New power supply needed for video card?

[krfan1]

My friend is looking at getting a video card for her new Gateway GT5026E. The PC comes with a 300watt power supply, but most of the cards she is looking at say they need a 350watt PS.

Will the system be alright with a 300 or should she upgrade the power supply.

Also, ddoes anyone know if Gateway has the PCI-Express power connector on their power supplys?

thanks,
krfan1

 

[krogoth1989]

prozac is right, depends what card.

< 6800 and x850: 300+
> 6800 and x850: 400+
> 1800 and 7800 series : 450+

but then again its a gateway, so we never know

 

[krfan1]

Well, she says she'll spend around $200 on it. This is cause her Gateway can't handle Age of Empires 3. She bought hte game for her son for his birthday and he couldn't play it.

I was thinking the X850 since it seems to be better than the NVIDIA cards in that price range.

krfan1

 

[Fungalberry]

Well, she says she'll spend around $200 on it. This is cause her Gateway can't handle Age of Empires 3. She bought hte game for her son for his birthday and he couldn't play it.

I was thinking the X850 since it seems to be better than the NVIDIA cards in that price range.

krfan1

If you're getting the X850 you would need at least a 350W PSU. I would not want to chance it with a 300W. Check the link:

http://reviews.cnet.com/ATI_Radeon_X850_XT_Platinum_Edition/4514-8902_7-31245051.html

I think a 400/450W would be a good choice for a power supply.

 

[mationman]

Would a 7800 gt or a 7900 gt be ok on a 430w or am I pushing it?

 

[Fox_granit]

yeah i would go with a 350 minimum, but watch it, gateways have a tendancey to be proprietery on their power supplies, so double check on if an atx power supply will work inside that case. I've seen it many times before.......if it is, then you'll have to buy one directy from gateway or buy a different case and move everything over...... yuck! 8O

 

[mationman]

The XFX 7 series manual says that "for 7800 gt, at least 350w"
GTX is 400w

 

[Arkusai]

I am actually looking into this same issue. I'm looking to upgrade my graphics card to either a Geforce 7600GT or a Radeon X850XT to use mainly for Oblivion. The thing is...the 7600GT says that it requires at least a 350 Watt power supply, when I have only a 300 Watt...whereas the the X850XT says it only needs a 300 watt powersupply. The final total on Newegg for the X850XT is only $172 without a new power supply whereas the 7600GT with the powersupply is $233. My question is can I get by with a 300 watt power supply with the X850XT? It DOES say that is all it requires on the NewEgg requirements. But is bare minimum power supply a problem?

Thanks alot for any help!

 

[mdd1963]

"Would a 7800 gt or a 7900 gt be ok on a 430w or am I pushing it?"

If it's a quality 430 watt unit, that would be adequate, barring 4 or 5 hard drives in the case...!

 

[Vokofpolisiekar]

I'd say that you overshoot on any minimum requirement. So, if they say 350W, go for 400W. And seeing that the PSU is your life line in the case, don't neglect it.

As already mentioned, a good quality PSU you can try your luck on the minimum, but lesser PSU's might and most probably will give you headaches.

Lastly, always keep in mind that most PSU's advertise their max wattage output. So in the case of lets say, a 300W PSU, it nominal output is in fact 280W, but it can run 300W. So that, to me, is pushing it.