PSU Upgrade Help Needed

[PCGeek1]

ASUS A8M2N-LA This is my MB model. It came prebuilt in an HP system I bought at Fry's a few months ago. It came with a 300w PSU. In the future I may upgrade my graphics from an x1300 to something better. Here's my question:

Does it matter what wattage PSU I buy? I'm thinking of a 500w but does it depend on the motherboard?

Thanks in advance

 

[facedownwh]

Hey man. I actually did pretty much the same thing in a Compaq system. I got my girlfriend one for Christmas, upped the graphics to a 7900 GS. Had to do the PSU as well of course. It's the same motherboard and all. What I can definitely tell you is DON'T GET AN ANTEC NEOHE!!! It has many issues with Asus boards. I ended up getting a pretty cheap Ultra 400W PSU with 20A on the 12V rail.

That's all that really matters. For a 7900 GS, and probably for that ATI card too, you need at least 400W with 20A on 12V. Take a look at the specs on the box of the PSU. Sometimes there might be more than one 12V rail with an amperage value on each. If so, you can still figure the total amperage value for the 12V rail. You need to know total wattage for 12V. Divide that by 12. For instance, 384W/12V = 32A. So, just get something that's at least 400W and with a total of at least 20A on 12V, and you'll be good to go. You can also check out the PSU 101 sticky in this forum: http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/PSU-101-ftopict198276.html It's very informative.

Well built PSUs include Corsair, more recent Thermaltake models, OCZ, other Antecs, Enermax, Seasonic. I believe there's another sticky in the forum with a list of quality PSUs. Check Newegg out as they always have some good deals going on.

 

[Malazan]

Upgrade to what?

DX10 8800 type card?

If so, 300W is absolutely not going to cut it, especially not a generic one.

If you serious about gaming down the road, i'd reccomend a good quality PSU, giving you 500W plus, and at least 40A across the 12V rails, maybe a little more. Your system will pull 16V and a 8800GTX 16A, and of course you want some headroom on top.

That will give you enough power to run your system and a 8800 GTX.

Here's one option, 520W, and 40A across the 12V.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817139001

Or it's bigger brother:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=446787

Plenty of other good options too.

Of course if your not going to get a really power hungry card, you can get away with a little less. Personally, i'd do the job properly.

I really don't see how your motherboard is an issue to be honest.

 

[PCGeek1]

Thanks to all for the feedback. I don't consider myself a 'heavy' gamer right now, but maybe in the future with the development of better games. Waiting for the prices to drop on those X1950's cards, I know a 300w won't cut it by a long shot......

I'll definitely read the PSU 101.