Best Card for a 450w PSU - 12v 25a

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Ninjabear

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I know this thing gets asked regularly, but I think I've researched the subject as far as I can without help.

I'm trying to find a good graphics card for my pc. It's brand new so I don't want to upgrade the PSU but I think it will be powerful enough for a fairly decent card. I'm looking to spend under £150. The spec is as follows:

450w PSU
12v line 25a
5v 22a
3.3v 18a
Intel Core2 Duo e8400
160gb SATA2 7200rpm
2gb DDRII ram
GIGABYTE Mobo - GAG31MF-S2 S-SERIES

I'd like to get a decent card but one the PSU can handle comfortably. I'm no expert but I image the Intel Core2 duo E8400 saps quite a bit of power? Does this reduce my possibilities for graphics on this psu?

I've been looking at the following:
1) Toms Hardware - Recommended the 9600GT for £135. I don't think I could run this card because according to the spec it needs 400w with 12v 26a so that seems to rule out that card.

2) According to NVidia. The best card I can run is the 8600gts, or the 8600gt. What do you think of these cards? Is NVidia being generous with what I could spend for my system?
 
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homerdog

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What model PSU do you have? Just listing the Wattage and +12V amperage doesn't tell us much about the quality of your power supply.

A decent quality 450W PSU should be able to handle a 9600GT along with the rest of your system.
 
crusoe74

crusoe74

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I would agree with the others and say a 9600GT. You may be able to squeeze in a 8800GT if you don't have a lot of optical / hard drives.

My 8800GTS 512 only needs 26a.
 
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Ninjabear

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I only have one hdd, and a pretty empty case, so if the power is ok then I'll go for the 9500 GT, thanks for all your help everyone.

Homerdog. I opened the pc again just for you and it is a WinPower Model ATX450, there was nothing else on the PSU.

Invisik - nothing overclocked.
 
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Ninjabear

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I meant 9600gt. I tried to edit my post but it said "you are not allowed to edit this post". Why the hell not? I tried to refresh only it said "this thread does not exist". ??? I went back to the forum and the post was still there so god knows what's up with the code.
 
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Ninjabear

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That aside, I've just looked up the Palit card for this and it says it will use 221watts, I can't spare that. Is there a better card for me to use for the 9600 gt?
 
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homerdog

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I can't find any information on that power supply, so I can't guarantee that it will work. I'd say the odds of it having a 6-pin PCIe power connector are low, so you'll probably have to use an adapter. Most videocards that require a 6-pin connector come with such an adapter, but you might want to make sure before you make a purchase.

As others have already stated, that's just not possible. This graph shows a power draw of less than 200W for the entire system under a heavy load:
bench10.png
 
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Ninjabear

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Sorry about the confusion. As EXT64 suggested, that was the total system usage. I'm new to the graphics cards ball-game so I made the mistake of thinking they were talking about the card not the system.

Here is the Palit card for those that still want a look:
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2253&page=4

Homerdog - will check that it has a connector as suggested; the adapters seem pretty cheap so I doubt it'll be a problem.
 
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Ninjabear

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Can confirm that the ASUS card (from what I can tell is the fastest, quietest and has lowest power consumption in most circumstances) has a pcie 6-pin adapter so I will be fine in any event.

Thanks again.
 
nukemaster

nukemaster

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Read the link
http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/forums.asp?s=2&c=7&t=9354

You would be surprised how much you can run.

My antec TP380s(Sonata Edition)

Can run a E6600 + X1900XT. Thats nearly the same as the 8800GTS 640. So a 9600 with be no problem at all...

To confirm, what psu do you have?

@ crusoe74 The 26 amps is listed for a fully loaded system not just the card. Your card takes at most 100 watts and in most cases less.

Hell my full system takes less then 26 amps @ 12 volts

powerlh4.gif

My system going full balls 100% cpu and video load with ati tool(no game takes this much power). Take away about 210 watts from the total for my other computer, the screen, 1 router , 1 switch , set of speakers and 1 modem and you get my power use. 343 at the wall. Take off 20(this is a best case scenario) percent for losses and you get about 275 watts for the system.

I am not saying to get a 8800GTX, but a 9600 should work with ease...
 
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Ninjabear

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Ok, will read the article.

As stated in one of my earlier posts, PSU is a:

WinPower Model ATX-450.
 
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Ninjabear

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PS. Final newbie question: This card uses a PCIE 2.0 slot. I assume that this is backwards compatible with PCIE1? My mobo has 1x pcie x16 slot. Is this PCIE 1,2? How would I know.
 
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homerdog

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express#PCI_Express_2.0
PCIe 2.0 is backward and forward compatible with PCIe v1.x. Graphic cards and motherboards designed for v2.0 will be able to work with v1.1 and v1.0, and vice versa.
Click to expand...
Citing Wikipedia goes against everything I believe in, but it's so convenient... :)
 
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Ninjabear

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It's funny, I found that after asking myself. It does say that some cards will not be forwards compatible, but not back, so should be ok.
 
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