Can a GTX 1650 run on a 240W PSU?

[docnorth]

This is a very important point. Given the age of this prebuilt it may not support UEFI, which would immediately rule out pretty much any GPU upgrade.

My honest suggestion would be to try to sell this machine for whatever you can get, and use the cash you get from the sale to buy a cheap AM4 system. Sandy Bridge is so old at this point that any sort of semi-new component you try to put in it will either not work, or be hamstrung in some manner. Not to mention that DDR3 is so old and so scarce that it is now more expensive than DDR4.

As someone who also grew up in a third-world country, there is almost certainly a thriving PC hardware trading community where you'll be able to both flog your prebuilt, and pick up AM4 parts for dirt cheap from those who are upgrading. Even the lowest of low-end AM4 builds (A520 board with 1500X CPU, 16GB DDR4-2133, 450W PSU, random generic case) will be massively faster than your current system, and far more upgradeable.

Usually they support UEFI, but still need BIOS update. I always had one prebuilt at the office, it was somehow mandatory. Right now there is a SFF with i3-2130 at home for the younger kids (it was an emergency buy years ago), I managed to update BIOS and put a 1030 inside. Our older son has the oldest working office PC from Q4 2011, the BIOS update is still pending (his gaming keyboard won't go into BIOS!!), hopefully I'll manage to do the job with a cheap keyboard.
And you are right about the old hardware, our 2130 is slow, even on a SSD. On the other hand the i5-2400 of my old office PC is remarkably fast for its age.

 

[Macro Device]

First of all, your machine will not outright kaboom upon installing a 1650.
Secondly, your motherboard and RAM are so obsolete you really should consider moving to something newer, low AM4 (Ryzen 1600) or entry-level LGA1200 (i3-10100) at least. This will boost your overall experience a lot.
Thirdly, if you are too poor for anything other than staying on your current platform, check AliExpress for Xeon E3-1200 series CPUs. E3-1240 must be a very reasonable option. Its power draw at max load is hovering just above 50W (real one, not marketed TDP) so you will be fine. But you must keep in mind these Xeons have no integrated GPUs, unless their name is 12x5. I.e. E3-1245 has iGPU, whereas E3-1240 has not.
And lastly, don't forget to undervolt your GTX 1650 if you buy it. It can run at around 55 W at stock or less than 5% loss performance.

NB: Xeon E3-1200 v2 series might need you to update your motherboard BIOS and v3 and newer are incompatible. Only Sandy and Ivy Bridges!

 

[Ruru]

Easily with a low-power CPU like an i3-2120. I'd upgrade the CPU though for something beefier as well.

 

[AusWolf]

Easily with a low-power CPU like an i3-2120. I'd upgrade the CPU though for something beefier as well.

Core i7-2600S (or 3770T, if supported) would be my suggestion.

 

[Ruru]

Core i7-2600S (or 3770T, if supported) would be my suggestion.

Good choices. Though 3770S is also a 65W chip so it would also be fine and has noticeable higher clocks

 

[PoolSchools]

1. Guys, on the topic of using very low end power supplies and old parts, is it ok to even attempt to use old Pentium 3 and Pentium 4 power supplies on something like a 4th gen i3 or i5 with just the iGPU? People told me its fine to connect a 20 pin ATX to a 24 Pin motherboard, leaving the extra 4 holes empty as long as I dont use a GPU. I have tons of these PSU and want to build an extra system without investing too much.

2. Also is it worth it paying 45$ extra for a 4C/8T i7 instead of a 4C/4T i5 for 10$? I remember reading somewhere that HT actually hurts performance on almost all games pre 2017 and only a few like Cyberpunk show a noticeable improvement, I also remember watching a video showing an RX 470 outperforming a GTX 1660 Super on an old i5 due to driver overhead, but on an i7, the extra threads made a lot of difference on an Nvidia card, but not on AMD.

 

[Assimilator]

1. Guys, on the topic of using very low end power supplies and old parts, is it ok to even attempt to use old Pentium 3 and Pentium 4 power supplies on something like a 4th gen i3 or i5 with just the iGPU? People told me its fine to connect a 20 pin ATX to a 24 Pin motherboard, leaving the extra 4 holes empty as long as I dont use a GPU. I have tons of these PSU and want to build an extra system without investing too much.


View attachment 304801View attachment 304805
2. Also is it worth it paying 45$ extra for a 4C/8T i7 instead of a 4C/4T i5 for 10$? I remember reading somewhere that HT actually hurts performance on almost all games pre 2017 and only a few like Cyberpunk show a noticeable improvement, I also remember watching a video showing an RX 470 outperforming a GTX 1660 Super on an old i5 due to driver overhead, but on an i7, the extra threads made a lot of difference on an Nvidia card, but not on AMD.

1. Absolutely not, those power supplies are OLD and UNRELIABLE. The best thing you can do with them is send them for recycling. Unless you like blowing up your hard-earned system?
2. Again, you are wasting money upgrading an ancient system. Sell that system and put that money towards a cheap AM4 system.

 

[wNotyarD]

1. Guys, on the topic of using very low end power supplies and old parts, is it ok to even attempt to use old Pentium 3 and Pentium 4 power supplies on something like a 4th gen i3 or i5 with just the iGPU? People told me its fine to connect a 20 pin ATX to a 24 Pin motherboard, leaving the extra 4 holes empty as long as I dont use a GPU. I have tons of these PSU and want to build an extra system without investing too much.

I wouldn't use such old PSUs irrespective of the power draw of any modern system.

 

[Ruru]

I wouldn't use such old PSUs irrespective of the power draw of any modern system.

I wouldn't even use those to possibly break my precious retro hardware.

 

[Assimilator]

I wouldn't even use those to possibly break my precious retro hardware.

Especially that rusty one! OMG UGH!

 

[PoolSchools]

Yeah just happen to have an unused LGA 1150 H81 board with a Celeron G1830, pulled from an HP OEM system, I tried 2 different working PSU's, the one from the Pentium 3 didn't even turn on the system (it also fails to power the Pentium 4 system, only works on P3), the P4 one does work fine (even with only 20 pins), but when I connect a Molex to SATA power plug the CPU fan turns on but it refuses to POST, and I wanted to know why, what changed in ATX specs, rail voltages and PSU design between 2000 and 2008 to make these incompatibilities.

 

[Assimilator]

Yeah just happen to have an unused LGA 1150 H81 board with a Celeron G1830, pulled from an HP OEM system, I tried 2 different working PSU's, the one from the Pentium 3 didn't even turn on the system (it also fails to power the Pentium 4 system, only works on P3), the P4 one does work fine (even with only 20 pins), but when I connect a Molex to SATA power plug the CPU fan turns on but it refuses to POST, and I wanted to know why, what changed in ATX specs, rail voltages and PSU design between 2000 and 2008 to make these incompatibilities.

PSUs contain capacitors. Capacitors, especially electrolytic ones, fail with time. Older PSUs are more likely to contain electrolytic capacitors. Thus the older the PSU, the more likely its capacitors, and therefore it, will fail. And those PSUs are really, really old.

Put them in the damn bin where they belong.