GTX 260?

[Aleatoire]

Hi there.

I was going to buy a new graphics card (the old one is a geforce 8600gt) and i was thinking of the GTX 260.

I have an Asus P5Q-SE2 motherboard and an Ion2 520w power supply. My resolution is 1440x900.

Would it work with my PC?
And is there anything else you would recommend. I would preferably like to stick with Nvidia. I can get the GTX 260 for about $315 in NZ (about $220 US) so my budget is around there.

 

[hunter315]

Whats the amperage on the 12 volt rail on your PSU? I have never heard of Ion PSUs so im not sure if you have enough power, it might be one of the good obscure brands or it might be a rebranded raidmax.

 

[Aleatoire]

Umm, just looked on the box. I'm guessing you mean the +12V1 and +12V2 (sorry new with all this sort of thing). If thats what you mean then it says 20A.

Apparently the PSU is a "Vantec Ion2".

 

[hunter315]

Alright, i found it online, it has a max combined output of 32 amps which is actually rather good, its about the same as a corsair 450vx.
http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/101832/POWERSUPPLIES_500W_-_599W/Vantec/VAN-520C.asp
For that resolution a GTS250 would be plenty, and will run on your PSU, its approximately equivilant to the HD 4850 i am using at 1280x1024 and i can play everything on high with better than 60FPS. However a 4870 performs similarly to a GTX260 but has the same power draw as a GTS250 so switching to ATI will give you better performance with less risk to your PSU giving way. nVidia chips tend to give lower performance/watt than ATI chips partly because they are physically larger.

 

[FallenSniper]

I don't know how much it would cost you to get a 4870 there, but in the US it's generally a little cheaper and a little better.

 

[redwine01]

I dont think ur psu can run GTX260 and even if it does u will be risking A HUGE so dont try to run the card with that psu it may burn... Get a good 550W psu from well known brand like corsair, antec, OCZ, Enermax,seasonic,asus, thermaltake etc. See which one is avaible. All these brands make good quality psu and a 550W from any of these brand easily can run a gtx260 or even the 280.

 

[Aleatoire]

Ok. Just had a look for the 4870. Turns out it's $30 NZD more expensive than the GTX260!

Are you sure that my PSU won't be able to handle the GTX260? Because I just built the PC that the card is going into and I don't really wan't to have to spend more money on a better power supply after just buying one about a week ago...

 

[pauldh]

Looks like that PSU has a max combined +12V of 32A. What CPU? Quad or Dual core? Overclocking? How many drives? All these factor into how "loaded" the system is. If the system isn't too loaded you should be fine with the GTX 260 on that PSU.

Here's an example of a system with a small load. GTX 260, E5200, 1 optical, 1 HDD. Even with some overclocking, the total system load under Prime 95 + Furmark (something you won't match in real life use) was still under 300W at the AC source. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-2-overclock,2310-14.html

 

[EXT64]

Yeah, you would probably be fine as long as you don't have high power on the CPU (like say an i7 @ 4GHz) and a ton of fans, drives, etc. But, post the full details and we'll try to help you out.

 

[Aleatoire]

Intel core 2 duo @ 2.93ghz
1 WD caviar greenpower HDD
1 CD drive
No extra cooling
No overclocking (as of yet anyway). I might do in the future, but I would get a better PSU for that.

Anything else?

 

[pauldh]

So E7500,1 optical, 1 HDD, no OC ... that's less draw than the SBM PC I linked... Yeah IMO you should be fine, even if you dabble in some overclocking.

 

[redwine01]

I missed the previous post of having 32amp on 12V. i thought u said me 20amp. anyways if it is 32amp u r pretty much fine with that psu just like others said ..sorry for the mistake good luck

 

[Aleatoire]

Sorry for that. I'm a bit new with the whole building your own computer thing. Was just reading what I saw on the box.

Anyway thanks for the help everyone. I guess I'll be going with the GTX 260.

 

[pauldh]

No, you were right posting the dual 20A rails. He only noticed one though, no biggy. The problem is, dual 20A rails does not = 40A combined. It can, such as cases like the Antec Earthwatts 500W (dual 17A = 34A combined), but in other cases like yours, it's the max combined 12V of 384W ( / 12V = 32A) that we looked at. That's more important than the dual 20A rails.

edit: best of luck with the new rig!

 

[Aleatoire]

Ah OK. Makes sense.

 

[magicbullet]

260 will do you good!