Quick Power Supply Question

Hello. If I am installing a new video card and it needs 300W, and my current power supply is rated at 300W max, will I be ok in doing so?

 

In one word, NO. In more words, you need to take into account all the other components in your system, optical drives, hard drives, sound cards, cooling fans, etc.

 

It's a pretty vanilla pc. One fan, two drives ..

Is there an app that will let me know how much power those components are using? I have speccy, but I don't believe it has such a function.

Edit: If I go over my power rating, say by a little bit, would it be alright? If not, what would it damage?

Thanks for the help.

 

Just look up Power Supply Calculator, or try this one

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

Going over on your power supply could take out the power supply which in turn could cause a power surge to your MB and other components and toast everything.

 

Okay, my initial question may have been misleading, I think. The video card has a Minimum System Requirement of 300w. Does this mean don't put this card in a pc that doesn't at least have a power supply of 300 watts, or does it mean that video card itself will need all 300w at some point?

The card in question is a BFGR 5900XT OC GeForce FX 5900XT. I read in another forum where some had stated that this card worked fine in 250w Dell's.

If you've already answered this, just give me a smack. After a couple hours of searching the net for power specifications for an old card, I get pretty good at confusing myself.

Sorry for the redundancy. Just want to be sure.

Thanks

 

I'm not sure about the minimum power requirement.

Would it break the bank for you to put in a higher wattage PSU? Another question for you. Will the higher wattage PSU even fit in your case?

Dell's and HP's and other brands sometimes use proprietary PSU's that only fit their computers and you haven't told us what kind/brand/model of computer you wish to put this video card in.

Perhaps someone else would care to join in and help.

 

The 5900 XT draws between 24 and 60 watts, depending on how hard you are using it. A decent 300W supply will be adequate.

 

Thank you!