250w power supply - video card upgrade

W

Windfire

Regular
Okay, I've got an older machine (2GHz box, 512MB RAM) and I want to get a newer video card on the cheap. This computer has few components in it: single HD (120GB) and a SB Live! My current video card is the GF4 TI4400.

Boards I was thinking about:
x1600 Pro
7600GS

However, both of these list 350w power supply.

What would be the best video card you would recommend for a machine like this?
 
It depends on how good the power supply is. A decent modern 250W PSU should be able to cope with those components with ease (whole system draw is likely <<150W even with the new card). A crummy no-name job maybe won't. It's more about your amps on your rails than headline wattage anyway.
 
should work fine as Blazkowicz said. I`d definitly go for a 7600GT however (doesnt draws much power either) - GS has pretty slow Memory.
 
Thanks for the input... It's not a clear cut situation.

It's in a Gateway machine. I'm not totaly sure it is true, but Gateway told me it requires a special PSU. They can sell me a 350w for $49. No thanks. I just don't want to sink any more money in this box and I wouldn't be shocked to find that 350w sucks too. :)

I'll just live with the GF4 TI4400. Maybe one day I'll run into an ATI 9700/9800 on the cheap. You figure there must be a lot of them out there. I've looked on Ebay but I'm not interested in buying someone's OC'd mess.

To be honest, that old TI4400 does well with the games my kids play. The LCD is 1280x1024 and it runs Dungeon Siege 2, UT2004, TA and the other kids games fine. Where it would fail is with more modern games.
 
If you're interested I have a 6600GT that I'd be willing to part ways with. PM for more information.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Windfire said:
Thanks for the input... It's not a clear cut situation.

It's in a Gateway machine. I'm not totaly sure it is true, but Gateway told me it requires a special PSU. They can sell me a 350w for $49. No thanks. I just don't want to sink any more money in this box and I wouldn't be shocked to find that 350w sucks too. :)

I'll just live with the GF4 TI4400. Maybe one day I'll run into an ATI 9700/9800 on the cheap. You figure there must be a lot of them out there. I've looked on Ebay but I'm not interested in buying someone's OC'd mess.

To be honest, that old TI4400 does well with the games my kids play. The LCD is 1280x1024 and it runs Dungeon Siege 2, UT2004, TA and the other kids games fine. Where it would fail is with more modern games.
Click to expand...

Believe it or not most OEMs rate their PSUs for average sustained wattage rather then peak wattage so many of them are actually underrated compared to something you find on the store shelves. This problably doesnt matter to you, just thought i'd share that little tidbit.
 
Perhaps Gateway told you bullshit. I thought the day of proprietary PSU had ended a bit after the demise of AT and the rise of ATX.
 
Windfire said:
I'll just live with the GF4 TI4400. Maybe one day I'll run into an ATI 9700/9800 on the cheap.
Click to expand...
I ran a 9800 on a 250W PSU no problem. Even OCd it quite a bit it was stable as hell. System fully packed otherwise also.

Of course that wasn't a junky 250W bought at some basement PC store. It was a quality OEM unit.

The 9800 is sio much faster than a 4400 it's not funny btw. It's really a big difference. And DX9 makes a big diffrence in quality in newer games. Heck some new ones might not even run on anything that isn't DX9 level..

Good luck.

Peace.
 
Rainbow Man said:
I ran a 9800 on a 250W PSU no problem. Even OCd it quite a bit it was stable as hell. System fully packed otherwise also.

Of course that wasn't a junky 250W bought at some basement PC store. It was a quality OEM unit.

The 9800 is sio much faster than a 4400 it's not funny btw. It's really a big difference. And DX9 makes a big diffrence in quality in newer games. Heck some new ones might not even run on anything that isn't DX9 level..

Good luck.

Peace.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the note. Yes, I'm sure it is much faster--something like a 9800 Pro or 6600GT would add a lot of life to this old 2GHz machine. :) You would think you could pick up cards like that for $40-$45 but they are hard to find.
 
Blazkowicz said:
Perhaps Gateway told you bullshit. I thought the day of proprietary PSU had ended a bit after the demise of AT and the rise of ATX.
Click to expand...

im pretty sure all the non-XPS dells use proprietary components, including the PSU. I know for a fact they were 2 years ago.
 
SugarCoat said:
im pretty sure all the non-XPS dells use proprietary components, including the PSU. I know for a fact they were 2 years ago.
Click to expand...

My PC above is a Gateway...

However, I upgraded my Dell Dimension 8300 (P4 3GHz Northwood) with a new Antec TruePower 480w power supply. I had to mod the case to have it fit right, but it plugged in and worked fine.
 
Newer Dells use standard ATX power connectors but the PSU casings themselves are physically larger (to house a 92mm fan rather than a 80mm).

Older Dells have nonstandard everything. PSUs have custom power connectors. Mobos don't have standoffs in standard places. In fact mobos don't use standoffs (and screws) at all but rather weird metal clips.
Peac.e
 
Rainbow Man said:
Newer Dells use standard ATX power connectors but the PSU casings themselves are physically larger (to house a 92mm fan rather than a 80mm).

Older Dells have nonstandard everything. PSUs have custom power connectors. Mobos don't have standoffs in standard places. In fact mobos don't use standoffs (and screws) at all but rather weird metal clips.
Peac.e
Click to expand...

I purchased my 8300 in early 1994 (it's been quite some while since they sold 3.06GHz Northwood (533MHz bus)... I was able to switch out my PSU (probably 2 years ago now--so I could install my 6800GT). :) Maybe I was just lucky (FYI, I'm using my Dell now).
 
Blazkowicz said:
Perhaps Gateway told you bullshit. I thought the day of proprietary PSU had ended a bit after the demise of AT and the rise of ATX.
Click to expand...

When I was a wee student working through college a year or so ago, a bunch of the cases used smaller power supplies. You could use COTS power supplies, but you'd usually have to mod the case a bit to let them fit. It was a pain, but we did it in store all the time.
 
CMAN said:
When I was a wee student working through college a year or so ago, a bunch of the cases used smaller power supplies. You could use COTS power supplies, but you'd usually have to mod the case a bit to let them fit. It was a pain, but we did it in store all the time.
Click to expand...

I looked at my Gateway and the motherboard has 3 power connectors... a 4 port, a 6 port and a larger (20?) port. It didn't look standard. Worse, the mounting was definately proprietary.
 
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