will the standard psu work or will need changing?

[FixupSellon]

picked up an old acer veriton m221 tower thats all original minus the hdd as i used it in a computer i just sold on an auction for £6.50 and i quite like it, havent sorted out an os yet as been focused elsewhere(sold my antec **** cube and working on my APU system to sell) and its cool that it has tool less fixings..

it is going against me wanting sff types, but lets me play around with it and beside i use my old dell latitude d600 lol.

anyways the current spec just so you get the idea.

acer board

athlon 5000b dual core
2gb ddr2 800mhz(supports 4gb max, but only 2 slots, although board as indication 2 more slots can be fitted?? )
onboard ati radeon 2100 graphics
sata label flash dvd drive
liteon 250w psu

i will have either 3 or 4 sata hdds connected but not as any raid as they obtain mine and my missus personal data, maybe a 5th if for some reason the os on either drive doesnt get accepted, but i probably wont have any pci adapters unless i need them..

however i will add some sort of case cooling(no modding just a fan or fans) and rather than buy any multimedia/gaming card i will buy either a quadro nvs 295 or better or ati equivalent as i want to try out cad software and the like as i havent had chance yet and ofcourse one that will work with windows 7 pro..


so yeah will the psu hold out before the pci e x16 card and after i add one? it has 15a on the 12v rail and no liteon product ive ever had gave way, i will sort out a 2x2gb kit, but for now im going with what ive got and if the psu wont last then whats the lowest power you'd suggest?

cheers

 

[Borealis]

15A on the 12V rail gives you 180W, even though it's a 250W PSU. I reckon you will need a bigger PSU because the CPU is 65W and the weakest Quadro is also around the 60-65W mark.

For CAD, you really need more than 2GB. Are you thinking 2D or 3D? If you go down the 3D route, then even 4GB could be too little (I'm a 3D CAD engineer).

 

[FixupSellon]

thanks for reply, yeah i didnt think the psu would last, well it will last for the moment, discovered i need to source sata connectors that will fit, so for know only 2 hdds will be used lol..

2gb will be what i will use for the moment, 4gb kits of ddr2 seems hard to find for a decent price, mean i could keep my APU, buts its the e350 mini itx and is limited, so for the moment i will stick the acer out..

and so since im not a cad expert and not as good with design stuff like i used to be back in school(only 30) and having no experience with these types of cards ill probably just try 2D and see how i go from there..

i could get a nvs 295 256mb for under £15, but i was reading from a search about people having issues with these cards on window 7 operating systems??

okay so if a new psu is in order what would be a more suitable one? mean which side of 400w we talking?

 

[Doogles]

Instead of upgrading it I honestly think you'd be best of getting a whole new build, DDR2 is expensive now because it is EOL and the PSU is way to weak for any graphics card. I don't really see any upgrade routes worth taking with it imo.

 

[FixupSellon]

thanks for reply, however i will be upgrading it, its what i do, mean i usually buy upgrade or repair and sell on, but certain computers i keep for myself to have a play with and see which one suits me and right now this acer is the best ive had recently that will be good for storage, mainly because its tool less and the drives come out the side rather into the case, but i never like having onboard graphics unless no choice like my main(well was) which is a e350 APU..

i can upgrade the psu of the acer whether its from a computer ill buy next or unit only, but since i only want it for minimal use i want to push the standard unit as much as i can.

so a geforce 210 for modern is out the question then your saying? also the nvs cards cant be that power hungry can they? anything they better than ati 2100 will do really.