Hi, i'm thinking of upgrading my PC from AGP to PCI-e and running an x1800XT (with the possibility of Crossfire on the horizon). my current power supply is a thermaltake 420W, 20-pin connector, single 12V... i.e. outdated technology where PCI-e motherboards and SLi/Crossfire are concerned. i'm running one optical, 1GB ram, and four HDDs. this PS clearly won't accomodate 2 x1800XTs, but if i avoid Crossfire for now, will it likely be able to accomodate a new PCI-e MB and the x1800XT, or do i need to upgrade it before i upgrade the rest of my components? how important are dual 12V rails and the 24-pin connector? in addition, many power supplies on Newegg are listed as "20+4 pin" - what does this mean?

u need a new PC the extra 4 pins on the 24 pin connector power the PCI-e ghx.


recommendations?

Antec NeoHE 500w. (very good)
Antec Truepower 550w. (good)
Antec Truepower 480w. (ok, not gonna handle corssfire)

Tough to say w/o knowing all the specs but I would at least get a PSU w/ penguin's recommendation of 24-pin and with power focus on dual +12:

SPARKLE ATX-400PN-B204 ATX 12V 2.0 400W $42 shipped @ ewiz

which should be enough to handle a single x1800 and any athlon64.

Or if you have a window case this is an excellent unit at an excellent price:

COOLER MASTER Real Power RS-450-ACLY 450w $52 shipped @ buypc

Then keep the old unit for the old system and maybe even get a cheap case to put it in (like this Coolmax CV-560 for $20 shipped @ zzf and you can (eventually, when you cumulate enough spare parts) have a decent LAN gamer or linux box or whatever.

Is the 420 the TT-420AD? I have that unit it is not so bad. I kept it with my s754 build since I struck gold w/ an old full tower server trashed and it had a PCP&C 510 ATX to use w/ my X2 3800 build.
I was worried about stressing the +12 on it with since I have heard it tends to get a bit unstable when you approach the power limits, and with the socket A systems the +5 was so crossloaded with cpu power there was none left for the GPU's +12v and many would just go belly-up for a smokefest with a high powered GPU.

well remember the whole argument with 20 vs 24 pin, i think if hes gonna run PCI-e gfx he WILL need the extra 4 pins

yea I debated on getting one for mine, since my PCP&C was old-school w/ 20-pin and single-rail - but my EVGA-SLI mobo had that "EZPLUG" thing...
After some meditation I just kept the 20-pin & the EZPLUG connected and it runs great.

Figured since I was not OC'ing the GPU or running SLI, then I would definitly get the 24-pin adaptor.

If you are gonna consider running PCI-E with crossfire then buy a name brand PSU such as Antec, Enermax, etc and at least 550 watt.

The 20+4 pin means that it comes with a standard 20 pin male connector and has a separate 4 pin male connector that fits into place when a motherboard has a 24 pin female connector, in effect, the 20+4 pin then becomes a 24 pin. The advantage of a 20+4 pin connection style is that you can use the power supply for either 20 pin or 24 pin connectors.

just get a new PSU danmit

Hey, no question he needs a new PSU. Just trying to answer his original question about what 20+4 pin meant.

i think he forgot he posted here