400watt psu sufficient?

Baldrick1001 · 4 Jan 2012 at 21:18

My daughters pc is currently:

Q6600 GO CPU
4 gig DDR 3 (2 DIMMs)
1 x 640g WD HDD (black edition)
1 DVD writer
1 x 7900gs nvidia GPU
USB webcam
Graphics tablet
Wireless USB keyboard and mouse

All running from an Akasa 400w power max PSU

I'd like to upgrade the GPU to an AMD 6770 gpu and wondered whether I'd need to upgrade the PSU? Various pc power calculators suggest not but the minimum reqs for this card seem to vary between 400w and 500w.

Many thanks

RJC · 4 Jan 2012 at 21:26

You should be ok with that PSU.

moody89 · 4 Jan 2012 at 21:26

Official requirements from AMD are:

450 Watt or greater power supply with one 75W 6-pin PCI Express® power connectors recommended (600 Watt and two 6-pin connectors for AMD CrossFireX™ technology in dual mode).

Personally, I'd probably grab a new one if you can afford to. It's a safer bet and a good quality unit will last you several builds. You may even find that your current PSU won't have the 6-pin PCI-E connector needed for the graphics card, some older ones don't.

pcAnywhere · 4 Jan 2012 at 21:32

AMDs specs are always very conservative, as not all PSUs are created equal. A 400w supply with a strong 12v rail will be fine.

Adam_101 · 5 Jan 2012 at 06:19

Should be fine, howeverever if you discover your pc is in need of a higher sp[ec psu after getting the card you can always go for a better one!

Baldrick1001 · 5 Jan 2012 at 23:17

Thanks all - I've ordered the card and will let you know ho widget on.