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Video card power supply requirements


falco

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I've got a HP computer and am looking to put in a video card(presently have integrated graphics). I found some manufactuers will specify the minimum size of power supply required to run the card. I can't find anything like this for ATI cards. I have a 300W power supply so I am limited on my choice of video cards. Does anyone know if this info exists on the net somewhere? I tried the ATI website but can't find anything.  :? :?

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Hi falco.....

First thing I don't know if you have checked, but you might want to see if you have a AGP or PCI express slot in your PC and or be able to turn your onboard video off from the BIOS.

My thought on the power supply is that if your new vid card has a power connector on it you probably would want to upgrade the PSU, also it depends on how many peripherals you have now or maybe in the future such as an xtra H.D. or CD/DVD and the size of the processor is also a factor.

All in all it doesn't hurt to have a bigger good quality PSU like 450/500 watt.

And you should make sure that your HP takes a standard PSU.

Sometimes HP uses a proprietary PSU.

Hope this helps............Good luck  ;)

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Thanks for the replies. My computer has a 300 W p.s. and a free PCI-E slot. I was checking some cards out and I could probably go with a geforce 6200 or maybe a 7300 series 256mb card. I know both aren't robust cards but they should be better than the integrated graphics. here are the specs for my machine:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=1815823&lang=en&docname=c00571922

Any suggestions or opinions?

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It all really depends on what type of card you are going to run. 

You might want to take a look at this site.. http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/05/08/2006_graphics_card_buyers_guide_part1/index.html

They are running a pretty loaded system on 560 watts of power.. you dont need that much.. 400watts should be more than enough..  that said you are going to want to get a decent power supply..  I personally like the brand Antec...

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It all really depends on what type of card you are going to run.   

You might want to take a look at this site.. http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/05/08/2006_graphics_card_buyers_guide_part1/index.html

They are running a pretty loaded system on 560 watts of power.. you dont need that much.. 400watts should be more than enough..  that said you are going to want to get a decent power supply..  I personally like the brand Antec...

I will wait till the computer arrives and go from there. It was a hell of a deal that I just couldn't pass up. $533 canadian(463 U.S.) including shipping for an Athlon 64 3700+, even though it's an HP. It has a socket 939 mobo so I can upgrade processors. It's time to retire my Athlon XP 1200.

I will measure the power supply when it arrives to see if I can replace it. My luck, it's probably some proprietary set-up with HP. I may be able to switch p.s. from my old machine to the new one(old one is a 350).

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