Newbie needs help choosing PSU

hp: P6228P

Manufacturer # AV021AA#ABA
processor brand AMD
processor model Athlon II X4 Quad-Core
memory 8 GB
hard drive capacity 640 GB
optical drive DVD±RW/DVD-RAM/DVD±R Double Layer
operating system Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
processor speed 2.6 GHz
frontside bus speed 4000 MHz
memory speed PC2-6400


I am also fairly new to installing hardware. Is a psu pretty easy to install?

i would recomend the corsair tx450.

a brilliant PSU, stable and inexpensive. and it can actually supply a fair bit more than the 450w its rated at. it should be enough to power pretty much any singel GPU system.

you dont want to skimp on a PSU, its the most important part of a build. corsair are one of the best manufacters, and IMO they are the best at their price point.

You've got a new enough unit that the PSU I linked should work fine.

Basically you want one that has more capacity than your minimum requirement which you stated as 450W.

I'd go no lower than 550W and would even consider a 600W if the price was right.

Changing the PSU is not that difficult however you do have to be very careful and take your time.

Make sure you are plugging the proper connector into the proper place but before you do anything make sure you ground your bare hands/arm to the side of the metal case as you can damage sensitive components by electrostatic discharge and you don't want to do that.

The various plugs orient into their sockets a certain way and they all lock into place so if you look at them very carefully you can tell what goes where.

First you naturally have to disconnect all the plugs from the motherboard and drives in your PC just remember not to force anything. There's a tab on all of them that connect to the motherboard that you must squeeze in order to release the plug.

Once you've got them all disconnected there are four phillips head screws on the back of the case that hold the PSU in position.

Since I have no idea of the space in your case I will caution you that at times things are tight and I have actually had instances where I had to remove the motherboard or heatsink to get enough space to move the PSU in and out.

Large power supplies and/or large heatsinks will create such a scenario in a mid tower case.

Hopefully that's not the case as it makes for a much harder task.

the 450 will power even a new mid range card like a 5770

Requiring a 450w ps to run a GT 240 doesn't seem right. Other manufactures recommend a 300w ps for this card. I think your current ps would be enough.

There is a lot of "snake oil" in power supply land. I think Asus is just being conservative. Since you have the factory HP ps, the rating is probably honest.

That's true. Depending on the system, the generic 300 could well be fine.

I'm sure that the 300w psu would have worked, and did for a week before i changed it. I just heard alot about how it can decrease the life of the psu if it had to run at max output for a long period of time. I just bit the bullet and bought one today at best buy. I bought the BFG GX Series 550W. It looks to be a pretty nice one and I only paid about 60 for it. I bought the 550 so I could possibly change gfx cards in the future

I have never installed one and just kind of did it like a puzzle. Everything works so I am guessing there is nothing to worry about anymore. I guess I got it put in correctly.

Thanks for your help

I've already installed it and everything seems to be working properly after being tested durin 1 hr of CoD! Thanks, I hope this PSU lasts a long time

On PSU's, pretty much if the cable fits you stick in it.