Graphicks card and PSU questions

[sarjuci]

Hello,

My GeForce 8500GT card has failed and Im in need to buy a new one but i have ran into some problems concerning my PSU.

Thats what my pc has got:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 2.33ghz processor
2 1GB sticks of ram
Some 350Gb SATA HDD
There also is a DVDRW and floppy drives but im planning to remove them since i never use them.

So i was thinking about getting a Radeon HD4850 because it looks good enough and it fits into my budget which is pretty small. The problem is my pc only has a 400W PSU with only 16amps on a 12V rail, i am aware that this not enough and i have a few options, thats where i need some help.

1. I can get a 500W with 19A on +12V rail PSU for free. Is there any chance a HD4850 would run on this pc with this PSU?

2. I might be able to get a cheap HKC USP5550 550W PSU that has 24amps on 12V rail. Would this PSU would be good enough for HD4850 on my pc?

3. I could get a different graphics card that doesnt require so much power. I was thinking about Radeon HD5570 or a GeForce GT240 with GDDR5, these are from newer generation but they are low-end cards. Would these cards perform much worse than HD4850? Are these cards even worth considering when comparing them to HD4850?

Thanks

 

[dkant1n]

I would look for something like a 600W OCZ PSU. That way you could have some juice left for any other upgrade.

As for the card, you have a difficult choice but personally i'd buy the 4850.

 

[jryan388]

You might be able to get something similar to a 4850 performance-wise that will work on your current PSU if you wait for the radeon 6xxx series (6870 & 6850 come out tomorrow others in a few weeks I believe).

 

[sarjuci]

I would look for something like a 600W OCZ PSU. That way you could have some juice left for any other upgrade.

As for the card, you have a difficult choice but personally i'd buy the 4850.

Thanks for the reply.

I would definitely get something like that PSU you suggested if i could. Its just that my budget is quite low and i dont need this extra juice because i might be getting a whole new rig in a year or two and if im going to do any future upgrades for my current pc its only going to be another 2 sticks of RAM at best

 

[sarjuci]

You might be able to get something similar to a 4850 performance-wise that will work on your current PSU if you wait for the radeon 6xxx series (6870 & 6850 come out tomorrow others in a few weeks I believe).

Sadly, i cannot wait a few weeks, im an IT student and i need to get my pc working asap

 

[sarjuci]

get an ATI 5750 ver 2.0, same performance as the ATI 4850 but needs less juice. or even an ATI 5670 ver. 2.0

By saying "ver. 2.0" do you mean the cards version of PCIe? The 5750 is too expensive for me. The 5670 only has a 128bit bus, will it really have similar performance to the 4850?

 

[welshmousepk]

the 2.0 simply refers to the 2nd revision of the card. better cooling and power usage.

the 5670 is still a very good card if you are unable to afford a 5750. The 5 series cards are little powerhouses. they perform much better then their predecessors.