PSU and Graphics Card Advice...

I got a new PC coming this Friday. I will be buying a graphics card and some more memory for it not long afterwards, and just want to be thinking ahead. I havent got much knowledge when it comes to hardware so again I am asking for advice of you guys. :major

I dont have the full specs as yet, but have got quite a lot, so here goes...

• Core2Duo E4300 1.8ghz
• 1gb DDR2 SDRAM
• 250gb HDD
• DX9 Compatable Integrated GFX
• DVD+/-RW
• MSI 7267 Motherboard
• PSU = 355w

What I intend to do is buy another 1gb stick of RAM. I will probably change the other stick too if Motherboard is compatible with faster RAM. I want to get 2 sticks of the fastest memory possible you see.

Then I want to get a nice graphics card. I really want a GeForce7950GT. Ive got my heart set on it!

My question is will my PSU hack what I want it to do? I spoke to the manufacturer (iQon) and they told me its plenty enough power to put in any graphics card on the market. But to be honest I dont trust these folk, my experience is they say what you want to hear.

I look forward to good advice, please keep it simple as Im a hardware novice! Thanks,

 

Reading some test reviews for the GeForce7950GT, they are using a 700 Watt PSU Wayne. I think the 350 Watt PSU is just too small for what you want to do. When it comes to a PSU larger is always safer, remember everything depends on good steady Power. Any "New Rig" I would build I would always start with at least a 700 Watt PSU, and would probable prefer a 1,000 Watter, otherwise you expansion capabilities are severely limited. Hope that helps

 

:cry:cry Oh no! :cry:cry

I guess Im going to have to price them up, are they difficult to fit?

They did say at iqon, the psu is what it says going in or something, id have to look on the back of it or something, is it possible its different?

 

Sorry to BUMP! Is that just a definate no-no, will it just not work?

 

The only real way to know is try it. I have seen 250watt PSUs out perform 500watt PSUs. The old PSU i was running was a 350watt PSU out of a cheap compaq and it was holding up to load that would put a 500watt to shame. The wattage is really a guideline IMO. Its more about the quality of the PSU as apposed to the max output.

Example: A 550 watt PSU is rated to output a max of 550watts but the stability of the power at that load is undefined. So the power output at max load could be far to "dirty" to run a system.
On the other hand if a lower rated PSU, lets say a 350watt is made out of quality parts and the sum of all the parts makes for a 350watt max rating. But due to the higher quality parts they can easily take more then their rated load while still outputting clean power. So in some cases the better parts can output more clean stable power then a higher rated PSU could.

 

Thanks ACE! Im half smiling again!

So I can fork out on the card then, put it in and hope it works. If it dosent I cant damage it can I? I wouldnt have thought so myself but as I say Im a hardware dunce! I just dont wanna be spending £100-£150 and wrecking the thing! LOL

If I do this, which I more than likely will do, what risks am I taking? And how can I test its stability? If it dosent work, I can just pull it out, use my integrated untill I fit a new PSU right?

The guys from the manufacturer said it would cope with any card on the market as i say, but they were probably chatting rubbish then eh.

They do actually ship the same computer with a 256MB nVidia7300GS Card and 2GB of RAM, for an extra £200, but thought it would be better/cheaper to fit my own card and memory.

Nice One ACE

 

I agree with Ace a quality PSU is critical, however a quality 350 Watt PSU pushed to 600 Watts will prematurely fail. some links that you might want to check out Wayne http://compreviews.about.com/od/cases/a/PSUWattage.htm & http://www.journeysystems.com/?powercalc

Hope that helps

 

Thanks BCGray...

/\ This was a good read and very informative BC, Thank you, I understood quite a bit of that /\

/\ This sadly wouldnt work as it didnt have my CPU listed /\


I have found that NVidea reccomend a 400watt PSU for that card (the 512, Im looking at the 256), whether or not that includes the power consumption of other devices I do not know.

I used a different calculator to work out my power usage without a card and with the extra RAM. It said less than 150watt.

Thats 550watt if its added together or 400watt if it goes of the maximum.

I think I might just try it depending on if it has a chance to cause me damage or not. I can always go out to get a 550-600watt PSU if it dosent work well. I wont need more as I wont be upgrading more as the slots will be almost all used.

Its going to be in a few weeks yet, so I will also see what else ACE has to say, and anyone else, and let you know how it goes.

Thanks

 

Wayne82, if it were my rig I would not want to jeopardise expensive hardware with a 350w psu. I think you are begging for trouble.

I personally would not even want to try the 350w psu to 'see if it works' with the new vga, period.

If my rig had your specs (to include more ram and the 7950GT), I would instinctively settle for a psu in the 600w range (from a branded manufacturer) and would wish to confirm my suspicions by running the numbers with several psu calculators.

I don't wish to muddy the waters but then there is the whole aspect of single 12v rail or multi 12v rails. I use an OCZ 520w powerstream with a single 12v rail of 34A.

Good Luck

 

What is the best kinda GFX card I am looking at with that PSU then would anyone suggest? I want to game. Mainly WoW but also a few more modern 3d games. I want abserloutly no lag in WoW, at all, ever!!!

What damage could it do to my hardware to have low power btw anyone?

Im a bit lost with all this rails stuff too, im sorry!

 

Agreed a over taxed PSU will fail early. But I believe Wayne knows that it is only a temporary situation and a new/better PSU is needed as soon as his finances allow. But with a little luck is not necessary immediately.

@Wayne
If you are looking for a card that can do all you ask and has better odds of working with the PSU you have now with out requiring a new PSU soon after would be a 7600GT. Keep in mind, regardless of what video card you buy, a new PSU would still be a good idea.

 

Nice one ACE

I think I may get that 7600gt as it sounds like the better option. And I have been put off a bit with what has been said about the PSU situation.

Im a bit gutted as I had my heart on the 7950gt. But really more than anything I would like a card from the 8 series as it supports DX10. But the good ones are like £300+ at the moment!!

The change of plan I have is to get the 7600gt. Then I dont need to worry too much about the PSU as yet. I will however then in the month or two following put in a good PSU, maybee a 1000watt as BC suggests. When the prices come down on the 8 series cards, Ill be waiting for em!!

Thank you all who have helped me and I will let you know in a few weeks how it goes.

Just one last question, does a card that you buy allready overclocked use more juice than a standard one?

 

Wayne, you can pick up a good Hiper 480W PSU for £50 in most UK retailers, think scan.co.uk has them in now.

I'm using it and it's possibly the best one I've ever had.

Also, my 8600GTX came overclocked to 710mhz (yeh pretty fast) and uses no more power, just needs more cooling!

 

You think I will still need more power for the 8600 ?

I think it should be ok for a month or two till I get bigger one, you think?

 

Well, I'm running that, and a Core2Duo E6420 with that PSU with no problems. It's not wattage, as ACE mentioned earlier - it's the quality (quality not quantity ).

Also noticed earlier you said DirectX 10 cards are £300 - have a look on scan.co.uk - you'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

I mean the better ones like the 8800s ! :major

 

Only needed if you want the highest end graphics, I can run 2142, CS:S and Halflife 2 all on high and it looks great. Also have full anti-aliasing.

Got some ridiculous score with 3dmark06 too, can't remember it by heart.

Either way, you don't need to splash out that much to get good graphics, ok the chip is important but if it runs fast and have memory that runs fast in sync with it (eg, my chip runs at 710mhz and memory at 2100mhz - almost 3 times the amount of the memory) then you'll have a good card. A lot of people miss this

 

Yeah, I have been looking at memory all day with GFX cards! Im gonna be posting about it on friday as soon as I know exactly what my system takes. I know it has DDR2 533 SDRAM as yet, but it may take other speeds etc...

...but thats another thread

 

I umm...look forward to it.....!