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Low Power Consuming Card

BigMike

BigMike

BigMike

Associate
Joined
28 Sep 2007
Posts
14
Location
Merseyside, UK
Hi guys, I'm new to this place, but I've known about OcUK for a long time, so I figured it was the best place to ask this question!

Basically I have two machines, one is my regular gaming rig, and the other is a computer I bought from MESH (ugh!) recently. It's a pretty good spec until it comes to the PSU and graphics, its just got a pretty lowly 250W ATX PSU and an integrated ATi Radeon X1200, which surprisingly runs the Source engine quite smoothly.

Now I was thinking, I would love to install a new graphics card into this computer, and with MESH's warranty policy being 'open case' (meaning you can add peripherals, as long as you don't mess with what they've put in) I thought it would be great to buy a new graphics card so I can network the two computers and play games with my mates when they come over. (Mainly just Source games, and a bit of Battlefield 2)

Now I know most modern cards state you need at least 350-400W PSUs to run them in a stable state, so I was looking at low power consuming cards such as the nVidia 7900GT 256Mb PCIe GDDR3, which I read only consumes something around 60W of power when at full tilt and I really want to buy it!

So my question is this; would the 7900GT be alright in this system with my 250W PSU? I don't want to void my warranty, would I have to buy a new PSU? I mean the only things the PSU is powering is all the bare essentials plus 1 DVD-RW, a 6-in-1 card reader, and there are 2 fans in the case. Surely I can get something half decent!

Engulf me with your expertise!
Cheers,
Mike
 
i ran my second computor with a 6600gt then a 7600gs with 250w psu with no problems :) but why not upgrade the psu and get a beter card/
 
I personally don;t think a 7900GT will run on a 250w PSU, limit you to maybe a 7600GS ? You can buy PSUs solely for graphics cards.
 
Sprite said:
I personally don;t think a 7900GT will run on a 250w PSU, limit you to maybe a 7600GS ? You can buy PSUs solely for graphics cards.
Click to expand...
I'm sure the 7600GT (higher clocks than a GS I know) recommends 450W so I dunno if a 250W would hack it but the proof is in the pudding I guess.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, you have been most welcoming!

I'm now looking at this 8600GT as Cyber-Mav suggested. This would also be beneficial somewhat, for DX10 proofing and it doesn't require an external power source other than the PCIe bus. And 43W power consumption sounds great. Any more help/suggestions are most welcome, but I think I'm going to purchase this card.

Cheers,
Mike
 
Last edited:
Ah right, sorry, I missed that sticky!

Well looking at the X1950 Pro, I see here they say that the total system power usage is 219W at full load, but they also say that a 420W minimum is best.

Do you think this will cause problems for my PSU, despite it being 250W which is more than the total power used at full load on that test?

Sorry if I'm being a pain, I just want to be as sure as possible before I buy the new card.

Cheers,
Mike
 
Gone for the OcUK 8600 GT, for DX10, and also because there's no external power required.

Thanks for all your help, folks! Much appreciated

Cheers,
Mike
 
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