PSU requirement for Radeon HD 7770?

[pkrsccr]

Just bought a new video card (see specs below), the manufacturer says 450W minimum, and the place I bought it from says 600W minimum requirement. My current stock PSU is apparently 300W. I have had a few people (from these forums) suggest that I try the card with my stock PSU and see if it can handle it or not, but after doing some research, it seems like the card idles around 80W-100W and with a load goes up to around 250W. (http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/536)

To me, it seems like these numbers are pretty indicitive that my 300W PSU won't be enough. But I was hoping to get some feedback from some people who are more knowledgeable on the subject.

1. First, what are your thoughts on these W numbers (min recommended, apparent card usage, etc)?
2. Secondly, If I do need a new PSU, what wattage, and even better, what unit should I go with keeping in mind I am a poor college student.

System Specs
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c01905330#N33

Card Specs
-Manufacturer
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1159&lid=1&pid=1452&leg=0#
-Place I purchased it from:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2042277&SRCCODE=WEBLET03SHIP&cm_mmc=Email-_-WebletMain-_-WEBLET03SHIP-_-03ship

 

[ilysaml]

250W as a total system power not the GPU only. Your PSU should power it easily through a Molex adapter if it doesn't have a 6 Pin PCIE conector. If you wanna upgrade your PSU, get something like this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026&Tpk=Corsair%20430w

EDIT: The card itself draws around 80W in full load, you'll be fine with your PSU.

 

[WR2]

Hello pkrsccr;

Those 80W-100W ~ 250W numbers would be for a complete test system. Not just the graphics card.

Here's the AMD recommendation for a HD 7770 system.

Have you checked to see if anyone in the HP forums has already tried that card & PSU combo?

 

[pkrsccr]

oh, thanks for the quick responses! i didn't realize it was the complete system (silly me!), which is i guess why i asked. So you guys think i should give it a try with the stock 300W psu and see if it is adequate? this won't harm any of my components or anything if it isnt?

what should i look for that would indicate that it might not be enough power?

ps. i have not seen that card & PSU combo tested elsewhere and i even searched beyond these forums (the whole WWW)


edit: and why does the manufacturer, amd, (and especially tigerdirect) have such high min PSU recommendations when the highest load i have seen from multiple sources is around 250W?

 

[WR2]

The recommendation has to cover a whole multitude of different combinations hardware.
A fully loaded case, extra lights, bells, whistles and weak PSUs all have to be accounted for in a near-worst case scenario.

In your research over at the HP forums what were some of the other graphics cards successfully run on that same PSU?

 

[WR2]

If you read of any HD 5770s running OK on that PSU - you know your 7770 is a safe bet.

 

[ilysaml]

Try it & don't worry. I had run my 9600 GT on a 300W Dell PSU too.

 

[pkrsccr]

Best answer selected by pkrsccr.

 

[gerald191146]

would the antec hcg-400 also be sufficient to power this card?

 

[Guest]

hi there, would my 450w psu power my asus hd radeon 7770 overclocked?

 

[demonsparkx]

good answers,had the same question myself.

 

[abhirockin912]

I got a PSU that's around 200 Watts (says 450w but AxV = 200w), enough for a simple rig with 7770?