Watt usage help
Watt usage help
I have this Victus HP 15l desktop and it’s functioning well. However, there’s an issue—it has a 350W PSU. I’m curious about how to monitor its power consumption to understand my limits. I was considering upgrading to a Crucial 16GB kit with two 8GB drives and then adding an RTX 3050 or RTX A2000. I think the RTX 3050 would be better since it’s cheaper.
Are you asking about monitoring the total power consumption of your entire PC at any time? You can achieve this using a Kill-O-Watt device. If not, you'll have to rely on an educated estimate.
Both video cards seem to be fairly low in power consumption, around 130 watts or less.
Does your PC come with an Intel i5-12400 CPU?
The remaining components—motherboard, RAM, drives, monitor—likely consume no more than 100 watts.
You might be approaching the maximum capacity of your power supply, but I’d rather focus on its reliability than its wattage.
Yes. The power supply quality is good. I don't know much else except it's around 350W. It could be good, bad, or average.
Pre-built PCs such as HP models aren't designed for updates. A 350w PSU lacks the required 8-pin aux power for a 3050 card. The included GTX1650 performs within its capabilities. Upgrading the PSU could be challenging. The motherboard details indicate customization, making it hard to predict limitations. It's wise to research whether a standard ATX PSU can fit the case and support the motherboard.
So wait, my PSU has fewer than 8 connector pins and the RTX 3050 requires 8 pins, so I should check if a regular PSU (not from HP) fits there? If that’s what I need to do, I found a video upgrading the 15L using a 500W PSU from HP—does a higher wattage PSU from HP have more pins? Also, is an ATX PSU better connected or faster compared to the one I have?
The motherboard specifies its dimensions as Customized: 29.09 x 20.3 cm (11.45 x 7.99 in). What should I focus on when researching it? How much room does the case occupy? I'm still getting the basics of tech and unsure what to look into.
I dug deeper and discovered details like:
- One PCI Express Gen 3.0 x16 slot
- One PCI Express Gen 3.0 x1 slot
A friend who knows a bit about technology mentioned these are the slots for RAM and graphics, which might be helpful.
I believe the size of a typical ATX motherboard is:
12 inches by 9.6 inches (305 mm x 244 mm)
This is quite different from the HP board, which is part of their customization options.
Using non-standard, proprietary components is a key reason to avoid pre-built PCs. You never know the extent of customization you might encounter or how to work around it.
The HP case might support an industry standard ATX power supply... or not. Even if it does, the cables from the standard PSU could differ from the motherboard's proprietary connection points. The HP PSU itself might have unusual dimensions beyond its quality or power rating.
You could spend an hour searching for information online, or you could waste 50 hours trying without much progress. Eventually, you might decide to switch to industry standard parts or accept what you have. That’s not a very good outcome.
Thanks, I believe it's best not to upgrade it because I heard it was a fairly good computer. A friend also mentioned it's really suitable for someone just starting with PCs. What I plan to do is improve the RAM and use this machine while saving money to eventually sell it and possibly buy another one that isn't prebuilt.