Video card/ power supply Q

I am researching graphics cards, as I would like to upgrade soon . I will be purchasing a card that requires a power supply connection. What is the easiest way for me to determine the specs on my power supply ? I have a Gateway 827gm (AMD Athlon 64 3500+) and the power supply is stock/factory. There is no tag visible externally on the power supply, the gateway website does not give this particular spec on my computer. Belarc advisor does not give specs on power supply. Will I have to open the case and look at the power supply ?

I just want to make sure my power supply will be adequate with my GPU upgrade .
While researching, I have seen opinions stating that a graphics card would require a minimum 500w supply, and other opinions that 300w would be fine. This is all pretty confusing, the whole graphics card market is flooded with cards that are very similar with varying prices and such . I am considering an ATI x1950 pro . I currently have an x700 pro installed .
Any assistance would be appreciated !

 

This is your power supply
Genuine BESTEC 300W PS2 Power supply

 

that couldnt come close to running an x1900 and i dont know if there are aftermarket PSUs that will fit in your case. like u said, id go no lower than 500W for that baby, maybe a good 450W would do ok

 

Fit in my case ?! Great ! Now I have to worry about PSU physical dimensions in addition to all other considerations !? SHEESH !! !

Looks like my research isn't over.

Any and all suggestions welcome .

 

http://images.tigerdirect.com/itemDetails/G153-1110/G153-1110-out3.jpg
http://www.techpowerup.com/gallery/198/6.jpg

It looks like a standard atx psu to me. It should fit no problem. Better yet, measure the length between the 4 screws in the back of psu, bring it to the store, ask for a look at any of their brand name psu, they should match, or just an atx case.

I'd suggest enermax, ocz, pcp&c, seasonic, tagan, fortron, sparkle psu.

 

yea, seems to be standard ATX. id go with an OCZ, Antec or Thermaltake, they all make good ones. when running such a high end video card u wont wanna skimp on quality here, even if it means paying a bit more.

 

QFT_

 

Okey dokey .

http://directron.com/500w.html

Which one do you think would be best from the page above ?
Directron is only a couple of miles from where I live and I can pay cash there, they have decent prices, too .

thanks for your input !

 

Im thinking maybe this one : http://directron.com/sp500.html

oh, and how can i be certain this would work with my system and the upgrade ?

 

http://www.directron.com/m12500.html

Seasonic is the best they have. The very best would be PCP&C. I doubt you'd blow that much money on a psu. Say $200+. If you can't afford over $100

http://www.directron.com/eg565pvefma22.html

I had one. rock solid. I upgraded to enermax 600w. Never had a failure with enermax. Fortron is good on the inside.

http://www.directron.com/psax500a.html

 

id go with the antec. sorry to be contrary here but ive had good experience with antec as have many others here.

 

For graphics cards that need a power supply, do you need to plug it into the power supply and the hard drive or just either?

 

ummm not totally sure what u are asking here but u plug a PCI-E plug (from the PSU) into the card (either 6 or 8 pin, cant remember) You plug the HDD directly into the PSU via 4-pin molex plug, it has nothing to do with the video card.

 

Ok, I recently got a sapphire ati radeon x1600 pro and it came with a power extension cable. There's a big sticker on the bag that says "STOP" saying I have to connect the graphics card to the computer's power supply but the picture also shows it being connected to the hard drive. Actually, the installation guide that came with the card doesn't even mention the power cable.

 

it probably is just an example of splitting the power cord between the video card and hard drive. there isnt really any order in which things should be plugged in, just plug them in where the plugs fit lol. anyways, here are some pics that may clear things up

(assuming the video card is pci-express, this is what the plug looks like)
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h98/viper_boy403/pci-eplug.jpg

here is the hard drive plug:
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h98/viper_boy403/hddplug.jpg
if its an AGP card then the plug on the video card will look the same as the plug for the hard drive (above). just make sure that they are both plugged in to the PSU by whatever means.

 

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/8794/picture001td7.jpg

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/2348/picture005lp3.jpg

Just making sure, P6 is attached to the HDD, so do I just connect P7 to the "Red Circled part" and then I can just leave the "Blue Circled part" alone?

Thanks.

 

Yup. Can't believe ati still neglects to correct that mistake in the install manual. Some have complained their video cards didn't work. Just that they didn't connect the power cable.

Recap: male (psu) in female (device/splitter). The blue male is for your other device (hdd/cd/whatever). Best is not to use the blue one. Dedicate a power cable to video.

 

Say I wanted to put in another harddrive. I would connect "Red" with P7 then "Blue" into the new harddrive? Would that be bad for the HDD and video card if I split it?

Thanks.

 

I don't think so. Female must be connected at all times if it's to be used. Male doesn't. Male provides power to a device. Do NOT connect the female & male of the same rail/cable.

You must connect the female to a power cable from the psu or else the video will have issues, especially gaming.

[psu]====(male)(female)====[video]====(male)(female)[hdd/cd/fan]

http://www.mechbgon.com/build/4pinS.jpg

This photo is male. Doesn't have to be plugged in.

http://www.mechbgon.com/build/HDDrearS.jpg

This is female. Must be plugged in at all times. Or it won't turn on.

Bookmark this:

http://www.mechbgon.com/build/index.html

Depends on the psu. If it's quality & powerful, each cable can be splitted. If it's generic & 400ish watts, it may not be powerful enough to split.