Graphics card for 220w PSU advice please

martyp

Hi all,

I have an Acer Aspire X3200 with an Nvidia 8200 onboard GPU but fancied a dedicated PCIE card but don't want to change the PSU as they're quite expensive. I really just wanted to get a card that could work ok with the existing 220w PSU if possible and NVidia have suggested a GT 520 but have also seen references to ATI HD cards when googling.
I've always had NVidia before so unsure how good a card I could get and whether NVidia or ATI might be my best option for the low wattage PSU?
According to the NVidia site though the GT 520 requires 300w? The other thoughts would be an ATI HD 5450?

banger9365

220w psu will not cut it ,even my silverstone 120w for Micro-ATX stuff would not cut it with any addon cards,and thier some off the best micro atx psu on the market

if your is a no name one change it ,remember your psu is the heart off your pc ,give it crap ,your pc will go wrong

Mista_C

I'm running the HD5450 in my X3810 without a problem. Also upgraded the CPU for a Q6600.

The only thing I would say about adding in a PCI-e card is to watch the clearance of the heat sink/fan with the top of the case. It's a bit tight and the heat doesn't circulate all that well with the fan version.

mr_fishbulb

I put a HD 5450 in my small form factor machine with a 275W PSU specifically because of the low power requirements.

spannerzone

Yeah I'd agree with Mr Fishbulb, almost any desktop powersupply should cope with the tiny requirements of an HD5450 but note that it's not a gamers card but will improve other aspects of graphics like HD video etc.

martyp

Excellent, many thanks all. I did a power usage check on here:
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
It seems to suggest the HD5450 in my machine would need 199w at the most. Confusing as NVidia's suggestion supposedly requires 300w minimum and HD5450 according to the manufacturer requires 400w yet it looks like the cards realistically only use about 29w. I'd imagine the PSU requirement is to cope with the needs of all the other hardware, surprising how much power the CPU ssems to use alone.
When I check the height of the GT520 from NVidia with the heatsink it will be a very tight fit if anything:
http://uk.msi.com/product/vga/N520GT-MD1GD3H-LP.html

I'll look into the HD5450 now

jaydeeuk1

An i7 965 overclocked to 3.7ghz, 4 sticks of DDR 3, powersaving features disabled, an SSD and a hard drive with a radeon 7750 will draw 188w PEAK according to guru3d, and 155w at idle, and similar numbers on other sites too. Yours will be fine with a 5450, 6450 or even the 7750 on your 220w psu (its half height). People love giving a good scare when mentioning anything to do with PSUs. Probably the same people who tell you never to use supermarket petrol. If it was a £800 gaming PC where you would be constantly maxing out the CPU and GPU, drawing high avg current from the PSU then I might advise spending £80 or so on a decent brand, but you're not so I won't.

martyp

All good, I went with a HD5450 in the end, £25.99 Asus one from PC World. Seems to run absolutely fine and fits perfectly inside the case, it hit 75C when running a graphics benchmarking app but cooled down quickly after. It's got just enough clearance from the case so the case doesn't get too hot where it is.