8800GT on a Dell 305/22amp psu

Try it and find out, its not going to damage anything, either it boots, and runs stabily, or worse case, it boots and crashes, then you know what the cupret is, and since you already have a video card, then you have a backup till you get a new psu.

If PSU's go out, sometimes they can take other parts with them. If that card blows out a PSU, there is a slim chance it could damage the mobo or chip, or other components. You could try it, but it's a gamble perhaps.

From my point of view:
I had (have) an Dimension E521 with the 305w, 22amp psu.
I got an 8800GT the 1st day they were available.
I had upgraded to a PC Power Silencer470 (26amp) before I ordered the GT.
Yes the 305w can (and does) run it, but I asked myself for how long?
You have to use adapters to do it as there is no 6pin pcie connection on the stock psu.

Also how old is the psu, if its older then 2 years i would just upgrade it, since more then likely it will die after a time. Yeah you take a chance of blowing your power supply, but that honestly wont happen unless its a. hella old, or b. very very dusty. I suspect if your going to have issues with the psu, it will just cause the card to crash due to a lack of power, not the psu itself. Honestly though, your psu is probably the one place where everyone wants to cheap out but really shouldnt. If your totally stuck on trying it though, give it a whirl.

I'd guess that the stock Dell 305wt PSU might power up. The main problem that I see is that you could start into a game and then the computer crashes as the power draw exceeds what the PSU can deliver. I find that kind of thing very annoying. I'd look for a quality PSU of 450wt to power this card, perhaps even 550wt depending on the rest of your hardware. But something in the range of a good 450wt should do the job.

It would be fine. Though you might not be able to overclock. My friends use much more power hog ati gpus on 20amp and it runs pretty well. The recommended 26amp requirements are for extreme cases only.

If it does go, it could take other components with it. It will become unstable, and possibly send surges to other components

Just buy a better PSU, they're so damn cheap that it's pointless to start a new thread on this!

yea, i wouldnt risk it either, go ahead, dont cheap out the food source of your PC, otherwise...

Sorry I can't upgrade the psu, thats the problem. My psu is only a few months old so it should be fine. (last one fried since I pulled the plug about a hundred times.)
Check this thread out. a 250watt psu and a 8800GT, amazing.
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=534311

And If I were to upgrade a psu from Dell to not void the warranty, then it would cost me like 80-100 bucks. Not so cheap.

just upgrade the psu, I did, i had to when I got my x1950 pro. Dell's warranty is useless, any fool can fix a pc, just buy a nice psu and sorted. If you wana risk your pc be my guest.

Well, I really don't have $100 for a psu, plus I ran a x1950pro fine for a while.

Is it worth the risk? If you playing a game its going to withdraw a high amount of amperage. Then it goes bang, and your cpu is fried.

Well I don't, is it that bad of a risk? Anytime somebody turns on their computer, its a risk as well i guess.

This is a risk I won't take. Get a new PSU.
Don't forget your PSU got other things to power, not just the 8800gt...
Such as CPU, MB, DVDplayer, etc etc

Just get this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

It's the same as this but cheaper:
http://www.pcpower.com/power-supply/silencer-470-dell.h...

or check here if you want cheaper or are worried about compatibility:
http://www.power-on.com/dell.html

It may work, but it will definately put a strain on that PSU. No way around that. But, it could run with no problems. Over time (assuming it works at all) that strain is going to kill that PSU. It may take years or it could be days. Just don't be suprised when you power up, the PSU pops and your whole system is fried.

There is a reason that they recommend a larger PSU for those video cards...

Like I said I don't have $80 for a psu. That 8800GT im getting instead of my RMAed 7950GT (fan problems). I don't game too much (few hours a week) so the longivity should be fine.

Just realized that Dell psu are made by Newton, a sudsidiary of Delta Power which is a well known server psu company. No wonder they can supply their rated power 24/7 at 50c like they were designed to.
Also there are apparently tons of people with 8800GT in 305watt psu rigs.
http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/messag...

It can vary

What varies.

I like how it's made in china. Much better quality than American products.  

Where and whio they are made by.

Ha you want to tell me how many things are made in the u.s.?
(im not chinese btw) Ever heard of Samsung?  

China made PSU can be varied from 75% to 90% efficiency so finally you would get rated power ranged from 210Watt to 275Watt depends. Don't over-clock your Graphic card would be quite safe in Dell.

It doesn't work that way.
A 75-90% efficiency rating means that that much of the AC power drawn from the wall will be turned into DC to power your components, so at 70% efficiency the 305w psu needs to draw around 430w to reach it's rated output.

Just asking but somebody explained to me how psu works, is this right?

""There are peak specs and continous specs. It depends what your PSU is specified.
Most of the time it goes like: you can do 600W, when you do 180W on 3.3+5V and 410W for the 12A rails.
So, 10W are left for +5Vusb.
The 12A rails would be rated as 22A per rail, two rails = 2x 22A = 528W... but you can do the 528W only, if your mainboard does not use more than 62W on the +3.3V & +5V rail which is of course not working. So don't get confused with the specs on your PSU. It's not that easy. Of course 12V rails also means they count CPU in.

Peak vs. Continuous:
Every PSU can sustain higher amps for a short time, mostly about 30 seconds. If this time is exceeded the PSU will shut down. Continuous means the PSU can hold the specified output always.

Your PSU is rated 264W for the 12V rail(s) only. You can make a picture of the label with the specifications on your PSU and I can tell you more about your PSU.

Here an example of the Seasonic S12II 330W:

+3.3V: 18A
+5V: 20A
combined power: +3.3V & +5V: 120W
+12V1: 17A
+12V2: 17A
combined power: 12V: 288W
-12V: 0.8A
+5Vsb: 2.5A

So, 288+120 can not work... because the PSU is rated with 330W
Also 3.3V x 18A = 59.4W, 5V x 20A = 100W, total is 159.4W does not work either.
So it can use max. 18A on 3.3V but not at the same time 20A for +5V, the maximum in this case would be 12A for +5V.
If your board/equipment is using 120W on the +3.3V & +5V you can't use 288W for 12V... I guess this can only be happen on crappy ASRock boards where no ATX 2.x power connector is used. +5Vsb rated 12.5W is used for USB devices when the computer is off, so it does not count in the active state.
Have no idea what equipment is using the -12V, but it's reserved when the computer is running.
Totally you have about 320W to use.

A harddisc is using about 0.5A for 12V and about 0.8A for 5V
A mainboard is more complicated, the voltage for the memory can be generated from 3.3V, 5V or 12V rails, this is up to the engineers, but like the CPU 12V is the best guess, because it is more efficient. 1GB stick is about 4W, overclocking is increasing it. Most chipset/onboard chips are running with either 3.3V or 5V. A board should use about 30W."""