Power supplies and video cards

[hyrum]

I was planning on picking up this card this wekeend http://www.bfgtech.com/bfgegtx260mc896ocbe.aspx (http://www.bfgtech.com/CMDocs/...=208-GTX260OCMC55.pdf). it claims it needs a 525w power supply.

I HAD a 600W one in to power my current one (Radeon 2600 HD) but it failed (the ps).

So I replaced the 600W with a 440W one and it has been running fine so far.

Do I NEED to get a 525W to power the new video card? If s, any suggestions from this site? http://www.canadacomputers.com...wProdList&cmd=pl&id=PS Would prefer to keep it 100 and under if possible since I'm picking up the card for 200.

 

[Rhoxed]

what brand 440W?

i would recommend higher than 440W if it is not top of the line.

 

[betasub]

Do you NEED the recomended?

Of course not - it's only "recommended", not "required". Mainly to cater for over-rated, under-delivering, no-name power supplies, or over-loaded systems with other power-hogging components.

 

[TemjinGold]

440 isn't a standard size I'm aware of so it's most likely not a good brand. On that site, I would recommend the Seasonic 500W in Clearance with that budget.

 

[dreddfunk]

I can't say that I'm an expert, but I'll repeat what I've found here and elsewhere: take a careful look at the rating of your 12v 'rail' (or rails) on the PSU. I've got an Antec TPII which is rated at 430W, but has two 12v rails, each delivering 17 Amps. At times you can combine the total of multiple rails (in this case giving my PSU a theoretical maximum of 34 Amps), but some PSUs will have an overall limit (like the PSU has "3 12v rails, each delivering 20 Amps, but the combined use on the 12v rails can't exceed 50 Amps"; in this case, just adding together the ratings of the 3 12v rails would cause you problems, since they would appear to deliver 60 Amps, not 50).

The GTX260 you referenced requires 38 Amps on the 12v rails. You'll need to take a careful look at the combined capacity of your PSU's 12v rails to see if you can safely run the card.

 

[AzN]

I'm using a 450watt continuous power 500watt peak power supply with 12v rail of 30amps with my GTX260 and it runs fine long as I don't keep the voltage up on my CPU with a TDP of 65watts to say 1.5volts as that will eat whole lot more wattage than running it default voltage. Now if I was running a quad core I probably need to upgrade my power supply.

I pretty much have a full system all connected to my power supply.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 1860MHz @ 3360MHz
Asus P5B
4096 MB of Gskill DDR2-800 @ 960mhz
MSI GTX 260 OCv4 729/1512/1242 Nvidia GT200
Western Digital SE16 640.0 GB @ 7200 RPMS
Samsung SP2504C SATA300 250gb 7200RPM
BenQ 16x DVDRW
Dlink PCI wireless card
PCI usb card
1 exhaust scythe 120mm 1600rpm variable fan @ 900rpm
BenQ Slim Keyboard
Microsoft Intellimouse Optical
Saitek Cyborg EVO joystick
Xbox S controller USB adapter

You might want to use a quality power supply however.

Big names like

Antec
Corsair
BFG
FSP
Silverstone
etc

I use a FSP power supply I bought in on sale for $17.

 

[AzN]

Originally posted by: dreddfunk
I can't say that I'm an expert, but I'll repeat what I've found here and elsewhere: take a careful look at the rating of your 12v 'rail' (or rails) on the PSU. I've got an Antec TPII which is rated at 430W, but has two 12v rails, each delivering 17 Amps. At times you can combine the total of multiple rails (in this case giving my PSU a theoretical maximum of 34 Amps), but some PSUs will have an overall limit (like the PSU has "3 12v rails, each delivering 20 Amps, but the combined use on the 12v rails can't exceed 50 Amps"; in this case, just adding together the ratings of the 3 12v rails would cause you problems, since they would appear to deliver 60 Amps, not 50).

The GTX260 you referenced requires 38 Amps on the 12v rails. You'll need to take a careful look at the combined capacity of your PSU's 12v rails to see if you can safely run the card.

Very good explanation and I agree with that...

However video card manufacturers tend to over budget the power supply requirement. When you actually test the wattage it takes to power up a system is much less than 38A of 12 v rail.

 

[hyrum]

Hmm, maybe I should grab a new power supply then. Am currently using a Thermaltake ( http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/ ) this particular one ( http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/...ct.aspx?C=1247&ID=1541 ). So I guess I should get a new one.

I was looking at one of these two possibly:

Antec 650w http://www.canadacomputers.com...&pid=011025&cid=PS.532
Corsair 650w http://www.canadacomputers.com...&pid=015708&cid=PS.532

 

[happy medium]

Whats the rest of your system look like,and will you be overclocking?
Any reason you use that site?

 

[Termie]

The Thermaltake 430watt power supply you linked is a fine entry-level model (I've used them in low-end builds), but with only 18amps on the 12v rail, it is not intended to power high-end graphics cards. I would be VERY surprised if it would allow you to boot a computer with a GTX260, let alone play games on it. Best to go with that Corsair 650w that you linked, which is an excellent power supply. It is more than capable of handling any single graphics card on the market today.

 

[happy medium]

The antec 650 is 25$ cheaper no reason to get the Corsair.

Antec 650 is a little overkill but good if you want some future proofing.

 

[hyrum]

Originally posted by: happy medium
Whats the rest of your system look like,and will you be overclocking?
Any reason you use that site?

This is my computer but with a Soundblaster Live card, a graphics card, and a power supply installed. And I have 3GB of ram in it.

HP Computer 1654n

I don't overclock and just run the system as is, nothing special.

 

[Termie]

With your processor (e6300), you'll be very CPU-limited in games. And even if you wanted to, you probably can't overclock that HP due to a locked bios.

Might I suggest you go for a lower-end graphics card that is better balanced with your system? No reason to put a $100 power supply and $160-$180 video card into a computer at that level of performance. Frankly, I'm not even sure a GTX260 would fit in your case.

Your power supply would definitely be able to handle an ATI 4670, which is about 1/3 the price of the graphics card you're looking at and more in line with your system. It will be much faster than your HD2600 series card. You might even be able to run a 4770, which would be a huge upgrade for your computer.

 

[happy medium]

Just need to know a few more details...
<What resolution (and size) is your monitor and what games do you play or want to play?

<Your cpu e6300 @ 1.8 Ghz is real weak for a gtx 260 if your not playing at 1920x1080 with tons of aa and af. which I don't think you do since you have a 2600pro.

You may not need a gtx260 if you game at 1650x1050 or less.
Therefore you might also save money on your psu purchase.

If your only gaming @ 1280x1024 or 1650x1050 (19 or 21 inch monitor) ,you might get away with a 9800gt. Still 3x faster then a 2600pro, and you would not need a psu upgrade.

New Energy efficient 9800gt for 115.00$ 30% less energy use. Newegg Canada prices.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/P...x?Item=N82E16814133279

Save the other $185.00 for a complete Quad core cpu (they will be cheaper) ,40nm gpu (they will be cheaper, cooler, and use less power), psu upgrade when all the new low power cards come out in a few months.

EDIT:
Termie is right> (I was writing this and looking at video cards at newegg Canada when he posted).

A 4770 may be ok, but I couldn't find one in Canada?

 

[OCGuy]

Good GPU and PSU combination there. I would go for it :thumbsup:

 

[Termie]

Originally posted by: happy medium

EDIT:
Termie is right> (I was writing this and looking at video cards at newegg Canada when he posted).

A 4770 may be ok, but I couldn't find one in Canada?

And I in turn agree with happy medium - a 9800gt would likely work fine with your system, and is much easier to find and sometimes cheaper than a 4770.

 

[hyrum]

Happy Mediums post stuck out to me as I WOULD like to make a new computer before the end of 2009 for myself (and give this current one to my son). Therefore, I went out and picked up a 4670 to tide me over as per Termies suggestion. I don't play anything that really pushes the envelope graphics wise so that should be just fine for what I'm doing until I look over the site and posts here for a guide on parts.

As for that site (question was asked above), it's a local computer shop I frequent that tends to have decent stock

 

[Termie]

Glad to be of help. I think the 4670 is a very good match for your system. When you decide to build up a computer from scratch, you'll find plenty of advice on these forums.

 

[scorer]

please help, intel dell vostro400 dual core 2 duo E6550 @2.33 ghz 2gigs memory 256 mb gforce vid card with the stock 300 watt power supply..should i get a more powerfull psu..if so which one without costing alot