will my psu take it?

[SpaceMonkeyDave]

i got a pc the other day that has the following

a 3.5ghz intel celeron D
1 gig of ram
2 ATA hdd's
1 burner
1 sd card + usb + random **** reader

and the like

however it has a pci-e slot so i was thinking of getting a geforce 7600gt (an xfx xxx edition if i can)

however the PSU is only 350W, would the psu be able to cope with this new GPU?
i have read reviews and they say that the 7600gt dosent even need external power supply for that fan but i am still a little worried if it overloads the psu like



the main reason i am getting a GPU is to try and prepare my computer (kind of) for some new pc games (c&c3 and with alot of hope crysis)


anyway cheers guys

[Varsh]

The PSU will blow, you'll need at least a 450W minimum, keep in mind that it's 0.10W per GB, 30W per optical drive, 1GB DDR would be around 70-80W, the CPU is about 80W, you can already see that it'll blow. Remember that PSUs are generally 75-85% efficient depending on the brand and how well it's made, so check the PSU label and box before buying.

So a 450W PSU will run at about 360W peak if 80% efficient.

[ankit]

um yeah, id like to post a querry about my psu. heres my config:

3.0 ghz pentium 4 prescott
120gb sata hdd
111gb ide hdd
xfx geforce 7600gt
2gb ddr ram

and i have a 450W psu, is it enough for my config?

sorry for jacking the post spacemonkeydave

[Appolyons]

i got a pc the other day that has the following

a 3.5ghz intel celeron D
1 gig of ram
2 ATA hdd's
1 burner
1 sd card + usb + random **** reader

and the like

however it has a pci-e slot so i was thinking of getting a geforce 7600gt (an xfx xxx edition if i can)

however the PSU is only 350W, would the psu be able to cope with this new GPU?
i have read reviews and they say that the 7600gt dosent even need external power supply for that fan but i am still a little worried if it overloads the psu like



the main reason i am getting a GPU is to try and prepare my computer (kind of) for some new pc games (c&c3 and with alot of hope crysis)


anyway cheers guys

Since Intel has maximized its monopoly (at least as of now) in the market concerning processors we have seen a major chop in Pentium D's. Why? Simple, Intel stopped making them. Dell no longer even sells the processor. Doesnt mean you have a bad core there though bud. My say is that the system is decent...if you were asking, "will it play Crysis," I'd say you might have some difficulty.

[SpaceMonkeyDave]

Since Intel has maximized its monopoly (at least as of now) in the market concerning processors we have seen a major chop in Pentium D's. Why? Simple, Intel stopped making them. Dell no longer even sells the processor. Doesnt mean you have a bad core there though bud. My say is that the system is decent...if you were asking, "will it play Crysis," I'd say you might have some difficulty.

i thought so
after watching te new crysis vids it looks unreal not just graphics but what the engine can do as well, took my breath away when the camera went underwater

anyway
for my computer ive been trying to play dawn of war and generals at the moment with on-board, it does play it just not very well
what GPU's would run these two games well while staying within a cheap price range and low power range?


of course if my pc could run crysis ok then i might invest in a more expensive card but i have the feeling that the rest of my specs arnt up to the challange

anyway many thanks guys!

[Appolyons]

Dont for a second think you have a poor system there though bud. Let me remind you that Pentium D is dual core so...Vista at 64 megs is within your grasp. Also, 1 gig (which you could always make 2 gigs) with a 7600 can run some pretty awesome games. Some quick ones off the top of my head, Oblivion, Dark Messiah, Quake 4, FEAR (and the expansion if you wish), AoE III, MW, Neverwinter Nights, most MMO's on the market, and much more. Crysis is a great game but its no godsend. You have a great machine there bud, use it well.

[SpaceMonkeyDave]

Dont for a second think you have a poor system there though bud. Let me remind you that Pentium D is dual core so...Vista at 64 megs is within your grasp. Also, 1 gig (which you could always make 2 gigs) with a 7600 can run some pretty awesome games. Some quick ones off the top of my head, Oblivion, Dark Messiah, Quake 4, FEAR (and the expansion if you wish), AoE III, MW, Neverwinter Nights, most MMO's on the market, and much more. Crysis is a great game but its no godsend. You have a great machine there bud, use it well.

thanks
well at the moment im looking at a 7600gt on ebay for about £50-£60 keeping in mind i will have to upgrade my PSU also so that will be around another £40, is this a "worthy" upgrade you think?

off topic:
i didnt know the celeron D was a dual core?

[Varsh]

If you're going to have an GFX Card, then be prepared to add another 150W, I remember the days when all you needed was a 250W PSU that also powered the monitor, those were the days. ^^;

um yeah, id like to post a querry about my psu. heres my config:

3.0 ghz pentium 4 prescott
120gb sata hdd
111gb ide hdd
xfx geforce 7600gt
2gb ddr ram

and i have a 450W psu, is it enough for my config?

sorry for jacking the post spacemonkeydave

CPU is 75W
SATA is 12W
IDE is 12W
GFX is 160W
2GB DDR is 110W
That's 369W, now you haven't mention the motherboard, what's connected to the computer without an external power source, the optical drives, what other PCI cards you have, it all adds up, so add about ~100-200, then a bit for expansions, so you'll want a 550W PSU minimum I'd say, keeping in mind the peak wattage output of the PC and also the efficiency ratio at peak performance for the PSU, if W*0.Eff% = < peak output, then get a higher PSU.

[Appolyons]

thanks
well at the moment im looking at a 7600gt on ebay for about £50-£60 keeping in mind i will have to upgrade my PSU also so that will be around another £40, is this a "worthy" upgrade you think?

off topic:
i didnt know the celeron D was a dual core?

Thats what the D stood for. From what I've heard...pretty good oc'ing on it also.

[SpaceMonkeyDave]

after looking around for a good deal on a 7600gt my friend said that he has a spare x700 that he is willing to give me for free so that i can get Generals and Dawn of War running smoothly (kind of the main reason i started to look for a GPU) so we can play on-line (very kind of him)

however
would my 350W PSU blow if i stuck this in my comp? (i also have a 400W that is in my other pc but its really loud)

my specs again so you dont have to scroll up:
a 3.5ghz intel celeron D
1 gig of ram
2 80gb ATA hdd's (i might "SATA" it dunno yet)
1 burner
1 sd card + usb + random stuff reader

many thanks

[Varsh]

Well as I mentioned above, a 450W would've sufficed, but with now the added GPU, you'll want a minimum 550-600W, and that should leave a little head room if you wanted to change your HDDs to something larger, or have another optical drive or two.

[SpaceMonkeyDave]

Well as I mentioned above, a 450W would've sufficed, but with now the added GPU, you'll want a minimum 550-600W, and that should leave a little head room if you wanted to change your HDDs to something larger, or have another optical drive or two.

a 550W for an added x700?

my pc without the GPU can run at 350W as that is what it came with
i would have thought a 400W PSU would allow me to add a x700

[Appolyons]

Bud aside from the power supply sourcing everything in your PC...you really need to understand how much a gc hogs...kinda like Varsh was already telling you. Think of it this way man, your maybe spending (maybe mind you) an extra 100 dollars for an extra 100 watts. Seems like a solid investment to me, I'd hate to be reading about a "I just blew out my PC" thread from you down the line.

[Varsh]

a 550W for an added x700?

my pc without the GPU can run at 350W as that is what it came with
i would have thought a 400W PSU would allow me to add a x700

A typical NVIDIA 6xxx GFX card uses ~130-180W depending on the card in question, the current 8800's are almost hitting ~200W, I think some manufacturers have hit 210W in some cases. Your IGP (Integrated Graphics Chip) borrows RAM from the system, so if it's using 256MB RAM, then your 1GB is effectively 768MB RAM, this does help alleviate a good ~30-40W, then there's the fan and that the chip is onboard and the bare minimum to get anything to display, the fan's very minuscule too, the entire IGP is probably using only 60W at most, with a dedicated GFX Card you'll be using 3 or 4 times as much power after the IGP is turned off in the BIOS, or 4 to 5x if you leave the IGP turned on.

Your choice in PSU wattage, though I'm only giving you sensible and safe options.

[Longhorn]

The Link

Enter in your info and calc how much power you need. Take consideration for a few things:

PSU Efficiency - some psu's say 400w, but only operate at 80%. There should be a way to factor this in on the calculator, and you should be able to find info on a prospective PSU on the interweb
Rail requirements - make sure your prospective PSU has enough amps on the 12v rail

Finally, just see what type of systems other people are running with the particular psu--you can compare these to your own and get an idea of what you should expect. From what I understand, the 7600 doesn't consume as much power as its ATI counterparts, so a GOOD 350-450 watt should suffice.

[Behemoko]

Be careful with "the link" from Longhorn's post, while it is a handy tool, it might suggest lower than you actually need, I already have my power supply chosen for my over the summer build, but I wanted to test the calc out, and I will tell you what it said:

IC2D E6600
2GB G. Skill ram (ddr2 @ 800mhz)
680i motherboard
dvd burner
250 GB HDD
and 8800 GTS! That I only needed 351 Watts total power!!! (I left out some other things that only take like 5 watts each)

Edit: Here is the power supply I am getting: http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16817148028

[Longhorn]

Like I said, you need to factor in efficiency of the PSU, but I agree it tends to be somewhat low. That being said, it's fairly accurate as most people tend to think they need more power than they really need--what they really need is a good quality, high efficiency PSU with enough amps in all the right places (and not necessarily more wattage).

[Appolyons]

Thats very true but unless your somewhat knowledgable of PC's, a solid psu is uknown to them. Bleh...long story short, research before you buy and learn the components of your system, thats all I know for sure here.