power supply ugrade

[Javier1]

Good day, and Merry Christmas to all. My question is, I have A Gateway Dx 4860 UB20P. I'm looking to upgrade my power supply on my unit, I've already installed a PNY GeForce NVidia GT 620. I keep on getting the run around from Gateway. I also was told that if I upgrade my power supply I would need to upgrade my mother board and some other things, I was thinking of upgrading to this / Ultra LSP Series V2 550-Watt Power Supply - ATX, 6x SATA, 2x PCI-E, 20/24 PIN,Thermal Controlled 135mm fan, Single +12V Rail, Short Circuit, Over-Voltage and Thermal Protection, 3-Year Warranty. My mother board Part # is MB.GCC0P.001 and that's what gateway gave me on info, I plan to upgrade the to the max of 16gb in the future need some help Thank you

 

[md1032]

First, the motherboard does not need to be upgraded. A power supply's wattage rating tells you how much power it is capable of putting out. The actual power draw from your computer's components will be constant no matter which supply is installed (assuming the supply's wattage is sufficient to power the computer). Whoever told you that was uninformed.

Reviews are mixed:

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1633128
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3276574 (see reviews)
http://www.overclock.net/t/883854/newegg-ultra-lsp550-550w-psu-35-w-lifetime-warranty

Personally I would spend a bit more. Here is a review site that does some very extreme testing. I would trust any supply that passes their rigorous testing:

http://www.hardocp.com/reviews/psu_power_supplies/

Have you tried putting your components into Newegg's power supply calculator to get a rough idea of what you need?

http://images10.newegg.com/BizIntell/tool/psucalc/index.html?gclid=COHo7aeSwLsCFTEV7Aodj0MAcQ&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-Branding-_-Products-_-newegg-power-supply-calculator&ef_id=UensRAAAAbczEXyU:20131221011629:s

Keep in mind when selecting a supply that the +12V rail is the most important one. Greater amperage on that rail will give you more overhead and make your system more robust.