Selling my PC or upgrading parts?

The GT 710 at 720p and the GT 1030 have basically the same power draw—around 30W. It should work without any issues... maybe look into a GT 1030 OC version if you can

The G4400 pulls a maximum of 60W, and even if the motherboard and everything else soak up another 50W, you’ve still got plenty of headroom before hitting 180W

The GT 710 isn't really any stronger than integrated graphics (though the DDR5 version might give you a tiny bump), and I don't think you can even find a GT 720 around here lately. I guess you only see a real jump in performance once you move up to the GT 1030.

crimsonstag84 said:The GT 710 isn't really any stronger than integrated graphics (though the DDR5 version might give you a tiny bump), and I don't think you can even find a GT 720 around here lately. I guess you only see a real jump in performance once you move up to the GT 1030.

Well, you aren't wrong about the 710. It isn't stronger. But that's specifically because I'm running on single channel RAM. From what I've gathered online, single channel memory drastically throttles whatever potential the Intel HD graphics actually have.

Single channel operates in 64-bit memory mode, whereas dual channel runs at 128-bit. The difference is massive—it's practically double the bandwidth.

Grab one of these

https://www.amazon.com/electrical-outlet-tester/b?node=16310111

Plug it into your PC and see exactly how much power you're pulling while a game is actually running... if you're sitting around 90W, you could probably swing a beefier card that pulls about 75W, like a GTX 1050 or a GTX 1050 Ti, or maybe an RX 560...$100 which is way more powerful than a GT 1030

http://hwbench.com/vgas/geforce-gt-1...-radeon-rx-560

http://hwbench.com/vgas/geforce-gtx-...-radeon-rx-560

Bryan Taylor6 said:Grab one of these

https://www.amazon.com/electrical-outlet-tester/b?node=16310111

Plug it into your PC and see exactly how much power you're pulling while a game is actually running... if you're sitting around 90W, you could probably swing a beefier card that pulls about 75W, like a GTX 1050 or a GTX 1050 Ti, or maybe an RX 560...$100 which is way more powerful than a GT 1030

http://hwbench.com/vgas/geforce-gt-1...-radeon-rx-560

http://hwbench.com/vgas/geforce-gtx-...-radeon-rx-560

What's the point of wasting money on some multimeter just to tell him how much power the setup pulls from the outlet? It won't say a damn thing about what the PSU is actually delivering on the 12V rail.

75W is cutting it pretty close. Theoretically, it works if the PSU is high quality, but a GT 1030 is basically a safe bet. I wouldn't overthink it.

I was just reviewing the specs again—thank goodness I remembered! It says the pci-e 2.0x16 slot is capped at 40W max, and I already ordered the GT 1030🙂. Those 75W models simply won't work here.

Where on earth do you even find such inaccurate information in the age of the internet? 😬

Every pci-e x16 slot delivers 75w

Kimberly Gomez34 said:Where on earth do you even find such inaccurate information in the age of the internet? 😬

Every pci-e x16 slot delivers 75w

On the Lenovo website, they state that—likely because of the PSU design—but it explicitly says what I just said: a maximum of 40W! I am well aware that a slot can provide up to 75W without needing a 6 or 8-pin connector, but that is simply what they wrote.👍

Anyway, the power supply puts out about 12V at 14A, if that even means anything! At least that is what is printed on it.

These OEMs all have their own proprietary standards, weird socket configurations, and custom specs—you never know what you're actually going to get. At the end of the day, a standard should actually be a standard. Unless, of course, they decide to change the rules mid-game.

When you run the math, you’re looking at roughly 168W on the +12V rail. That’s plenty of headroom if you're pairing an efficient CPU and GPU combo, like a Pentium Gold or an i3 paired with something like a GTX 1050 Ti.