Power Consumption Changes and Closing Thoughts
Obviously one concern when upgrading any off the shelf OEM PC is how much of a liability the included power supply is. As we mentioned earlier in the article, the PSUs on these three systems ranged from 250 watts to 350 watts, which is rather small for modern desktops. Also an issue for potential GPU upgrades, none of these computers had available 6-pin PCIE power connections required for many mainstream GPUs. In fact, one of the systems (the Gateway surprisingly) didn't even have a spare 4-pin Molex connection!
The GTX 750 Ti, with a TDP of just 60 watts and not requiring an external power connection is a perfect fit.
Even under a full gaming load, none of the three OEM PCs came close to hitting a safe level of power usage with the installed power supplies. We saw increases of 60 watts, 67 watts and 48 watts respectively in the three computer which is within the expected results. Keeping in mind that some cards that only require a single 6-pin power connections can use as much as 150 watts (adding another 90-100 watts of load on these units) and its easy to see how some upgrade scenarios would spell bad news for users.
A Upgrade Story Worth Sharing
In what started as just a fun 1-day experiment I actually feel that I learned a lot about the circumstances that a lot of PC users find themselves in every day. It's easy to get jaded in this business, constantly looking at 300 watt, $600 video cards on a daily basis and forgetting that most of your readers, and most of the PC gaming community, is working with a lot less.
The performance advantages of installed the GeForce GTX 750 Ti discrete graphics card aren't subtle and won't require someone with an eye for gaming graphics to notice. Going from frame rates of 16 FPS in Skyrim at 1920×1080 on the Low preset up to 126 FPS – that's a margin that each and every person that sits down at the machine will be able to feel.
Gateway DX4885 | ASUS M11BB | Lenovo H520 | |
---|---|---|---|
Bioshock Infinite | 6.2x | 8.2x | 10.2x |
Crysis 3 | 5.2x | 7.5x | 9.5x |
GRID 2 | 5.1x | 5x | 4.8x |
Metro: Last Light | 5.4x | 5.1x | 6.5x |
Skyrim | 8.3x | 8.3x | 7.9x |
Power Increase | 60.9 watts | 67.9 watts | 48 watts |
Look at these numbers! Usually when we compare graphics performance between different GPUs we are talking in the 5-10% range as being a big deal. Take a look at our review of the GeForce GTX 750 Ti and how it compares to the Radeon R7 260X and you'll see that pattern of logic repeated over and over. In our article today we saw increases as high as 10.2x - an order of magnitude increase in the average frame rate!! Bioshock Infinite on the Lenovo H520 went from a completely unplayable mess to an ultra-smooth 1920x1080 title with plenty of room for image quality increases.
Click to Enlarge
Click to Enlarge
And that is another part of the story worth mentioning: even if you have acceptable frame rates in games like StarCraft II or Diablo III with your integrated graphics, installing a card like the GTX 750 Ti will allow you to increase image quality and enable features like anti-aliasing that would otherwise not be possible. The images above comparing Skyrim in Low and Ultra presets demonstrate how that difference can affect your game play experiences.
As of today you can find the GeForce GTX 750 Ti cards on Amazon.com for around the $150 MSRP (and on Newegg.com as well). For gamers and potential PC gamers that are sitting there with an OEM desktop computer this kind of investment can make a huge different in how you experience PC gaming. Considering the price of the three system we used in our project today, the $150 GTX 750 Ti is a substantial investment - 26% on the Gateway, 34% on the ASUS and 44% on the Lenovo - but with that simple upgrade you can take each from the doldrums of Peggle to the excitement of Titanfall.
Do you guys think this card
Do you guys think this card would be safe in my E31 Thinkstation with 280w psu? This lenovo machine is very proprietary when it comes to upgrading the psu :/.
This article prompted me to
This article prompted me to try installing an EVGA GTX 750 TI SC in my July 2015 vintage Dell Inspiron 3847, which has a 300W PSU.
I found that on demanding games (e.g. Rocket League) the PSU was inadequate–PC would shut down upon game launch or I would get errors that would prevent a game from starting. A call to EVGA support indicated the PSU was likely at fault. They suggested downloading and installing PrecisionX and underclocking the video card substantially to see if that helped. (Underclocking reduces the power draw on the PSU.) It did–could then play all the games.
I think the issue is that the stock PSU can only supply 18 amps total on the +12V rails, whereas the card calls for a minimum of 20 amps.
Lesson: one needs to worry not just about the total wattage that the PSU can deliver but also the amps available on the +12V rail(s).
Am now awaiting a new, beefier Seasonic PSU.
Heh, i have the same PC
Heh, i have the same PC (namely , i don’t know about your specs but i know that i have 300W PSU possibly the same as you do).
Your mistake was that the EVGA 750ti Superclocked needs 400w 20Amp PSU according to games debate.That’s why you needed downgrading possibly.
Go get the Seasonic and you’ll be fine.
I’ll get myself an ASUS GTX 750 PHOC 2GB (not ti), because i believe i’m not into experiments to get the Ti (the TIs in the store mostly needed 400w even without 6pin… ).
Since i don’t play very demanding games it’ll be fine, i guess.
I could keep my ASUS Gt 730DDR5, which seems to be a great card for OEM PCs (played easily DA:I at med-high with some adjustments, Playing Warthunder at Med-high also and tried Dark Souls 2 at med-high as well),
but i felt that med-high should get in to “flat” high graphic options…+ it will get me a couple of years till i actually get into overhaul.
I have the Asus m11bb and Im
I have the Asus m11bb and Im very new to pc gaming and want to get this upgrade but I dont know how to install it. Also I dont know if this is still viable since it was made early 2014.
I have a AMD a8 apu, the
I have a AMD a8 apu, the computer is the HP Pavilion 500-214
Could I use a gtx 750 ti sc with this computer?
The AMD Radeon 7570 1GB GDDR5
The AMD Radeon 7570 1GB GDDR5 (OEM) that shipped with my XPS 8700, which also requires no external power, has now settled in it’s 3rd home, a HP dc5800 SFF w/240W PSU.
To put that in perspective, the XPS 8700 shipped with a 460W 80% Bronze PSU, so if that little GPU can run in these little office PC’s (of now which I’ve purchased another from eBay), which is 60W TDP can run in these PC’s, then the 750 Ti can run in low powered ones also.
Now there’s another option, the nVidia GTX 950, which also is a power sipper, and has a lot more GPU power than the 750 Ti.
All one needs to do is remove (or disconnect) what’s not needed, and installing a SSD saves power also, the power will be there to run a modest GPU.
Cat
By purchasing another, I
By purchasing another, I meant the card, not the HP dc5800 SFF, to install in a more powerful Optiplex 780 small desktop PC (not the mid tower & not the SFF). Runs a Core 2 Quad Q9650 & 16GB RAM, and the Radeon 7570 (1GB GDDR5) Rocks!
Don’t buy these that comes from Petragon, or whatever major refurbisher of these components. Used is best, many are new pulls.
Cat
Has anyone used the GTX 750
Has anyone used the GTX 750 TI or GTX TI SC in the Dell 620 Inspiron?