Getting new graphics card to work

cha-cha_2

Help! My son wants a new game to work on our computer which is a compaq presario. I have updated the memory so it is now 1.5gb and the system is Xp on a pentium 4. My problem is that this is getting to be a very expensive way to update an "old"(2years!) computer. The new graphics card is a sapphire hd 3850 high definition graphics card. On the spec we need minimum 450w of power - mine is 250w. So I now need to update the power supply and I have no idea how I can do this. There are numerous power supplies on sale on the web but don't know what all the connectors are called. The current power supply is ps-5251-08HP - the make is liteon. Can anyone tell me what power supply I should be looking for in order to replace the one I have? Is this straight forward?!!

fatnbald

I would suggest you opt to pay a little more and use the knowledge in your local PC shop (NOT a high street box seller), if you take in the power supply you already have and tell them you need the 450Watt one to suit they will sort you out, it may cost a little more than say ebay but you will have it straight away and in my experience they will give a lot of advice FOC.

Antispam

I agree with poster above. Modern graphics card draw a lot of power particularly on games so much so that some cant get enough power from AGP or PCI-E slots and thus need to draw power directly from the psu. They have there own socket for the power connector.

Another thing some manufacturers also have parts especially built for them so ar not always bog standard, Dell is one of them that use to do this

Get a local shop to do this for you, you can pay quiet a it for a branded psu that is energy efficent and has a steady supply around £50-£70 or around £30 for a cheapo one.

Sometimes though its just best to upgrade I was going to upgrade my daugters pc but it justw anst worth doing tbh for having a decent pc may as well get a new mobo, pcie car, ram etc

iviv

One thing to remember is to avoid cheap PSUs. These are components which are providing hundreds of watts to parts of your computer. A fault could fry one of the computers, or even (though extremely unlikely) cause a fire.

Of course, you don't need a super expensive one either, just stick with a well known brand.

Antec
Enermax
Enlight
Powerman/Leadman
Delta
Zalman
Vantec
Thermaltake
Allied

Anyone of those should see you ok.

basmic

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/B3785-Lite-On-PS-5251-08HP-250W-psu-HP-P-N-5187-1099_W0QQitemZ110267825398QQcmdZViewItemQQssPageNameZRSS:B:SRCH:GB:101 - looks like a normal ATX PSU to me, with an additional 4 pin 12v connector.

Personally, if you want to go for quality, I would very highly recommend the Enermax PSUs.

http://www.google.co.uk/products?hl=en&q=EPR525AWT&scoring=p - this PSU should do nicely for you, ready to pack 525w whenever you need it!

Replacing the PSU is rather simple. Trace all the power cables from the PSU, to the devices it's powering, and unplug them all one by one. Unscrew the PSU, and carefully remove the PSU making sure the plugs don't snag and pull anything on the way out.

Be careful if your harddrive is SATA! SATA ports are very fragile, and I have personally snapped one when removing a PSU, thanks to it snagging! Meant it was time to buy a new HD! :eek::o:naughty:

When you put the new PSU in, try and keep the cables tidy - but I find this is easier said than done. Make sure you plug everthing in, and check everything is plugged in the way it should be. It is quite easy to plug a floppy drive's power connector just one pin out of line - this means horrible burning smell, and a new floppy drive if you use it .