Howdy Toms. I'm going to be getting a 4850 as soon as I can get my hands on one, but I've a question to ask first. I know that Antec makes a good PSU, and thus even one that comes in under the required wattage (450w) for the 4850 might work. I have a TruePower 430, and another 380...though I can't remember the model exactly, and it will likely never be used. (Backup.) In the community's opinion, could I expect to get by with the 430 without damage to the GPU or the PSU? It's about 3.5 years old, and seems to be in great shape.


Thanks in advance!



Also, I can't remember exactly what I have on the +12 rail, only that it's a single rail, and it's 18 or 20 amps.

I don't think that will work. Some one just posted a review of the the 4850 (written in french.) Assuming no photoshop work was involved, the 4850 with a quad core C2D was using 352W. This puts you very close to the 430W limit of your PSU, more so if you worry about Capacitor aging. I would, if the PSU is over 3 years old.

The other issue you have is the small amount of Amps on the 12V rail. Most modern cards call for at least 22A, I don't know what the 4850 will call for. Seeing as we are talking about a very important part of the computer, I'd look for a new one. A good new one should be ~$60-$75, and would be well worth it. (peace of mind alone...)

I agree that you're cutting it a little close. You could try it, I suppose. I ran my 2900XT with insufficient power for a while. It rebooted periodically, but no major damage was done (I think). I wouldn't suggest this though as you may be less fortunate.

you should try and if you experience BSOD or freezes then just get a new one. dont stop trying until you see smoke coming out the back of your OC!lol

since testing what you got doesnt cost a thing assume it doesnt fry anything!lol