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400w Psu and a x1950gt

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400w Psu and a x1950gt (AGP)

Im a bit confused........ive been doin a bit of research and im getting conflicting answers - some say that a 400w generic PSU is enough to run the x1950gt and some say its not. I would really like to get one but i would hate the dissapointment of putting it in and it not working. I could get a x1650pro which i think would work ok but id rather get the best i can get for my money. If i get a x1950 i cant afford a new psu where as if i buy the x1650 i could.......dilema :confused: I do have quite and old rig too

AMD 2400+
1 x 1GIG DDR
1 x 256 DDR
9800 pro
1 x DVD RW
1 x CD RW
400W MERCURY PSU
1 x 120mm FAN
2 x 80mm
1 x 160gb HDD
 
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First off, you don't want to be running expensive components off a cheapo PSU.

Wherever they say you can run a X1950GT off a 400W PSU they mean a high quality one like the Enermax Liberty 400W. That PSU has even been shown running a system with a X1950XT. Its got dedicated PCI-E power connectors, dual +12V rails & 30A total on both.

So, check the specs (mainly +12V Rail & for above GFX ideal if it has 2, i.e. +12V1, +12V2 etc) of your PSU to know whether its capable...

 
Tucked away in a corner, I've got ;

E6400 o/c'd
2Gb DDR2 (1x2)
X1900XT
DVD-RW
320Gb SATA HD
Some fans

Runs 24/7 using a SilverPower SP-400P2C 400W PSU, cost me £25.
 
Nullvoid said:
The 380w antec earthwatts would do the job (27A on its combined 12v rails).

Thanks, its been a while since i bought a psu - would that psu still be ok even tho ' i have IDE drives and no PCI-e power dependant items ?
 
I've got 18A across each 12V rail on my SilverPower. So that's 36A combined along with a maximum of 312W across both rails.

Like I said, been running my secondary box 24/7, and my X1900XT draws a lot more power than the X1950GT. They are made by Tagan & it cost me £25 inc VAT.

There really is no other PSU that comes near it for the price imo.
 
Your motherboard also draws from the 12v rail so it would cope just as well whether your x1950gt is agp or pci-express.

Btw Bubby, you're getting slightly mixed up. The figure you quote for combined wattage is the important one. Yes you could get 18A max out of one 12v rail, but if you're drawing from both of them the maximum you can expect is 26A not 36A (derived from the 312w). It sounds like a good unit though, I've got a 380w Tagan myself so I can attest to their quality.
 
BubbySoup said:
Tucked away in a corner, I've got ;

E6400 o/c'd
2Gb DDR2 (1x2)
X1900XT
DVD-RW
320Gb SATA HD
Some fans

Runs 24/7 using a SilverPower SP-400P2C 400W PSU, cost me £25.

Best budget PSU ever! :D

Got a 350W powering my gf's machine, and 400w backup in case my noisetaker should ever die.

The 400w has powered by rig (4000+ @ 3Ghz, 1GB RAM, 2x 250GB HDDs, X1800XT, 2 optical drives, 3 12cm fans) without breaking a sweat :)
 
my machine is runnin off a 380w Enermax Coolergiant with a seperate 12v rail....got my x1950 GT overclocked and it runs fine :)

I asked the same question about 2 weeks ago on here hehe, glad i can help now :)

Ben
 
I have seen the Thermaltake toughpower 750W for £58, although that only has 1 x 8 pin connector so not very good for overclocking of crossfire 2900xt's if you feel more comfortable using 8 pin connectors.

of course the 1200w version has 3 x 8 pins lol.

Anyway..getting of topic, but will be gutted if the qtec falls over powering just an x1950xt.

If your just running a pc with cpu /gfx/sound and the basic components, I REALLY do not understand why you need such a massive wattage psu.

Matthew
 
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The Merc will be fine

Ive run pc as per sig (at stock) from mine for a month or so...
i also ran it a day or 2 at 2800mhz/ccc max clocks. but psu got very hot with that load...

it got a bit warmer than old rig (Barton + 9800pro), but worked fine.

running my old barton heavily OC'd with an oc'd 9800pro as we speak now.

so: for certain it will work, if your overclocking much, all bets are off (your results may vary)


in my past experence merc psu's die when overloaded very peacefully. they just turn off, and never turn back on.
 
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