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Is 300w too low power for these specs?

Specs:

  • Nvidia GTX 750TI Thunderbolt OC (100W)
  • Intel Core i5 2400
  • 8GB RAM DDR3 bus 1333
  • SSD 120GB
  • Xigmatek PSU 300W

I think this PSU is too low power for this specs and it will make harm for my GPU.

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  • I don't think that a PSU with not enough power will harm your GPU. The PC will just turnoff in case of too high power demands (which will be annoying, but won't do damage).
    – zx485
    Commented Feb 13 at 18:02
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    Depends on the quality of the power supply. I've had a more powerful PC work for years with only a 325W power supply. If it's the cheapest PSU you can find I'd give it anywhere from a fairly large margin for error and be assuming that it can only supply 150W when rated at 300W.
    – Mokubai ♦
    Commented Feb 13 at 19:25

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According to Newegg's PC Power Supply Calculator, at least a 388 watt power supply is required... Most PC builders include a 25%-50% overhead for future expansion and headroom of the power so as not to "stress" the power supply. A 500-600 watt power supply would recommended for this application, perhaps larger if you need to incorporate other disk drives or optical drives.

That said, it should not harm anything but it will likely shutdown when power requirements are exceeded. If something went wrong though, it is possible that equipment could be harmed if the power supply would try to supply too much current, which could potentially burn out the power supply. If that occurred, it is possible that other equipment like the motherboard, CPU, or GPU could be damaged from the faulty power supply.

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    Another point to keep in mind with PSU sizing is that there is no real upper limit to the "right" size of PSU for a given system. Using a smaller percentage of the available wattage from a quality PSU will result in better quality power, less strain and wear on the PSU components, better system stability, and, importantly, NOT an increased power drain. A 1500W PSU will only draw the watts required by the system, not all 1500W.
    – music2myear
    Commented Feb 13 at 18:13
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    @music2myear It should perhaps be taken into account that the maximum efficiency of a ATX PSU is usually at about 50% of maximum rated load, so a 1500 W PSU may well use more power ($) than a 500 W PSU for a 250 W load. And it'll be heavier, larger, and cost more.
    – Andrew Morton
    Commented Feb 13 at 19:38
  • "equipment could be harmed if the power supply would try to supply too much current" - You have it backwards. Study Ohm's Law. A PSU only provides the amount of current that the load asks for. That's why it's also called current draw or current demand (by the circuit load). There's no such thing as a "current forced into the circuit". There would already be somekind of an equipment failure prior to cause a PSU to deliver more current and possibly blow fuses. A "burn out" PSU is likely just blown fuses.
    – sawdust
    Commented Feb 14 at 6:13
  • @sawdust I understand completely... I wasn't implying it was "pushing" current, because that obviously isn't the case... Thank you for clarifying as I can see what I said could be seen as unclear.
    – acejavelin
    Commented Feb 15 at 20:59

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