Upgrading GPU

LandonRicketts

Bought a prebuilt Lenovo Desktop during covid as my laptop went bust and needed something quick and there was a lack of supply Bought a Lenovo T5 tower The specs are:

Ryzen 5 3600

16GB DDR4 RAM

RTX 2060

PSU 550W

500GB Samsung M.2 Drive

Currently paying on a 1080p monitor and quite content with that for the next while. Would it be worth it to upgrade the GPU to a 4060. Could go to a 4070 but would be afraid that PSU might have to be upgraded too.

K.O.Kiki

4060 honestly isn't a big enough jump (+38%) to spend the money.

But 4070 is over twice as fast as the 2060, has double the VRAM yet only uses 35W more (165W → 200W). That upgrade is worth it.

LandonRicketts

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122850665#Comment_122850665

Thanks for the reply. Would I be ok regarding PSU wise so if I was to get a 4070?

minitrue

200W cpu + 65W cpu so 550W is fine unless you can really overclock the snot out of everything and have loads of extra high power draw extras in there. The thing to check is that you have the power connections you need from the psu as the 2060 is probably using 1 8 pin and the 4070 will want 2.

K.O.Kiki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122856171#Comment_122856171

Most RTX 4070 models only need 1x 8-pin PCIe, except for some over-priced models which need 1x 16-pin 12VHPWR (and those would have adapters)

minitrue

I didn't spend very long trying to work out just how many 4070 models went with the 16pin (which probably should have 2 8 pins fed into it's adapter here) but you're right that I should have said it might want 2 rather than will want 2. Point remains that checking what connectors the PSU has and what a card wants should be done before ordering.

I didn't spend long at it cause they all really don't like to make it as obvious as it should be! I'd also expect the 550W PSU should have 2 8 pins but you just really never know what you might find in a pre-built!

FTR the cheapest 4070 I see on Amazon Germany right now just uses one 8 pin but the second cheapest is a 12 pin and the cheapest 4070 super is a 12 pin though both those 12 pin are Asus ;) But it's not jut Asus who use them, second cheapest super is a Zotac which uses them but I'd guess the supers are more likely to despite only going from 200W to 220W which is still inside the envelope for a single 8 pin (150W + 75W from the slot).

extra-ordinary_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122857027#Comment_122857027

https://pcpartpicker.com/

…will tell you all you need to know.

K.O.Kiki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122857027#Comment_122857027

RTX 4070: Mostly uses 1x 8-pin PCIe

RTX 4070 Super, 4070 Ti, 4070 Ti Super: All use 1x 16-pin 12VHPWR

LandonRicketts

The 4070 model I was looking at in particular was 8-pin. Just opened up the PC there and the 2060 seems to be connected with a mounting bracket. Would I need one for the 4070?

K.O.Kiki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122858321#Comment_122858321

Those (plastic?) brackets are only added to prevent damage in shipping, you don't need them.

The metal PCI bracket is strong enough.

LandonRicketts

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122858375#Comment_122858375

Ah perfect. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Appreciate the help🙂

LandonRicketts

PXL_20241120_145359819.RAW-01.COVER~2.jpg

Just before I pull the trigger on the card. I just took a picture of the PSU. Would that be okay to handle the 4070?

K.O.Kiki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122861957#Comment_122861957

Honestly, I would replace that too. Black Friday deals start tomorrow, good time to pick up a quality unit 550W+ (Corsair RM, be quiet Pure Power 12, Thermaltake ToughPower GF, Fractal Design Ion Gold, FSP Hydro G)

Luna84

That's a cheap Chinese PSU get a brand name for piece of mind. As above Black Friday is here so you can pick up parts at discounted prices.