Power Supply dillemma

goksucats

Distinguished
Apr 14, 2007
6
0
18,510
Hello folks. PC idiot here.. but I've been trying to figure out what I'm going to do about upgrading my video. I dont' play really intensive games on my new PC, however my wife does a great deal of video and editing work on our PC using Photoshop and Adobe Premiere Elements. Here are my PC specs, it's a new model as of Dec '06, and I purchased in March '07.

HP a1710n
AMD Athlon 64 x 2 Dual Core Processor 4200+
AMD Live!
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
2x512=1024MB PC2-4200 DDR2 SDRAM
NVidia GeForce 6150LE Graphics integrated
320GB 7200 RPM HD
Super-Multi DVD Writer w/Lightscribe
9-in-1 Memory Card Reader
Firewire
Integrated Ethernet
Modem (which I can remove as I do not use and don't need to use power)
High Definition Audio

As I just purchased in March, I am not able to do anything with the PSU until the warranty expires. I'd prefer just simply to not mess with the PSU for now, but one of the things I like about this HP is that it uses an off-the-shelf MSI motherboard, which is upgradeable, as I can put in faster processor, more RAM, etc. So eventually I'll probably upgrade the PSU, but as I said before, I don't game heavily on this machine (mostly on my XBOX 360), just heavy video editing, and my wife playing Sims 2, and Roller Coaster Tycoon 3. But I hate the way the integrated graphics look on my fancy 20 inch Widescreen LCD monitor, I was previously using DVI, and the new PC doesn't have that available without upgrade of Video Card.

Here are the Power Supply Specs

Bestec-ATX-300-12Z
+12V / 19A -12V / .8A
+5V / 30A +5VSB/2A 2A Peak2.5A
+3.3V / 28A
+5V & +3.3V = 180W MAX +5V & +12V = 288W MAX


So, I used the Xtreme Power Supply website "Lite" version of teh calculator with the info that I have provided, with 5 USB ports being used, which I would hardly ever use all 5, removing the Modem, adding a DVD Drive (which I've considered) and an Nvidia 7600GT, and it claims I only need 243W. It would seem my PSU was more than adequate. Am I incorrect in assuming this? Strangely, however, the specs on some of the 7600 Nvidia boxes state 300W MAX, others state 400W Max, etc. Thanks in advance for all of your help. This stuff is gibberish to me.

FYI.. 7600 GT not probably necessary, 7300GT probably adequate. I also would take any other recommendations.

thanks. again. :D
 

goksucats

Distinguished
Apr 14, 2007
6
0
18,510
Thanks for the quick reply. It seems strange that the video on my old standard PCI video card with a DVI out on my old HP seemed to have a better picture than my new PC. It seems like the colors look washed out on my monitor now connected to my new PC. However, there are so few customization tools on the integrated graphics, and I had done alot of work to get my old card set exactly how I wanted it, perhaps that's my problem. But again, I think it looked better on the old card, than it does now. Though, I believe I read somewhere that the analog converter on my LG widescreen monitor really sucked, so perhaps that would be what's causing it. Who knows.

My wife is still getting occasional hiccups with her Sims 2 game, which I'd guess will mostly go away with a new video card, as the processor should be more than capable of playing it. I also won't be using system ram for video, so maybe that will help as well.
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
If your looking for a performance increase, change the ram. The Dual core 4200 should be enough for the work your wife does, but coupling that chip to DDR2-533 ram was a big mistake. AM2 chips need to use DDR2-800 ram just to be faster then their S939 cousins. One gig of slow ram running Vista + photoshop = slow performing computer. A new video card might make things look better, but it isn't going to help with the performance problem much. (it will alittle because you won't be using 8-64MBs of ram as the video buffer.) Get yourself a video card if you want, but to speed up your machine get 2GBs (1GBx2) of DDR2-800 ram.