What's the best graphic card I can get for my 300w power supply?

[Rodmantis]

Ok, my power supply came stock with this case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

if you zoom in on the picture, you can see the specifications, I THINK it has the 12v rail on 15 amps, cause it says something like 12v- 15.0 a (YEL) which seem to be for yellow? i dont know.

The thing is, I've narrowed down my options to this 3 cards (according to availability and price):
The Gigabyte 4670 1gb ddr3 at $115
The Gigabyte 5670 1gb ddr5 at $155
The Zotac 240 1gb 512 ddr5 at $122

If I compare it to the prices at newegg, the Zotac is the one that stays the closest to it's newegg price.

The problem is, with both the 4670 and the 5670 the min. requirements are 400w, I've seen through the forums that ATI inflates those requirements, and that a "decent 300w psu" will easily run it, so, is mine decent enough?

On the other hand, the Zotac 240 asks for a 300w supply but a 12v on 18 or 21 amps... dammit I forgot... the case said the specification, and mine seems to have a 15 amp. 12v rail.

So, now that you have all the info... what should i do

 

[nukemaster]

I would say the 5770, this depends on the rest of the system. The 5770 Idles at just 18 watts and does not top 110 watts at load. This card should be good for at least medium(even high) settings on most games.

What else is in the system? What are the power supply specs(how many amps on the 12 volt rail).

 

[borisof007]

You would essentially have to get a video card that can run solely off of the 75 watts the PCI-E lane delivers by itself.

A 4670 might be the best recommendation I can make. Decent performance, and it doesn't require an external power connector.

EDIT: Only reason I don't recommend a 5670 is because of amperage requirements.

 

[Helltech]

ati 5670 should be your first choice, the ATI 4670 as a fall back card.

We really should sticky the 5670 as a solution to people with 300W PSU, we get asked this question quite often.

But yes, the 5670 is what you want, idealy.

 

[Rodmantis]

Ok, my power supply came stock with this case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811153028&cm_re=foxconn-_-11-153-028-_-Product

if you zoom in on the picture, you can see the specifications, I THINK it has the 12v rail on 15 amps, cause it says something like 12v- 15.0 a (YEL) which seem to be for yellow? i dont know.

The thing is, I've narrowed down my options to this 3 cards (according to availability and price):
The Gigabyte 4670 1gb ddr3 at $115
The Gigabyte 5670 1gb ddr5 at $155
The Zotac 240 1gb 512 ddr5 at $122

If I compare it to the prices at newegg, the Zotac is the one that stays the closest to it's newegg price.

The problem is, with both the 4670 and the 5670 the min. requirements are 400w, I've seen through the forums that ATI inflates those requirements, and that a "decent 300w psu" will easily run it, so, is mine decent enough?

On the other hand, the Zotac 240 asks for a 300w supply but a 12v on 18 or 21 amps... dammit I forgot... the case said the specification, and mine seems to have a 15 amp. 12v rail.

So, now that you have all the info... what should i do

EDIT: i better make this the original post

 

[Vadorsystems]

It varies from manufacturer on what cards can cope with what PSU size, xfx generally use very low amounts of power in comparrison to sapphire and such. on a 300W psu a 5670 should be able to run without any problems, a 5770 would be able to run if its a low power consuming one as per the previously mentioned xfx company.

 

[jyjjy]

]It varies from manufacturer on what cards can cope with what PSU size, xfx generally use very low amounts of power in comparrison to sapphire and such. on a 300W psu a 5670 should be able to run without any problems, a 5770 would be able to run if its a low power consuming one as per the previously mentioned xfx company.

Where did you get this from? It is not true at all. How much power a card uses depends on what card it is, not the manufacturer and he certainly should not try running an HD5770, or any card with a power connector, on a 300w PSU.

 

[Vadorsystems]

I got that from being an IT technician and the fact that I build and sell computers on a day to day basis? As a case point, the XFX 5870 card runs stable on a 200W psu, whereas the Sapphire 5870 does not. Also currently being used is the same mobo and psu as that test and its running the xfx 5770 1gb and I use it for pretty huge amounts of gaming.. so Im fully aware that it should run on a 300W when im running it on a 200W =)

 

[Rodmantis]

I got that from being an IT technician and the fact that I build and sell computers on a day to day basis? As a case point, the XFX 5870 card runs stable on a 200W psu, whereas the Sapphire 5870 does not. Also currently being used is the same mobo and psu as that test and its running the xfx 5770 1gb and I use it for pretty huge amounts of gaming.. so Im fully aware that it should run on a 300W when im running it on a 200W =)

ok... a technician that would place a 5870 on a 200 watt supply doesn't seem so good...

 

[Vadorsystems]

ok... a technician that would place a 5870 on a 200 watt supply doesn't seem so good...

Lol the 5870's were hooked up to a 200W as part of a test to see if it would actually work, I wouldnt really ever say to use a 5870 on such a low psu as you do run the risk of it crashing out like the Sapphire did. In terms on 5770 that runs dead smooth on my 200w psu even when I jump into really demanding games it doesnt seem to have any power issues

 

[nukemaster]

Ok, to clear things up. The power supply with your case is not all that good for a 300 watt model. It only has 180 watts on its 12 volt rails. It would be pushed pretty hard.

You are going to be best to stick with one of the above lower end cards and not use the 5770(I mean it may work, but would be cutting it close)

Good 300 watt power supplies can deliver 250+ watts to the 12 volt rails giving you a little more room for video cards and faster cpus.

jyjjy, Depending on how efficient the power regulation section of the video card is, one manufacturer can in fact consume less power. As for saying you can not run a 5770 on a 300 watt power supply, Where did you get that info from? Hell even my I7 920 @ 3.5 + 5 hard drives and 5870 can just break 350 watts at the wall under very heavy use(Idles @ 140-150). My I5 750 idles @ 50-60 watts with a 5770 and games under 170 all with its 300(it has over 250 on its 12 volt rail) watt power supply.

Bottom line.

In the end I do not recommend the 5770 anymore as the power supply is older and does not dedicate much power to the 12 volt rail.

EDIT. with all wattage measured at the wall, the actual computer power load on the psu will be lower

 

[Rodmantis]

I don't want a 5770, first, I don't have the money for it, and second, I KNOW my psu won't run it. I want to know if it can run a 4670,5670, or gt 240

 

[nukemaster]

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,703129/Radeon-HD-5670-Redwood-reviewed-DirectX-11-for-less-than-100-Euros/Reviews/

scroll down to see the idle load and super load of all 3 cards. They should all run fine. There are also some benchmarks to show how the cards run

Hope this helps.

Back to play some Just Cause 2 on a 300 watt psu

 

[Vadorsystems]

Ahh 5770's dont cost that much xD, but in terms of the cars you posted I see no reason whatsoever that they shouldnt all be able to run on the psu as they all use tiny amounts of power in real terms. Just depends on how much you wanna spend then I guess since the 5670 is like $40 more then the 4670.. It would perform a fair bit better though

 

[shovenose]

thing is, it has like 15a on the 12v, 20a on the 3.3v, and 30a on the 5v. its a very old psu, as you can tell cuz it has most of its power on the 5v. i would chuck it and get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/NewProduct.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033
inexpensive and VERY good.

 

[jyjjy]

I got that from being an IT technician and the fact that I build and sell computers on a day to day basis? As a case point, the XFX 5870 card runs stable on a 200W psu, whereas the Sapphire 5870 does not. Also currently being used is the same mobo and psu as that test and its running the xfx 5770 1gb and I use it for pretty huge amounts of gaming.. so Im fully aware that it should run on a 300W when im running it on a 200W =)

You seriously must be using magic power supplies. If you are really selling computers with power supplies so far below their video cards power requirements you are doing your customers a large disservice. Go back to school or at least do better research on how much power these cards actually use and the actual continuous power output that can be expected out of various power supplies of different brands/ratings. Just because a PSU may start up with a card does not mean that it is appropriate for extended use with such.

 

[Helltech]

You seriously must be using magic power supplies. If you are really selling computers with power supplies so far below their video cards power requirements you are doing your customers a large disservice. Go back to school or at least do better research on how much power these cards actually use and the actual continuous power output that can be expected out of various power supplies of different brands/ratings. Just because a PSU may start up with a card does not mean that it is appropriate for extended use with such.

^+1

Just becuase a GPU works with said low wattage PSU does not mean it will work at full load, and even taking that chance is dangerous despite what you may know, or not know.

E.G. Some cards that call for a recommended PSU of 400w will work at 350w, even at full load. Despite knowing that, I have NEVER built a computer for a customer using a 350W PSU with a 400W GPU. This seems extremely unprofressional to me, I hope you at least inform your customers about this.

 

[shovenose]

You seriously must be using magic power supplies. If you are really selling computers with power supplies so far below their video cards power requirements you are doing your customers a large disservice. Go back to school or at least do better research on how much power these cards actually use and the actual continuous power output that can be expected out of various power supplies of different brands/ratings. Just because a PSU may start up with a card does not mean that it is appropriate for extended use with such.

i sometimes sell computers with bestec or liteon 250w psus taken out of old hps and stuff. theyre fine for an athlon 64 and a weak graphics cards...

 

[jyjjy]

Ahh 5770's dont cost that much xD, but in terms of the cars you posted I see no reason whatsoever that they shouldnt all be able to run on the psu as they all use tiny amounts of power in real terms

You have no idea what you are talking about and are giving extremely poor advice. That power supply lists 15a on the +12v rail. That is 180w of power. the HD5770 uses about 85w during normal gaming and maxes out at around 115w during stress testing. That leaves 65-95w for the rest of the system and there are plenty of CPUs that use more than that on there own never mind the other components. Furthermore that PSU is likely old and of a questionable brand so the listed 15a is probably higher than it can actually handle. On top that it is an extremely poor idea to run a power supply at or near the limits of its ratings. The power efficiency will plummet and usually the lifespan of the PSU will be drastically shortened.

 

[jyjjy]

i sometimes sell computers with bestec or liteon 250w psus taken out of old hps and stuff. theyre fine for an athlon 64 and a weak graphics cards...

Yes, they should be ok for such. The HD5770 is not weak however. While it's very power efficient for its performance it still uses a considerable amount of power and even a 300w of a good brand is questionable for it.

 

[Vadorsystems]

Well in terms of going back to school ide rather not, already been there and have my qualifications, I dont ever sell graphics cards with psu's that arn't capable unless of couse the customer asks for it though they would be advised against it. But in terms of doing better research... I dont really think I need to, i trust the good folks who make them to provide me with the information and if im needing better research that means the tests we do combined with the info given from the manufacturers must be wrong.

 

[jyjjy]

But in terms of doing better research... I dont really think I need to, i trust the good folks who make them to provide me with the information and if im needing better research that means the tests we do combined with the info given from the manufacturers must be wrong.

Are you kidding me? Apparently you haven't even done the small amount of research you claim. The actual manufacturers suggestions are MUCH higher than the numbers you are stating. The requirement for the HD5770 according to ATI is a 450w PSU;
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-hd-5000/hd-5770/Pages/ati-radeon-hd-5770-system-requirements.aspx
Now the manufacturers requirements ARE actually usually inflated over what they really need. This is in response to the majority of power supplies being overrated by their manufacturers. I wouldn't hesitate running an HD5770 on, for example, a Corsair 400CX or Antec EA380. You on the other hand are talking about running cards on units that have no business being used for them. Not only are they drastically below the suggested requirements they are rated well below what is safe for their actual power usage.

 

[Vadorsystems]

I tend not to take the information from the website, I tend to take it from the actual people who work at the companies.. ya know.. get in touch with the company.. talk to them.. its the kind of thing you do to get better deals on ***.. its also the kind of thing you do to get information. But in all fairness its now past 2am here and my psu has been on and running this 5770 for like what.. 16 or 17 hours straight... but it clearly cant do that so I had best turn it off.. may aswell get some sleep aswell.

 

[jyjjy]

lol
Exactly how full of **** are you?

 

[shovenose]

Yes, they should be ok for such. The HD5770 is not weak however. While it's very power efficient for its performance it still uses a considerable amount of power and even a 300w of a good brand is questionable for it.

i never called the 5770 weak.i was more thinking of radeon x1300 256mb and stuffl like that