Graphics Card Power Supply

[Slinkiroth]

Hey. I'm wanting to purchase a new graphics card and the one I've had recommended to me is the ATI RADEON X1900 GTS. After looking into it some, I've discovered that it requires an additional power supply or something? I've never come across this before with my other cards. I don't like the sound of messing around with the power supply much. Could someone fill me in? Thanks

 

[FarFarAway]

What power supply you have at the moment? Those are pretty power hungry cards and will require plugging in a PCI-e power dongle

 

[Slinkiroth]

I'm not sure how to find out... should it say on the inside?

 

[FarFarAway]

There should be a label on the power supply in your PC

What spec is your machine at the moment?

Download and run CPU-Z

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

 

[Slinkiroth]

Processor: Intel Pentium D 805 2666 MHz

Mobo: NEC COMPUTERS INTERNATIONAL GA-8TRC410M-NF

RAM: 1GB

I'll go check the power supply now for you. Thanks.

 

[Slinkiroth]

This is pretty much all I found inside:

Model No: FSP250-60GEN

AC Input: 100-240v

DC output: +3.3v

Hopes that makes sence.

 

[equk]

FSP 250w?

http://img98.imageshack.us/my.php?image=nzasialacz7vj.jpg

 

[Slinkiroth]

Umm... maybe. I know nothing of hardware really. Thats exactly what it said though.

 

[NickS]

Should be OK if you don't do any overclocking.

 

[equk]

yer as in the image I posted

Total output continuos shall not exceed 250watts

I have a core2duo + X1900xt running on a Tagan 480w PSU.

Not sure how much that setup would take, but I would've thought you'd probably need a PSU higher than 250w.

You might get away with a 250w, not sure if it's worth the risk tho

System Type: Single Processor

Motherboard: Regular - Desktop

CPU: Intel Pentium D 805 2666 MHz

CPU Utilization (TDP): 85% TDP

RAM: 2 Sticks DDR2 SDRAM

Video Card: ATI Radeon X1900 GT

Video Type: Single Card

IDE HDD 7200 rpm: 1 HDD

DVD-RW/DVD+RW Drive: 1 Drive

Sound Blaster - All Models: Yes

Keyboard and mouse: Yes

System Load: 100 %

Recommended Wattage: 292 Watts

 

[FarFarAway]

Agreed with equk - I don't think an OEM 250w would be enough to support an X1900

 

[NickS]

That online PSU thing overrates SO BAD. He'll be fine. My C2D Rig w/X1900GT @ 3.5GHz barely draws 300w from the outlet.

 

[Slinkiroth]

Oh man thats annoying... I may have to look into another card for now then... Thanks for the help guys!

 

[FarFarAway]

Aye but a 250w PSU @ 80% efficiency (which it won't get to btw) will be nowhere near enough to power that system and a decent GPU

Or if it does your likely to see it faltering somewhat with random BSOD's etc

 

[equk]

It's better to be safe than sorry tbh.

Better than buying the card and getting loads of BSOD's, instability or even worse

Altho it might be ok.

 

[Slinkiroth]

Hmm... Well it looks like i should think about getting a new Power Supply then. Could you recommend one? Also are they easy enough to install? Thanks

 

[FarFarAway]

Yep we've reviewed loads.

For a system like that something like this?

Solid power, cheap

 

[Slinkiroth]

Oh, I should mention I'll also be upgrading to 2GB RAM. Should that still be okay? Thanks.

 

[JN]

That online PSU thing overrates SO BAD. He'll be fine. My C2D Rig w/X1900GT @ 3.5GHz barely draws 300w from the outlet.

The problem is, if you're running a PSU at close to it's rated output 24/7 and it's not decent quality then you're asking for trouble.

 

[FarFarAway]

Oh, I should mention I'll also be upgrading to 2GB RAM. Should that still be okay? Thanks.

Yep that PSU should cope with 2gb RAM and a new GPU no problems