Is my PSU up to the job ? ( New Graphics card )

PZH

My current graphics card ( Radion 9800 Pro ) is struggling with the newer games - and some I believe won't even play at all so won't be buying them ( MoH - Airborne, Bioshock, etc ).

I followed with interest the post about upgrading a graphics card here :-
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=545326

Having done a a bit of research and looking at prices I think I may opt for the X1950 Pro which is about £100 - £120 depending what flavour I get.

However, the question revolves around my PSU ( Antec TRUE430PGB True Power 430W ATX ) - is this enough to run the graphics card ??

Full system as below:-

AMD 3200+
Gigabyte GA-7N400-L Socket A NForce2 Ultra 400 FSB400
Sapphire Atlantis Radeon 9800 PRO 128 MB DDR 8x AGP ( to be replaced )
Crucial 512MB DDR 400MHz/PC3200 CL3 2.5V UNBUFFERED NON-ECC 184 PIN ( x2 )
Antec TRUE430PGB True Power 430W ATX

I also have:-
internal modem ( Seldom used - just for fax, etc )
SCSI Card for Scanner ( Occasional use )
And a large cooling fan on the CPU ( Gigabyte something or other )

Conor_3

Yes it is up to it. I run an Antec 380W and it's happily keeping a AMD X2 4800, 2GB RAM and Geforce 7900GT running.

Tallymanjohn

As long as you only have 1 hard drive & a couple of optical drives then, as long as you have the required connectors, you'll be ok. Antec power supplies are one of the best you can get and a 430w will be fine for what you want to attach. Just be careful about adding too many extra fans as well. I think there's a calculator around the net somewhere that lets you list your components and it calculates the size of PSU that you need. The important figure on the PSU label to look at is the +12v current.

GoofyGAT

I think the X1950 cards are more power-hungry than the 7900s, & probably not worth the risk going by this thread (see post #5) - could be a one-off though? The poster also feels that his CPU (same as yours) was a bottleneck. 7900GS & X1650XT compared.

Hence a 7900GS & adding 512Mb RAM (if you only have 512Mb now) may be a better alternative. Discussion about an Antec 430 & 7900GS here. G

P.S. Also gleaned from the 1st link above - apparently an AMD 2600+ & 7800GS don't ideally mix so I'll have to inform bartman on the other thread

ormus

can i have your old 9800 pro?:)

GoofyGAT

ormus wrote: »

can i have your old 9800 pro?:)

Yes, sure as long as you pay me - I accept personal cheques, PayPal & direct bank deposit . G

P.S. Btw, I kept my old 9700 as a standby, so phoodless may want to as well?

PZH

GoofyGAT wrote: »

I think the X1950 cards are more power-hungry than the 7900s, & probably not worth the risk going by this thread (see post #5) - could be a one-off though? The poster also feels that his CPU (same as yours) was a bottleneck. 7900GS & X1650XT compared.

Hence a 7900GS & adding 512Mb RAM (if you only have 512Mb now) may be a better alternative. Discussion about an Antec 430 & 7900GS here. G

P.S. Also gleaned from the 1st link above - apparently an AMD 2600+ & 7800GS don't ideally mix so I'll have to inform bartman on the other thread

Interesting reading indeed. It does depend on what review you read, some say yes, some say no. However, I think reading some of the links given above, it may not be worth the risk.

Will have to do some reading on the 7900GS.

Thank you all :T

PZH

Ok - just a quick update for all those that are actually interested...

I spotted a Sapphire Radion X1950 Pro on special offer from CCLOnline and, after reading virtually every review on the internet ( Or that's what it felt like - lol ), decided to go for it.

Running ok so far - no power issues. GPU temps running between 55C - 65C depending on what's running and at what settings. It doesn't like anything above Catalyst Version 7.7 ( V7.10 is available ) but I had read this about the new drivers anyway. Fitted ok in the AGP slot - it's a long card and has two power connectors, but it came with a power splitter in the box ( not that I needed it ). XP detected the new card and updated the system automatically - but still reinstalled the 7.7 drivers to make sure.

Fan is very quiet and runs at 41% usually but does vary up to 59% at times of very hish stress.

All in all - I think a very good card for an aging system.

HTH