Will my psu handle this card

ya i keep hearing i should replace my psu but its not a option right now i just wanted to upgrade the video card since newegg has it on sale right now http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...


i probably wont buy it as i dont want to take a chance of my computer blowing up thanks for the psu suggestions when i do get around to upgrading ill probably grab one of those and out of curiosity it says the 4850 requires 450watt minimum how would it work with the 380 psu you linked

Your current PSU can handle a 4850. Your current PSU has 19A on 1 12V rail and 20A on the other.

Here's an article by which they show the total system load of a system with a 4850 and a core 2 duo:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-ati-radeon-hd-4850-re...

With that processor and a 4850 the test system sits around the 270W mark under load. Another review:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-4850,1957...

shows the power consumption in conjunction with a quad core at load at 250W and idle around 130W.

Additionally, just to put it in perspective... a new mid-range to high-end video card requires 18-22A/216-264W max on a 12V rail. Both of your 12V rails could facilitate most in this category. The power requirements for the 4850 are similar to that of a 5770 requiring around 8-10A on the 12V rail. No problem with your current power supply.

uniformed answers about PSU

1. those stats are meaningless without total watts and are not independently reviewed

2.here aere PSU for a similar price and have the same make-believe stats. lets see what happened?
"Uh oh! As you can see, the PSU died after 50% load"
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3985/three-550w-psus-for-...

here is another so called 500w+ PSU on newegg for a similar price
The Logisys PS6000A12 has “garbage” written all over it. It is labeled as 600 W continuous and 630 W peak, but it burned when we tried to pull 375 W from it
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Logisys-PS600A12...

3. it only has one rail which was split twice. just about every PSU under 1000w has only one 12v rail even if they list 12v 1-6, they are almost always splits on a single rail.

stats on a PSU are often meaningless. there is no independent body that places those stats on a PSU. you can purchase a boatload of junk PSU that will never deliver 300w, place 600w stickers on them and sell them. happens all the time, see the links above. a gaming rig with the ATI 4850 will draw just under 300w at stress.

Core i7 Test System Specs
- Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Edition (Overclocked @ 3.70GHz)
- x3 2GB G.Skill DDR3 PC3-12800 (CAS 9-9-9-24)
- Asus P6T Deluxe (Intel X58



often the sign of a better PSU is the amps on the 12v rail (the majority of power should be there) and the ability to deliver continuous power (not peak) at a high temp 40-50c. your most valuable tool though are independent reviews like hardware secrets, bit-tech, kit guru and jonnyguru (to name some of the better sites). that antec can deliver 28a on its 12v rail continuously and will peak above 380w when needed, plenty of power for most mid-range gaming rigs.

its well reviewed
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3902/antec-earthwatts-ea-...
and bit tech uses it to power a GTX460 rig
Finally, power is handled by an Antec Earthwatts 380W. We said in Custom PC that this PSU 'proved able to output a stable voltage from all of its rails [and] it’s also reasonably efficient.' As this isn't a monster PC, a 380W power supply is fine.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/buyers-guide/2011/03/1...

I guess if the stats don't say much, you can always read the user review or contact the company.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Check out those newegg user reviews. There's a good user review out there from 3/15/11 about a fellow named Sean with his own 4850 and AMD Phenom II x4 965 system powered by the HEC 585. He says it's doing a great job. There's another one more recently from someone with a 5770 and a quad-core submitted 3/22/11. There are other reviewers out there who say the supply is junk, though all in all, it has gotten a 4-egg rating.

I guess if you can't trust the stats, you can turn to user reviews.

No one's saying it's the best power supply, though your question is "Will my PSU handle this card?". Not based on stats or canned answers about power supplies only, but also incorporating user reviews of the product as well I would still say "Yes" to your question.

User reviews are pretty meaningless. Even if the crappy PSU doesn't burn under a 300W load, it may be outputting out-of-spec voltages that can damage attached components over an extended period of time.
A quality modern PSU will have full range active PFC (no little voltage switch!) and be [at least] 80+ certified for efficiency. Antec, Seasonic, Corsair, XFX, and Enermax are among the better brands.
The 380W Earthwatts has been my "goto" PSU for low-moderate builds for the last three or four years now (including the prior, non "D" model). Sadly, the further lowered price on it suggests it is about to be discontinued, probably in favor of the also-high-quality but more expensive HCG series.

Edit: ...so you may just want to buy one now. Actually, going from a HD5670 to a HD4850 is not that big an improvement. If you want to upgrade, get at least a HD5770 or GTX460.

reader review? you can't be serious! reader reviews?! playing eanie meanie minie moe would be a more accurate measurement stick. half those idiots install the PSU, boot up and run to newegg to give the PSU 5 stars. the other half forget to plug the cpu power in and state its "DOA".

The way it adds value is it's yet another source to gain consensus of opinion regarding whether or not the power supply will work with the card.

Consensus from multiple sources beats the heck out of listening to one dude on some forum who thinks he knows everything. That's just my opinion. Now if other people also agree with the opinion, we'd start to come to some sort of general agreement on it=consensus.

Now, you've been able to give us a lot of information about exploding power supplies and power supplies you think would be better than the one the OP has, though you still haven't answered the original question.

1. i did answer the question "was thinking of upgrading my ati 5670 card to the 4850 but was wondering if my psu would be able to handle it heres the psu " with "it may work since the ATI 4850 does not need a lot of power". like jt expanded into, it may also damage his system. no way to know unless he rolls the dice.

2. there is no consensus when facts are up against incorrect opinions (even if they come from the fonz)

Sure he / we did. The answer is, "Probably not safely." And, a single competent technical review (i.e. like HardwareSecrets or jonnyguru) beats a consensus any day.

ROFL!

So there is one for the HEC 585?

no. just about every review site relies on brands to send in samples for reviews. HeC would never send out that PSU for a review, for obvious reasons. when sites like HS review cheap 500w units (happens rarely), they often purchase the PSU itself since they are so cheap.

I can't find a review on that thing anywhere. Would I buy it for myself and use it? No. If OP can buy another PSU, OP should.

Though based on specs and not based on probability, it should work.

Actually, Gabriel is in the process of reviewing some cheap PSUs. He did a Logisys unit and one from Apevia recently. They died miserably under testing, blatant examples of consumer fraud that they are. It would be hard for the HEC to be worse, but no rational person would expect it to be better.

It's definitely not a brand that's ever been on my radar.

Best answer selected by stabito.

their high end are the "cougar" brand and them make PSU for brands such as "thermaltake" low end stuff, among others