Old HP 300W PSU - Which GFX Card?

Drake5

Drake5

Drake5

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I want to put a GFX Card in one of my older PC's for some TF2 Gaming.

The PSU came from an HP PC and it's 300W. Would it be strong enough to run a 4850?

Cheers
 
Depends how much 12v current it can handle really. HD4850s needed about 110 watts, so around 10 Amps from whatever that PSU can deliver and isn't in use by other components.
 
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As above, it really depends on the design of the PSU and how beefy the 12V rail is.

If you could take the side off the PC and have a look at the rating sticker on the PSU you should be able to find out how much current the 12V rail(s) can deliver.

Also, may I ask what the rest of your PC spec is?

Assuming your PSU is half-decent I would recommend you have a look at the HD 7750. This is a new graphics card which uses a very energy efficient design - under gaming load it doesn't draw much power, but provides performance that will power modern games, so long as you turn the settings down a bit. Also, it outperforms the HD 4850.
 
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Judging by the 'old' I'd hazard a guess and say no, no it won't :(.

Worth checking the specs for the amps on the 12.v as stated above. But if it's close to the 10ampish mark (minus cpu) I wouldn't bother trying. It will have degraded over time to some extent, and being a HP it will naturally be the cheapest PSU they could get that would sufficiently power the system they had in mind, which I'd imagine never included a discrete gpu. :(
 
OptimaLnrg said:
Judging by the 'old' I'd hazard a guess and say no, no it won't :(.

Worth checking the specs for the amps on the 12.v as stated above. But if it's close to the 10ampish mark (minus cpu) I wouldn't bother trying. It will have degraded over time to some extent, and being a HP it will naturally be the cheapest PSU they could get that would sufficiently power the system they had in mind, which I'd imagine never included a discrete gpu. :(
Click to expand...

Thanks, the PSU was a spare I had laying around as my old one blown.

What is the cheapest PSU I could get away with using? Working on a very tight budget as usual...

The specs for the system are:
E6750 2.66Ghz
4GB DDR2 RAM
160GB HDD
DVD Drive
Some type of GFX Card

Thanks
 
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This is what the sticker says on the side of the PSU, just wondering if I could get away with running something like a 4850 for the time being.

+5.08v/19A Max. +12V/11A Max
+3.33v/16A Max. -12V/0.15A Max
+5.08Vaux/2A Max
+12Vcpu/11.5A Max

Cheers
 
Just thought, this PSU doesn't have a PCI-E adapter anyway, might aswell just get that one linked for only £30 I guess!

Cheers
 
Tom_D said:
This is what the sticker says on the side of the PSU, just wondering if I could get away with running something like a 4850 for the time being.

+5.08v/19A Max. +12V/11A Max
+3.33v/16A Max. -12V/0.15A Max
+5.08Vaux/2A Max
+12Vcpu/11.5A Max

Cheers
Click to expand...

That PSU may just do it with the two 12V rails at 11A, but tbh it will be pretty close. If at all possible, I would buy a new PSU.
 
I'd say 11A Max on the non CPU rail is insufficient for a 4850 as that needs pretty much all of that when run at full load.

It's unlikely that this crappy HP PSU can actually provide both 12v rails at Max for more than a few nanoseconds without blowing up so I'd not risk it.

The 5450 would be considerably slower than the 4850. The most comparable 6xxx series card would be the HD6750 or the HD7750, which run at about 3/4 and 1/2 of the power draw respectively and £70 and £80, also respectively.

If you already have the HD4850 or are getting it very cheap then a £35 (or similar) Corsair Builder PSU is the way to go.
 
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I'm going to be on a tight budget of about £70 so I think I'll struggle. I may have to see what I can find on the MM I guess.

Cheers
 
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