[Solved] *Edit* 280w is not worth trying to power a graphics card, even a gt220

Original post: when I was considering buying a Lenovo 2.8ghz desktop and simply upgrading the video card, chosing a light weight card because the specs on the desktop showed a 280w PSU.

*Update, here is what happened*

Wow so it has been an exciting night.

Here is a list of everything I ordered from Newegg:

* ASUS VH226H Black 21.5" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen
* GeForce GT 220 512MB 128-bit GDDR2
* Lenovo Desktop PC

I excitedly unboxed my 2.8 ghz Lenovo PC and plugged in the GeForce GT220. The Vista Windows score went from 4.3 to 5.3.

Then on the next reboot the PSU fan sounded like it was going to launch out of the case for the moon. And the screen froze. I thought "I am a moron, I read all of this in the forums even before it happened."

...Yep, the 280w didn't cut it. Heard a loud fan blast and it the screen froze. Not fun, and let this be a lesson to everyone who buys parts and crosses their fingers on the PSU.

So I did what any computer nerd did at 9pm. I drove to Bestbuy (since I refused to let my computer lay there, paralyzed and underpowered) and picked up a new PSU, a Thermaltake Black Widow rx-450 for $75. Thank goodness for holiday hours.

Luckily everything worked.

Only change would be HD4670 and that is not even guarantied.

I run a Sapphire 4670 on a 250W PSU from HP, I can play Bioshock/ Crysis/ Far Cry 2/ Assassin's Creed for hours without anything happening.
Sure it's dangerous but no guts, no glory.

Wow so it has been an exciting night.

Here is a list of everything I ordered from Newegg:

* ASUS VH226H Black 21.5" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen
* GeForce GT 220 512MB 128-bit GDDR2
* Lenovo Desktop PC

I excitedly unboxed my 2.8 ghz Lenovo PC and plugged in the GeForce GT220. The Vista Windows score went from 4.3 to 5.3.

Then on the next reboot the PSU fan sounded like it was going to launch out of the case for the moon. And the screen froze. I thought "I am a moron, I read all of this in the forums even before it happened."

...Yep, the 280w didn't cut it. Heard a loud fan blast and it the screen froze. Not fun, and let this be a lesson to everyone who buys parts and crosses their fingers on the PSU.

So I did what any computer nerd did at 9pm. I drove to Bestbuy (since I refused to let my computer lay there, paralyzed and underpowered) and picked up a new PSU, a Thermaltake Black Widow rx-450 for $75. Thank goodness for holiday hours.

Luckily everything worked.

Now I'm wondering... since I have a decent 450w PSU (and learned how to install one the hard way), should I return the GT 220 for something else?

I expect everyone to pretty much flame me now, so go for it.

Yep ditch that gt 220 and go for a 4670 minimum.

Its PowerColor!

The HD4670 would be the lowest card you can get. But still 280W is a bit too low. At least a decent 400W PSU you would needing. If Gigabyte Superb 460W is available get it. Its cheap and very good.

The GT 220 uses very little power. If it made your psu die then it was going to fail soon anyway. The bad news is that the GT 220 isn't really good at all for gaming, especially the DDR2 version, even at low resolutions. And you just went out and got a high resolution monitor. If you aren't a gamer the card will be fine however. If you are a gamer you are going to want a pretty decent card to go with that monitor. A GTS 250 is about the weakest you will want to consider. It costs $110 lately and will be ok but not particularly good at your resolution. I would recommend an HD5770. It's pretty good for your resolution, very power efficient, DX11 compatible and cost $165.

Thanks jyjjy -- but the cards you recommended are out of my price range. I originally paid $65 for the gt220, so I need to stick to that.

But it does look like the Radeon HD 4670 was in a recent article here for best cards under $85.

Is it really worth all the trouble to send the gt220 back to Newegg for a refund and get the 4670?

Also -- which brand of 4670 is best?

And, are we 100% SURE the 4670 will work with 450w? I'm not going to shame myself again by going back to best buy for a nother "late night psu" run.

Those artifacts sound like overheating.
Get an HD4670 if that is your budget. It should be at least 50% more powerful than a DDR2 GT 220. This is a good deal;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121329

When your PSU died, it likely took the GT 220 too. Send it back and get a 4670.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

Comes with a free game and XFX is the best distributor of graphics cards.

Thx jvjjy.

So -- while I wait for my return to process before buying a replacement card, any diagnostic tests I should run to make sure any of the earlier parts I put in did any permanent damage.

Right now, everything is running perfectly with the new 450w PSU and integrated graphics... but I want to be sure.

New challenge -- I'm waiting for the RMA to clear with Newegg, so then I have $65 back from Newegg plus a $50 Bestbuy card. I know, not ideal to go to Bestbuy but I have the gift card which bumps up my budget.

So... with my new price limit of $115 and using the handy Toms Hardware 2009 card review I found these in my new price range (but limited to Bestbuy):


$109.99 EVGA - GeForce 9800 GT 512MB DDR3 PCI Express Graphics Card

$115.99 Asus - GeForce 9800 GT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express Graphics Card

Here's a link to the Bestbuy search query for my price range.

This forum is on a hardware site so decoding is easy, as an example http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 491-7.html
If some of the people that ask questions in here bothered with googling or even reading a little bit on tomshardware.com we would not have so many questions to answer.