Will My Current PSU Work??

hondaf17

Senior member
Sep 25, 2005
763
16
81
Ok guys, I'm come to the realization that I need to upgrade my below listed PC in order to play Battlefield Bad Company 2. I'm on a serious budget and if I can re-use my current power supply it'll save me $55.

My current power supply is about 4 years old but is a quality FSP Group 500 watt as seen here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104934

This will be plenty of wattage for my new system (no Crossfire, only 1 HDD, a 5770, and a moderate tri or quad-core). BUT, does it have all the appropriate connections? That is, don't the new AM3 boards, like the one below, need an extra power connector into the mainboard?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813135241

I'd appreciate confirmation that it'd either work or not work.

TYIA,
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
10,225
126
The CPU power connector on the mobo is an 8-pin EPS12V connector. The PSU has a 4-pin ATX12V connector. The connector is backwards-compatible of a sort, you can plug in a 4-pin PSU connector into half of the 8-pin mobo connector, and it will work.

That said, the 8-pin connector carries more current, so if you were planning on overclocking the CPU at all, then you might consider upgrading your PSU to one that supplies an 8-pin CPU power connector. The cutoff of when you need to move to 8-pin is around 100W or so. So if you use a 65W CPU, you still have headroom to OC with a 4-pin PSU connector. But if the CPU is 125W, you're better off using the 8-pin.
 

hondaf17

Senior member
Sep 25, 2005
763
16
81
Thanks Larry. Sounds like I'll be OK if I don't plan to overclock and I pick up a 65-80 watt dual or tri-core.

Thank you.