Ati 5550 on a 250 watt psu safe?

[dewc1]

I am wondering if an XFX ati 5550 (1gb) DDR2 card will be safe to run on my HP p6120t?

PC specs:

core 2 duo e7500
4gb Ram
Vista 64
250 watt lite-on psu (14a on +12v rail).

I really want to run some older games that my integrated intel g31 will not run (battlefield 2). If this card will not work, will an ati 4350 work? Would a 4350 be much improvement over the current g31 I have for games such as Star Wars Battlefront 1 &2, Empire at War, LOTR Battle for Middle Earth, Battlefield 2)? Thanks in advance.

 

[jaguarskx]

Yep. I don't have a chart in front of me, but the HD 5550 maxes out at no more than 17w.

 

[infernox_01]

im using a HD5570 on a 250w power supply, it has 17a on the 12v rail though.

 

[dewc1]

You have quite a few more amps on the +12v rail than I do. I still think my system would fall well below the 168 on the 12v. I have read conflicting reports however. I have read the gpu draws 17, and others say 40 watts at peak. I dont want to damage my system.

 

[infernox_01]

well amd say it has a max power usage of 39w, the 5570 has a max power usage of 42w so not much difference. according to toms hardware review, the 5570 ddr3 version actually uses less in peak usage.

 

[dewc1]

Mine is a DDR2 version, not sure if that makes a difference.

 

[infernox_01]

cant find anything about it. im sure the fanless model uses less power though.

 

[dewc1]

Mine has a fan. It's the XFX version. I appreciate you looking.

 

[damasvara]

You should be fine. A moderate 40W +/- 5W load won't be a burden to your PSU.

For comparison, check out this thread with similar question as yours:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/292781-28-250w-enough

 

[jaguarskx]

The following chart does not have the HD 5550, but it does have the faster HD 5570 which shows that peak power usage while game testing is 19w of the HD 5570.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd5670-hd5570-hd5450_6.html#sect0

Therefore, the HD 5550 will draw less; probaby 15w or 16w. Of course if you are still concerned then you can drop down to the HD 5450 which peaked at less than 10w.

The HD 5550 is roughly comparable to the older HD 4650. The HD 5450 probably is about as powerful as the HD 4550. Here's a review of the HD 4550 to give you an idea what you can expect:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/ati-radeon-hd4550.html

 

[dewc1]

That doesn't look like much more than what my integrated g31 would use. I have tried several games on the card now and it seems to be running fine. No shutdowns, slowdowns, or restarts. The psu is barely warm to the touch. It seems as if I will be okay.