4850 with Current PSU?

Pretty sure you will be ok for 4850.....certainly ok with 8800gt.

So your 500W PSU only has 22A on a single +12V rail? Although technically enough, that's pretty weak. A weak 12V rail is a telltale sign of a crappy PSU... what is the specific make and model?

Yeah...
It dosn't matter what a crapy PSU claimes the +12V amperage is. It is still a crapy PSU and will probably fail before you fully load it.
I vote you get a beter quality unit.

And you could spend less time helpnig out a newcomer rather than typing some malicious attack like that.

Every forum has one - at least we know who this one's is.

Well i apologise for wanting to be sure that something would work, there are so many contrasting opinions around as to whether graphics cards will work, and as for the manufacturers site, they only state a wattage requirement on the PSU itself, which mine would appear to satisfy, but you guys are telling me is probably worth upgrading (Thanks for the useful responses on that btw).

So my PSU is definately one of the crappy, budget ones (manufacturer is someone called WIN-Power lol), which i will probably go ahead and upgrade based on this. Ill ask for recommendations as to a nice, cheap but satisfactory PSU, and i accept that certain forum members will probably take this as an invitation to flame a newbie, but id still like good opinions.

Thanks much guys,
Phil

You're way off base there. The lack of standardization when it comes to PSU labeling can make things very confusing; folks shouldn't have to do hours of research to figure out whether or not their PSU can handle a GPU upgrade.

ATI's website doesn't have a minimum amps recommendation. Check it yourself: http://ati.amd.com/products/radeonhd4800/requirements.h...

450 Watt or greater power supply with 75 Watt 6-pin PCI Express® power connector recommended (550 Watt and two 6-pin connectors for ATI CrossFireX%u2122 technology in dual mode)

That means next to nothing, and by that standard the OP's power supply might be good enough. But I doubt it is.

I think these "will my PSU work" questions are totally worth asking, and worthy of a real response.

Do you know what brand it is? That way we could look up the full specs. That could be enough, but it depends on how much the rest of your system draws. The 4850 draws only 110W, so it is not particularly power hungry. And also, what is the current card? If this is similar in power consumption to that, you'd be fine.

@ MrsBytch,

Can you please help us all out by posting links to these manufacturers sites you have found that state a minimum AMPS requirement.
A complete novice wouldn't even know the AMPS were important due to the way the manufacturers and retail sites keep listing the requirements in Watts.

@ Obiphil,

My advice would be to get a better PSU with more AMPS if you can afford it. just trying the card could leav eyou with a shorted card or whole system.
Having said that the subject of the 4850 running or not has been asked before and on one of those discussions the attitude that if the power supply has a dedicated PCIE cable and not something cobbled up from two molex connectors, then similar to a card with no power leads needed it should run as the required power should be there.
In other words a PCIE slot has a required wattage that it (should supply) 75 Watts. The PCIE cable is meant to supply 75Watts also. Thats 150 Watts total for a card that runs about 110 at full load.

Mactronix

Also when looking at power supplies people that are not in the know of tiers and what nots will think price is their guide...if there is a 900w PSU for 50 bux and a 700w PSU for 140 bux...which one works better? Am I getting a deal on the 900w PSU or getting ripped off on the 700w PSU? Am I buying junk for $50 or buying WAY over priced junk at $140? Then toss in rails and 6 or 8 pin connectors...modular...EPS...SFX...TFX...BTX. Also you can't always judge by the label since there are tiers within product lines under the same label...or relabeled in some cases I am sure. Just because a label says the PSU will give so many amps does not means you will get it how you need it. I am pretty sure there are some of these labels stating those levels just before failure type use....like engine specs on trucks. 200hp at 8000rpm...8000rpm?!? Or better yet PMPO ratings on speakers...yeah you can get 200w of sound from those $9.99 speakers...

Is there a updated sticky somewhere if this has been asked sooooooo many times? Hell I know I would read it to guide my buying dollars.

One of the "stickies" on this is the PSU listing at http://www.tomswiki.com/page/Tiered+PSU+Listings?t=anon. The problem with that list is that it is become more dated all the time.
From the OP's posts, if I had to guess, his "WIN-power" PSU is a tier-5 sparkler that will detonate if loaded to 60%-75% of its claimed capacity for more than 10 minutes. While he doesn't need a monster PSU for a 4850, a QUALITY unit capable of actually putting out 450W-550W should be fine.
As important as it is, it seems entirely reasonable that a PSU might be 10% of the rig's cost. Sometimes there are deals, but if I were building a new rig today, I'd expect to spend at least $90 on the PSU; I think the last one I got was $110.

Recommendations, either will do:

XCLIO STABLEPOWER 460W - Solid CWT built unit, good price

Corsair VX450 - Better quality, higher price

Thanks for the good replies guys, and for the support in knowing i wasnt just being a fool in not knowing what i didnt.

Ok so here's everything i know about my current PSU: http://s158.photobucket.com/albums/t97/teamgoteam/?acti...

Im currently running an E6300 processor (soon to be upgraded to a Q6600) with an LG DVD Rewriter, 2gb of ram, 2HDDs, a Audigy 2 sound card and an X1900GT, as well as a couple case fans.

Im looking at that corsair VX450 now and it seems to be good, but if you can think of any problems that i'v overlooked, feel free to clue me in.

Thanks very much for all your help guys!
Phil

Ok, so i'm almost understanding, just not quite yet... The XClio PSU homerdog links to has its 12v rails rated at 18A and 16A, so would my current PSU be fine to run the card (with its 12v at 22A) if it werent a dodgy make? I think this is what mactronix is saying as well, but i just want to be sure.

Cheers,
Phil

Ouch

Good choice, the VX450 will serve you very well.

Yes i agree with the Corsair. I looked at that unit myself the other month but ended up getting a good deal on an Antec case with bundled PSU.
As you are going to get a Quad in the near future I do think that it is the best idea to upgrade the power supply.
Mactronix