you get the ddr3 memory with the 6570. Your playing at low res anyway.

I think you can squeeze that in your system for better performance.

review here.

http://alienbabeltech.com/main/gtx-520/all/1

edit 2: total system draw with a 2500k @ 4.0

 

[tweakboy]

I smell trouble. Time for a PSU my friend.

 

[fuzzymath10]

This is a more expensive option, but could you replace your board with Intel? I think AMDs perform decently for the price, but they seem to suck more power than Core i CPUs with similar performance.

You could get a T series dual core with a TDP of 35w. I suspect even a standard i3 2100 would be fine, especially since you can reduce the voltage. As an added bonus, it will probably be faster than your AMD processor so you could benefit as much as possible from having a 5570.

 

[wahdangun]

go for hd 6450 or 6570 ddr3,

if i was you, i will underclock my cpu to 2 ghz.

 

[bart1975]

It seems that the cpu uses 30watt per core. Which would be faster Disable the 3rd core and run it at 3.2 ghz with a 6450 or leave all 3 cores active and get a 5450?

 

[happy medium]

I'd run the cpu at stock frequency all cores enabled and under volt it as much as possible.
I would grab a 6570 ddr3 and run it stock also, I think you will be fine.

 

[aphelion02]

Why are you so against replacing your PSU? It is the easier, cheaper option and would give you more performance and headroom in the future.

 

[bart1975]

I am unable to find a psu larger than 150 watt that will fit in this mini itx case. The psu inside the case is near the front of the case with a special connector that leads to the back of the case. I am fine with disabling one of the cores to free up 30 watts needed for a 6450.

 

[Termie]

I am unable to find a psu larger than 150 watt that will fit in this mini itx case. The psu inside the case is near the front of the case with a special connector that leads to the back of the case. I am fine with disabling one of the cores to free up 30 watts needed for a 6450.

The HD6450 card uses a maximum of 28w, or about double that of a 5450: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_6450/20.html. It is 66% faster than a 5450, and a relatively good tradeoff in regard to power/performance. While slightly overpriced right now, it's a good fit for your system, and if you need something now, this is your best bet.

A 6570 uses about 20w more, which wouldn't be a big deal if you weren't so PSU-limited. But in your case, that 20w more could put you over the edge, and I wouldn't chance it. The 5570 might work, as it uses only 10w more than the 6450: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4263/amds-radeon-hd-6450-uvd3-meets-htpc/9. It's another 66% faster than the 6450, and thus another big jump in performance.

This really comes down to what you want to play. In modern games, you'll be giving up a lot going down to dual core. My guess is that it just wouldn't be worth it, especially considering the loss of the third core for other applications. I'd stick with triple-core, undervolted and maybe underclocked, over a dual-core. I don't think you'll save a full 30w by disabling a core. I think this means go with the 6450.

I'd still recommend picking up a Kill-a-Watt from Newegg - it will tell you right away whether you're exceeding the rated power of your PSU, and then you can either exchange the card or disable a core as necessary: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-001-_-Product. Was $17, now it's $20. No reason to play guessing games with your PSU. Remember it's probably 80% efficient max (maybe closer to 75% since it's so small). If it's pulling 175w or lower from the wall, you're probably safe. That would translate to about 130-140w from the PSU.

 

[bart1975]

I am ordering a Kill-a-Watt today. The games I am wanting to play are modern games. The highest resolution I am able to use is 1280x720 on my monitor.

 

[Termie]

I am ordering a Kill-a-Watt today. The games I am wanting to play are modern games. The highest resolution I am able to use is 1280x720 on my monitor.

Great - if you can measure the load power draw of your current system, you'll know how much headroom you have for a video card.

 

[toyota]

I do not believe the Kill-a-Watt is very accurate.

 

[Termie]

I do not believe the Kill-a-Watt is very accurate.

It's certainly good enough to give him a ballpark figure for how much power his computer is drawing.

 

[fffblackmage]

I have a cheapy rig with:
Athlon II X2 240 (stock)
HD4550 (25W TDP)
MSI nVidia 6150SE-chipset mobo
2x1GB DDR2-666
7200rpm 1TB HDD
400W FSP Blue Storm II

I don't remember the exact number, but I got a max of ~125W or so on my Kill-A-Watt meter.

A 6450 will be very doable. Its max TDP is only 27W, but I'm not sure if it's good enough for modern games at 720p. I'd look into the 6570/6670 (~60W TDP) for gaming, but you'd probably be maxing out the PSU.

 

[toyota]

It's certainly good enough to give him a ballpark figure for how much power his computer is drawing.

well considering he has such a small range to work with it, a ballpark figure isn't very good. in his case, being off by 10-20 watts can mean the difference between okay and poof.

 

[Termie]

well considering he has such a small range to work with it, a ballpark figure isn't very good. in his case, being off by 10-20 watts can mean the difference between okay and poof.

Based on my testing and comparing to results in professional reviews, I'd say it's more accurate than that. He probably should give himself a 20-watt cusion, however, just to be safe, and ideally to avoid actually hitting 150w.

 

[toyota]

Based on my testing and comparing to results in professional reviews, I'd say it's more accurate than that. He probably should give himself a 20-watt cusion, however, just to be safe, and ideally to avoid actually hitting 150w.

yeah but he doesn't actually want to hit 150 watts at all though. that psu probably only provides about 125-135 watts at best on the 12v line and you don't even want to push that more than 90%. in other words there is no way I would use a 150 watt psu with a system that needs more than 110-120 watts. his current system with a 5570 could easily pull that or more.

 

[bart1975]

I think I am going to go with the 6450. The 6450 will more than double the performance of the current 4250 possibly even triple my performance.. I have about a month until I get the card. The only question now is which would be faster. 2 cores at 3.2 ghz or 3 cores at 2.4 ghz.

 

[toyota]

I think I am going to go with the 6450. The 6450 will more than double the performance of the current 4250 possibly even triple my performance.. I have about a month until I get the card. The only question now is which would be faster. 2 cores at 3.2 ghz or 3 cores at 2.4 ghz.

that will vary from game to game.

 

[bart1975]

I will test various clock speed and core configurations at the lowest voltage possible for each with my current setup later tonight.

 

[bart1975]

I decided not to risk it and I ordered a SG05.

 

[Termie]

I decided not to risk it and I ordered a SG05.

That's probably the case I'll use to build my first mini-ITX system. Did you go with the 300w or 450w PSU? Either way, you'll definitely be able to get a 5570 to work, but since you have more power (and room), you should consider some of the significantly faster cards that only cost a bit more, such as the 5670 or even the 5770, which can now be had at steep discounts.

 

[bart1975]

I went with the 300 watt psu. 300 watts is more than enough.