What should my psu's wattage and etc be?

[ryancxg]

My Specs:
Intel core 2 quad cpu q8200 @2.33GHz
6.00GB of RAM

actually not sure about any other specific things
- i have 1 cd drive, thats it
-integrated graphics

I plan on switching to a 9500gt, what wattage should the psu i buy be?

im on a 300w psu right now.

ps. if you can name a better graphics card and power supply for less than a 130$ total, that'd be cool. I can actually go up to 170$ but i would rather not.

 

[logan the huge]

would a 9600 gt or gso be good? my friend told me i should get a 9800gt but thats around 100$, so im not so sure if i want it.

The 4850 is comparable to the 9800GTX, so it's more powerful than either of those.

id prefer under 80$ probably maybe 90.

The 4850 i posted was $90 with the promo code "LADYBUG10".

when i play one of my games, team fortress 2, i play on 1152 x 864, which is fine. just saying.
idk if that helps or means anything, but yeah.

Is it a CRT or an LCD? If it's an LCD you get visual artifacts at any resolution other than the native resolution.

This means that for a good 300-400 W psu, the current on the +12v rail should be around 30-35 Amperes.

Still makes no sense. A 300w PSU can't have 12v current rating that high: 30A@12v = 360w. A 400w PSU could have a 30-33A of 12v current but not 34 or 35 since that would also be over it's max of 400w.

 

[RetiredChief]

AH the age of deception.
First looking at the +12V rails on multirail PSU. Manufs cut cost by using the same regulator on each rail. The sum of the currents will almost always (except on Higer end PSU) exceed the listed max. What this means is that on a PSU with 3 12 V rails rated at 18 Amps is that YOU can NOT draw 18 AMPs at the same time on all three rails. For example 18 x 3 x 12 = 640, BUT the PSU may list max 12 V power at 550 W. If you draw 16 Amps on rail 1 and 2 you can only draw
13.8 Amps (NOT 18 Amps) on rail 3.

2nd the overall power rating may place further limitations on what is really availble for the 12 V rail. Say the PSU in above example has a total wattage rating of 600 Watts with a 550 Watt rating on +12 V. If you were to draw say 80 Amps on the +5V, 3.3V and the other +5V then in reality only 520 Watts would be avail for the +12 V.

3rd - The cheaper the PSU, the greater the discrepency. Also with cheaper PSU, the ratings are for ambient temps - NOT real operating temps which further lowers the true available Power available (On cheap PSUs you could lose 25%/30% of advertized rating when operating @ 40 C. "Good" PSU's use a operating temp of 40/50C vs 22/30C to rate their PSUs.

Is the Rating game a LIE, NO - it the old LET-THE-BUYER- BEWARE.

MOST "GOOD" Psus come much closer in real life vs advertized ratings. Rail limitations on true single rail PSUs like corsair and some others do not have this problem.

I have a 600 Watt igreen PSU - All three rails have different Current limits ( the 3rd rail is limited to 4 Amps) and you can draw the rated amps on all three rails.

Note: AT work, so values used in my example are just for illustration purpose

 

[ryancxg]

i think im getting these:
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch_v3.asp?scriteria=BA31147
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch_v3.asp?scriteria=BD11124#aStockNote