Graphics Card Update

sporedude

If I was to upgrade a old PCI-E graphics card think I would need a power supply upgrade? Or does the power supply not matter?

HappyIdiotTalk

It would depend on the graphics card and the system. As a rule of thumb I'd say an average gaming system needs at least 500 to 600 watts. But if you buy a really power hungry graphics card that needs a couple of power connections of its own, and have lots of other components in your system then you may need to get a slightly higher rated supply. Fortunately PSU's are relatively cheap in comparison to other components.

HappyIdiotTalk

PS. if you do buy one, dont just go for the cheapest you can find. Cheap PSU's dont last long and the power output may fluctuate along the rails during use which can cause problems and interrupt the smooth running of your shiny new graphics card.

sporedude

Not really looking for an over the top card, maybe mid range.

HappyIdiotTalk

What wattage is the PSU? If its around 600 and you dont have your PC crammed with all kinds of stuff you will probably be ok.

sporedude

A rough guess I'd say 350

HappyIdiotTalk

Eeck! It might work at this wattage, but in my opinion I you need to upgrade to around 500 or 600.

weegie.geek

Depends if it's one of the trupower PSUs, or the equivalent. My machine with a C2D, 8800GT, 2GB, 4x500GB drives, 2 tv cards and 2 optical drives sucked up much less than 200W at idle, measured at the wall. Accounting for PSU inefficiency, that's what, 160W max? A 350W trupower would handle that running flat out with room to spare.

Edit: dug out my old post:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=12395429&postcount=9

"Uses ~125W when idling, and ~180w when the cpu's going full pelt. Haven't checked what kind of difference the video card working hard makes."

So something like 250W when the GPU's doing its thing, I'd imagine.

HappyIdiotTalk

Trupower? Never heard of it... I must brush up. Thanks for posting.

weegie.geek

truepower, my mistake.

Basically PSUs that are able to supply the power they're quoted at doing. A 350W psu will supply 350W, as opposed to the cheapo supplies you get in cheap cases that say they're 500W but will cry if you push them anywhere near that.

I should mention that although a PSU will do 350W, you might need a beefier one if it can't supply enough current on the 12v rail(s). More than one 12v rail can be combined using a molex>pci-e power cable.

basmic

I'd look at what wattae your current PSU is. 400w almost certainly will be able to handle a decent graphic card, 350w possibly - but only it's a good quality PSU. If it's a generic cheap 400w, I'd consider buying an Enermax 400w.

Although Enermax may well be out of your budget range, they have yet to let me down. I run a 400w Enermax PSU in one machine, and another 600w in my own machine. In all honesty, I would likely get away with 400w PSUs in both machines.

Another thing to consider, is that the lower-mid range graphic cards and CPUs are becoming more power efficient. I was rather surprised at the power usage dip recently when I upgraded my machine from a P4 3GHz with a 6800GT graphic card, to a Core 2 Duo 3GHz with a GTX260.