G20CB in 2023

[MrLiechtenstein]

Hey there. ^^

I recently got back to desktop gaming after 15 years on gaming laptops. So I can feel the rust and questions in the back of my head even after reading a good amount of posts in here.

Basically my setup runs with:
I5 - 6400
8 Gb ram dual channel,
2 tb storage, (1tb SSD)
GTX 950
and the 230W power brick.
(I just ordered the 180W recently. )

Really awesome machine. Runs Crysis pretty well on Medium. ^^

Anyways. I have read a lot of subjects regarding the various upgrades to this machine. And they have all been really friggin exciting to read. All the crazy upgrades you have been able to make is truly inspiring.

I've seen that some of you have gotten the 330W Dell power brick and replaced the 230W, and that it should work for the CB model, and the AJ was locked to only receive 230W? How has the your experience been so far?

And I have noticed that the socket of the Lga1151, and that there are quite a few good Intel chips that are supporting this. But if I'd keep the TDP in the 65W ish range, are there any processors you'd recommend over others?

And lastly, I've read that the blower style GPUs are best for this case. Yet some of you are able to make the standard cards fit. How about the fans? Aren't they in the way ?
Regarding that I've thought about getting an 1080, Ti/non-Ti blower or a low-profile card of some sort, if space allows it.
I have seen people in here add RTX2080 which sounds a bit frightening, as it sounds like they require a huge amount of power. ^^; My respect to you. ^^

So yeah. Old fart here asking some potentially dumb questions. ^^; And for that, my apologies. Some of it may be self-explanatory, and I've been all over Youtube for the great upgrade videos, but as things change, I just want to make sure I don't break it and some of you, may have some really valuable experiences that the videos haven't covered.


Thanks in advance to all of you for any tips and on. ^^

[xeromist]

I'm not a G20 owner but I believe one of the reasons people prefer blowers is that they actively push air out of the case. So even if a low profile card will fit it will be releasing heat into the case and you have to rely on other exhaust fans to get rid of it.

[MrLiechtenstein]

I'm not a G20 owner but I believe one of the reasons people prefer blowers is that they actively push air out of the case. So even if a low profile card will fit it will be releasing heat into the case and you have to rely on other exhaust fans to get rid of it.

That is also what get from all the videos. Yet some people seem to cram in all kinds of crazy cards and it works. Dunno how, but it's pretty dang cool. ^^ My main concern is mainly the 330W power brick. If it's worth it and the pc can utilize the extra power. Would be so awesome. ^^

[Murph_9000]

That is also what get from all the videos. Yet some people seem to cram in all kinds of crazy cards and it works. Dunno how, but it's pretty dang cool. ^^ My main concern is mainly the 330W power brick. If it's worth it and the pc can utilize the extra power. Would be so awesome. ^^

I'd be careful with "it works" there. I don't have hands on experience with the G20 series, but it's clear from pictures that the case does not have anything like the airflow of a classic mid/full tower case, and there's not a lot of spare space in there. The thermal design model of today's non-blower typical gaming cards is that they will be dumping their heat into a fairly big volume of air inside the case, and that air is going to be continuously replaced via airflow.

It may initially work, but sustained heavy use of a non-blower GPU in there is going to cook both the GPU and pretty much everything else. The best case is that things will just give thermally limited performance after a few minutes of heat buildup, but it's also inviting premature failure from components running abnormally hot. It does depend what you're doing with it, so something like a HTPC that's mostly just doing media playback might be ok due to not putting the GPU under sustained load.

[MrLiechtenstein]

I'd be careful with "it works" there. I don't have hands on experience with the G20 series, but it's clear from pictures that the case does not have anything like the airflow of a classic mid/full tower case, and there's not a lot of spare space in there. The thermal design model of today's non-blower typical gaming cards is that they will be dumping their heat into a fairly big volume of air inside the case, and that air is going to be continuously replaced via airflow.

It may initially work, but sustained heavy use of a non-blower GPU in there is going to cook both the GPU and pretty much everything else. The best case is that things will just give thermally limited performance after a few minutes of heat buildup, but it's also inviting premature failure from components running abnormally hot. It does depend what you're doing with it, so something like a HTPC that's mostly just doing media playback might be ok due to not putting the GPU under sustained load.

So true. Also I wouldn't risk it myself. But I'd assume they've modded the case as well. That is also why I may be a bit strict on mine, and only go with blower style cards. You have a very valid point regarding the limited performance. I would be tempted to believe that it may be possible to add some extra fans with some serious modding. I don't think I'll go that route though. ^^;

[xeromist]

it may be possible to add some extra fans with some serious modding. I don't think I'll go that route though. ^^;

If you strap a window fan to the side, take pictures.

[Dung Hwangbo]

I've seen that some of you have gotten the 330W Dell power brick and replaced the 230W, and that it should work for the CB model, and the AJ was locked to only receive 230W? How has the your experience been so far?

You don't need the 330W psu if you want to add a GTX 1080/RTX 2060 to the machine, you only need it if you want to go for RTX 2080/3070, or any gpu with high power consumption.

And I have noticed that the socket of the Lga1151, and that there are quite a few good Intel chips that are supporting this. But if I'd keep the TDP in the 65W ish range, are there any processors you'd recommend over others?

You can upgrade to i7 6700, which has a TDP of 65W, or i7 6700k, which has 200MHz more frequency than the non-k and a TDP of 91W but cannot be overclocked in the G20. If you want to use 7th gen CPUs you need to follow this post: https://winraid.level1techs.com/t/pa...h-gen-i7/32585 but personally I think it's not worth the trouble.

And lastly, I've read that the blower style GPUs are best for this case. Yet some of you are able to make the standard cards fit. How about the fans? Aren't they in the way ?

Blower style GPUs are absolutely recommended, otherwise you can go for a watercooled graphics card paired with an external radiator as an alternative.

[MrLiechtenstein]

You don't need the 330W psu if you want to add a GTX 1080/RTX 2060 to the machine, you only need it if you want to go for RTX 2080/3070, or any gpu with high power consumption.

You can upgrade to i7 6700, which has a TDP of 65W, or i7 6700k, which has 200MHz more frequency than the non-k and a TDP of 91W but cannot be overclocked in the G20. If you want to use 7th gen CPUs you need to follow this post: https://winraid.level1techs.com/t/pa...h-gen-i7/32585 but personally I think it's not worth the trouble.

Blower style GPUs are absolutely recommended, otherwise you can go for a watercooled graphics card paired with an external radiator as an alternative.

Awesome. Thanks. ^^ I will definitely get that CPU. ^^ I may give the 7th gen a look, but honestly, I'll be more on some lighter games anywas, with some occansional VR on my quest 2, so I do believe that the i7 6700 will be perfect.

The GPU thing. Do you think a 1080TI will be okay? Otherwise I will gladly stick to the regular 1080. ^^
The watercooling sounds kinda risky for someone who is so out of touch with the PC building/upgrading path, as I am. ^^; But it does sound like it would be a fun idea. ^^

[Dung Hwangbo]

I may give the 7th gen a look, but honestly, I'll be more on some lighter games anywas, with some occansional VR on my quest 2, so I do believe that the i7 6700 will be perfect.

Indeed, the procedure for the 7th gen CPUs is too complicated, and as I said before, It's not worth making the RGB lights and the onboard HDMI unfunctional to gain a very little amount of power. Afterall, the difference between 6th and 7th gen intel processors is minimal, so you don't gain much more performance from an i7 7700 anyway. 8th gen is another story.

The GPU thing. Do you think a 1080TI will be okay? Otherwise I will gladly stick to the regular 1080.

I'm not an expert, but I think the 1080Ti might exceed the 230W limit, as it has a TDP of 250W. A modern equivalent, like the 2070 Super, which is just as powerful and more efficient, could be a better choice.

[MrLiechtenstein]

Indeed, the procedure for the 7th gen CPUs is too complicated, and as I said before, It's not worth making the RGB lights and the onboard HDMI unfunctional to gain a very little amount of power. Afterall, the difference between 6th and 7th gen intel processors is minimal, so you don't gain much more performance from an i7 7700 anyway. 8th gen is another story.

I'm not an expert, but I think the 1080Ti might exceed the 230W limit, as it has a TDP of 250W. A modern equivalent, like the 2070 Super, which is just as powerful and more efficient, could be a better choice.

Dude. That is a very good point. ^^ I thank you for your help. Just a quick question. I just saw that the rtx 3050 has a tdp of 130 and a there should be a blower style version. Do you know if it's any good?