Do I need a new power supply?

[takeshioto]

I am planning on installing a new graphics card which will depend on if i need a new power supply or not.

Here is a pic, i cant figure out which number is my wattage for the power supply: 405, 505 or 141

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/195/20090820222639.jpg

Option 1 : Will is support a Sapphire Radeon HD 4770 512MB
Option 2 : Will it support a XFX/Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 512MB

The rest of my computer specs are:
Intel Pentium Core 2 Quad Q6660 2.4 GHz
3 x 1GB DDR2 RAM
250GB Hard Drive
DVD-RW

Thanks in advance for your help =)

 

[JohnnyLucky]

The ATI Radeon HD 4770 graphics card is a good mid-range, energy efficient card. There have been numerous technical reviews and articles about it. The card uses about 85 watts and 6 amps at full load. It is not a power hungry card. The rest of your system does not use very much power either. Your power supply can easily handle the power load.

The ATI Radeon HD 4870 is a power hungry card. Last year Tom's Hardware published a review of the card. In power consumption tests the card by itself used 283 watts at full load. Channel Well is a power supply manufacturer. They make psu's for other companies which are sold as various company brands. You appear to have a Channel Well generic psu. The psu and 4870 are probably not a good combination.

 

[dirtmountain]

Good answer by JohnnyLucky. If it were my system, i'd stick with the HD4770.

 

[takeshioto]

Thanks guys, thats a lot of help.
But i am still wondering what is the actual wattage on my PSU. I cant quite decide which number on the sticker to trust...

Also if i do decide to go with the 4870, what kind of psu will i need, i.e. wattage, special features?, recomendations?

 

[Onus]

Yes, he deserves a "Best Answer" for that one.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

The Channel Well, Model ISO-P500S+, power supply is officially listed as a 405 watt psu.

For a single ATI Radeon HD4870 video card I would recommend a high quality 500 - 550 watt power supply such as those made by Corsair, PC Power & Cooling, and Seasonic. Antec has made some improvements in their power supplies. The Antec Earthwatts EA550 would be good. Among the brands I mentioned shop for the best price.

 

[obsidian86]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016

 

[takeshioto]

Thanks a lot guys, you're all awesome

 

[theAnimal]

The ATI Radeon HD 4770 graphics card is a good mid-range, energy efficient card. There have been numerous technical reviews and articles about it. The card uses about 85 watts and 6 amps at full load. It is not a power hungry card.

xbitlabs measured it at 50W.

The ATI Radeon HD 4870 is a power hungry card. Last year Tom's Hardware published a review of the card. In power consumption tests the card by itself used 283 watts at full load.

xbitlabs puts it at 130W. And it only has 3 power sources rated at 75W apiece.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

the animal - That could very well be for both the 4770 and 4870. I went by the Tom's Hardware articles. Same problem that we always have - a variety of test set-ups, different criteria, and differing results. That's about par for the course.

 

[theAnimal]

the animal - That could very well be for both the 4770 and 4870. I went by the Tom's Hardware articles. Same problem that we always have - a variety of test set-ups, different criteria, and differing results. That's about par for the course.

According to the Tom's power consumption article from January, HD4870 is 184W. Comparing 3D load to idle power consumption is a poor method of determining the card's power use since other components will also be under additional stress such as mobo, RAM, CPU.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

the animal - There was more than one article/review that included the 4870 at THG. There was also a THG article just about the 4870 all by itself. Figures were different in each article. SIGH!

 

[jsc]

The PSU model number seems to imply that it is a 500 watt PSU. Do not believe any "peak" power ratings. It's a 400 watt PSU, and not a particularly good one - among other things, it is probably around 70% efficient.

The 4870 needs about 11 amps from the PSU. I am pretty sure that the 184 watt figure is based on "out of the wall" which will include the losses from the PSU. Non-OC'd, the Q6600 needs about 8 amps - from actual measurements I made once. OC'd, it will pull just under 10 amps.

So I'd say that it will power a 4770 quite easily. The 4870, I don't know. If it does, you won't have much reserve.

 

[takeshioto]

Thanks a lot to the community here, ive gone ahead and bought the 4770, save me the hassle and money to buy a new psu and a more expensive graphics card, i was only planning to do some light gaming anyways.

Sorry, just one more quick question, ive hear the q6660 2.4 ghz is quite easily and good for overclocking to 3ghz, if i do overclock it to around 2.8-3ghz, will my psu be able to cope?

Thanks again

 

[dirtmountain]

Yes, it should be good for that high of an overclock.