# New graphics card, do I really need a new power supply?



## guitarister7321 (Jun 29, 2011)

So I just ordered a new Radeon HD4650 for my computer last night and should get it tomorrow. The specs said the power supply needs a 450w power supply, which I doubt my computer has. At the moment I really don't want to spend $50 on a new power supply, as I am saving up for a new 7-string and already spent $70 on the graphics card and new RAM. So what would happen if I ran the card on my current power supply, if it is under 450w? Will it ruin the card?

Thanks in advance!


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## Sicarius (Jun 29, 2011)

not enough power means it won't work right, if at all.

You'd be better off just getting it.

also this:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090720225718AAC6lB7


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## Mexi (Jun 29, 2011)

yeah, you definitely need a new power supply. situations like these are the reason I gave up on PC gaming


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## Razzy (Jun 29, 2011)

Newegg.com - COOLMAX V-500 500W ATX Power Supply

That's not a bad power supply for the price. I've had good luck with them, and used to sell them.


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## cwhitey2 (Jun 29, 2011)

does a car need oil?

for everything to run correctly you need to power it correctly


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## guitarister7321 (Jun 29, 2011)

Okay, I kind of figured I would need one. My current one is 305w, so I'll probably get a 500w or 550w. I'll probably order one today and hopefully have it a day or two after my video card arrives.

Thanks for the help guys!


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## Razzy (Jun 29, 2011)

guitarister7321 said:


> Okay, I kind of figured I would need one. My current one is 305w, so I'll probably get a 500w or 550w. I'll probably order one today and hopefully have it a day or two after my video card arrives.
> 
> Thanks for the help guys!



Seriously, at least get Coolmax. If you get a cheap brand that isn't Coolmax, say bye-bye to all your other components.


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## AxeHappy (Jun 29, 2011)

Power Supplies are the heart of your Computer (CPU is the brain). They are what make everything work. 

Don't skimp on them. Get the biggest, most powerful, best consumption rated, beast you can afford. 

With the right deal you can find 1000 watt high brand name for under $200. Spen 80 bucks and get at least a 550 watt Corsair or something.


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## guitarister7321 (Jun 29, 2011)

Just ordered a Thermaltake TR2 500w for $60. Has solid reviews on Amazon, and I've heard good things about the company. Should be here tomorrow, along with my graphics card. Can't wait


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## flint757 (Jun 29, 2011)

FYI there ratings are usually wrong hopefully what you bought works for you but usually it need to be higher than the recommended. I had a computer continually die because I suffered from cheap ass disorder.  But hey you got save where you can so hopefully it works for you. Good luck


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## guitarister7321 (Jun 29, 2011)

Should work... I've heard of people running the Radeon 5770 with this PSU. My graphics card that's coming is the Radeon 4650. I think both need 450w.

I'll keep you guys posted on how everything goes!


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## dacimvrl (Jun 30, 2011)

it should work, *BUT* it's not recommended.

Also, you won't be able to run the gfx card at its full potential, which, in turn, voids the reason why you bought it in the first place. Not only that, you risk damages to your hardware in general. Thus, it's not something i would recommend at all.

As for a PSU, I would only recommend a few brands, such as Corsair(Seasonic), Antec(Seasonic), OCZ(FSP).


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## flint757 (Jun 30, 2011)

My card from 3 years ago need it least 550 to run properly. So I got 550 and it wouldn't run properly. Then I went to the store and bought a 650 been working perfectly ever since. I find it hard to believe 450 would work only because that's what I put into non gaming computers when I'm working on IT stuff for people. Either way if you have any troubles you can return it. I wanted to save to where I thought it wouldn't matter the problem is everything matters...A LOT


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## guitarister7321 (Jun 30, 2011)

Just checked the card's requirements. It needs a 400w to run. So I'm guessing 500w should work fine.


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## HighGain510 (Jun 30, 2011)

Yeah you definitely need a new PSU for a card like that. I remember back when I upgraded my very first video card (total noob to PC gaming back then) and had no idea the power consumption would change drastically from what I had in there originally. Card didn't work at all.  So yes, you did the right thing by buying the power supply.


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## dacimvrl (Jun 30, 2011)

One other thing that you have to take note of is that even if the PSU is labeled 500W, it does NOT run perfectly at 500W, you gotta read into the efficiency rating as well. 

Also, PSUs degrade over time, just like any other electrical appliance. Thus, a 500W PSU could very well run at 470W or so, and over time, degradation could further bring it down to 430 or so.

So 500W is kind of pushing it IF you have a lot of peripherals requiring USB power...etc. or plan to use it for a couple of years.


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## guitarister7321 (Jul 1, 2011)

dacimvrl said:


> So 500W is kind of pushing it IF you have a lot of peripherals requiring USB power...etc. or plan to use it for a couple of years.



All I have for USB is Wireless Keyboard/Mouse and a External DVD Drive, which has it's own power cable running into my wall. I also plan on using an Xbox 360 USB wired controller for some games. I don't think that'd be a lot for USB. I also do not plan on using this setup for years either, I want to build a PC from the ground up in the next year or so. So I should be using this 500w for 1-2 years.


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## guitarister7321 (Jul 2, 2011)

Got everything installed and everything seems to be working fine. Played a bit of Oblivion on it and played Sims 3 for about an hour. So far so good.


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## The Atomic Ass (Jul 2, 2011)

USB does NOT draw a lot of power... It's 2.5w x however many ports you have. You have 10 ports? 25w.

And what the hell is with all this power-gobbling shit? A few months ago when I was trying to decide on whether to get a desktop or laptop, I was looking over the desktop components, and all but the lowest of the low video cards required separate PSU connections. In 2004, when I built my first desktop, I gave it the second-best Radeon card available at the time, and it did not require a separate connection. Nothing available did.

Said system has a 300w PSU, (I assume) and recently was found to draw ~100w at idle. 60-70% of that being pure CPU. The power demand jumps perhaps 10w under full CPU and video load.

I have heard of systems drawing 900w watts from the wall (very hardcore systems, but still), I thought we were trying to go green lately? Aren't we trying to save power? Aren't things becoming more efficient?

Something is rather seriously amiss in the computer industry. If it's not a fucking Cray, it shouldn't be drawing as much as one.


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## Bekanor (Jul 8, 2011)

I remember when I updated my video card and didn't bother upgrading my PSU. I blue screened constantly due to the video card crashing out from starvation. 

There was enough power total to handle the card, but not enough (by about half) going along the 12v rails. That's the main spec you should be concerned about when buying a PSU to match your video card. It doesn't matter if you've got a 550W PSU when the specs call for 450W, if it's only putting out 18A on the 12V rails you're not going to be able to run much in the way of high end video cards.


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## KingAenarion (Jul 8, 2011)

You want an 80+ Power supply. That means it's at least 80% efficiency in producing what it says.

As someone who has for a while built systems for himself and to sell to others... the brands that are most trustworthy/reliable in my experience are Corsair, Antec, Coolermaster, Thermaltake and Zalman




AxeHappy said:


> Power Supplies are the heart of your Computer (CPU is the brain). They are what make everything work.
> 
> Don't skimp on them. Get the biggest, most powerful, best consumption rated, beast you can afford.
> 
> With the right deal you can find 1000 watt high brand name for under $200. Spen 80 bucks and get at least a 550 watt Corsair or something.



This is simply just not true. 1000 Watts is ridiculous. You only need that kind of power if you're running a triple graphics card setup. I can easily run two overclocked Radeon 6870s with my 750Watt Corsair power supply.

You want quality and efficiency before size.


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## AxeHappy (Jul 10, 2011)

Which is probably why I recommended a 550Watt PS? (Corsair which should get you 80+ and is one of the best names in PS covering your quality and efficiency line)

I think you may have misread what I wrote. I simply said you can get 1000 watts for fairly cheap so there is no reason not to spend the cheap amount it would require to get the PS that would give you what you actually need.

I use a 750 Antenc myself!


So basically:
You said everything I said whilst saying I was wrong. Awesome!


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## Mordacain (Jul 10, 2011)

I've been running a 520 Watt Corsair pow supply for over 4 years and it still does everything I need.

The simple method of determining how much power supply you need is to start adding up the peak power usage numbers of your rig. To keep things simple though, just go with your CPU & GPU power consumption at peak. If you add a second graphics card, just double your card's consumption and add it in. Then just add the numbers up and that's what you need. Round up to your nearest choice and there you are.

+1 concerning 80+ certification. The more efficient your power supply, the more stable it will be and the better it will be able to deal with power ripples.


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## KingAenarion (Jul 11, 2011)

AxeHappy said:


> Which is probably why I recommended a 550Watt PS? (Corsair which should get you 80+ and is one of the best names in PS covering your quality and efficiency line)
> 
> I think you may have misread what I wrote. I simply said you can get 1000 watts for fairly cheap so there is no reason not to spend the cheap amount it would require to get the PS that would give you what you actually need.
> 
> ...


 I was saying that the statement "Don't skimp on them. Get the biggest, most powerful, best consumption rated, beast you can afford." Is not the best advice. You then mention 1000W PSUs... 

Can you see where I was coming from?


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## AxeHappy (Jul 11, 2011)

You should get the best power supply you can afford. That is good advice. Weak power supply causes more errors with computers that is worth listing. 

Yes, I did mention 1000PS after saying that. For saying that they can be found for cheap so there is no reason not to get one that suits your power needs. Whatever that wattage may be.


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