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BFG GeForce 7900GT and power supply

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Hi,

I'm planning on buying a BFG GeForce 7900GT for my desktop to play mostly DX9 games (DX10, if I would ever by any, I'll probably just run in DX9). I'm aware that the card takes a 350W power supply minimum. My desktop only has a 300W. A guy on the tech support forum said that he ran a 8600GTS on his old PC and had a 300W power supply and he was fine. Will I still be able to run the 7900GT with my power supply? If not, I'd really like someone to help me pick out a new power supply. Here are my specs: HP Pavilion a730n Desktop.

Apparently this is my power supply. I have never upgraded the PC before so I have not opened it. I've been looking on newegg for some cheap power supply that is around 500W. My limit is probably $30-40. I'm low on cash right now and the rest of the money is going towards the card. Anyways, does this 7900GT need a PCI-E connector with the power supply? I know mine right now does not have that.

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Why are you buying a 7900GT and where are you getting it from. You would be best off with a 9600gt or something newer that isnt very expensive.

I dont think the 300w will be enough, generally OEM built machines will only use bare minimum and currently an onboard GPU wont draw much. Something like this would hold you much better
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371005

OR this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371019

I was planning on getting the 7900GT because I've seen it plays DX9 games well. I was planning on getting it from Amazon for $50 from a seller. Like I said I'm on a cheap budget I don't have a lot to spend right now so I wanted the card to be in the $80 price range and I thought I just got lucky when I found the 7900GT.

Do you know if those two power supplies will fit my PC case?

At first I was planning on buying the 8600GTS but from benchmarks the 7900GT had scored higher on games like Half-Life 2, Doom 3, F.E.A.R, etc.

I actually think I need to replace my power supply since my current one doesn't have a PCI-E Connector.
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PCI-e connector isnt a problem with Retail boxes becuase youll usually get molex to 6pin converters in box. As for the ~80 price range your probably right getting a 7900gt it powerful enough for the price compared to some others available now. Although the are some sub $100 9600gt's that are more powerful on newegg atm.

Being a HP they usually modify the standard ATX mountings so there maybe some case bending or slight cutting needed (even if you only use 2 or 3 screws instead of 4 to secure it in place) as for dimensions Antec will have dimensions on there site simple measure your current one up and see if its roughly the same.

Alright thanks for answering. Now that I understand everything about cards and what they require I'll probably purchase a better one in the future when I get the cash. I might need to get a better cooler for the card when I get it that is if I overclock it. Also, how do you know if you're using to much power with the power supply? Does it just turn the computer off? And how would you know if your video card is overheating?

Yeah, I bet my power supply will hold up the 12V rails is 19A and minimum is 20A...not big of a difference considering my specs aren't that powerful right now.

Wow...we I got the card on Saturday and haven't had time to put it in. Yesterday we had a power outage, and now our PC won't turn on. :/  So we have to get a new power supply. I plan on getting that Antec Basiq 500W PSU because I found it fits my computer, and now I have to get our current one replaced with that. Kinda sucks though, I'll probably return the card since now I have the option to get a higher-end one.
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