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Graphics card Power Supply

Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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Greetings everybody.
My PC is horrible for gaming, today I was in a second hand game/pc store (reliable, bought there before) and I saw the following card very cheap 'GeForce GTX 260 896MB'.
I also saw another card even cheaper, 'Radeon HD 4670 1GB'.
I know that both cards, despite the GTX 260 being the obvious winner, are much better than my current, (brace yourselves) 8400gs...
I would buy the GTX 260 in a second, but I am worried that my PC cannot handle it in terms of power supply or something, (I have seen threads about this kind of thing). I have no idea about any of this and if you could tell me whether or not either card could be supported by my current PC.

Ok it's by 'Bestec' Model: ATX-300-12Z Rev:CCR
INPUT: 100-127V-7A, 200-240V-4A 50/60Hz
Theres a bunch of random OUTPUT stuff which doesn't make too much sense.
Then, at the bottom
'+5V & + 3.3V 180W MAX, +5V & +12V 288W MAX
OH and on the output thing which didn't make too much sense it did also say '300W MAX'

Maybe I should also mention I upgraded from 1GB DDR2 ram to 3GB DDR2 ram .

Thank you.

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If you could post your full system specs it would be helpful. Judging from the fact that you are running DDR2 RAM (you're sure it isn't DDR3?), I'd say you are running a fairly old system where a CPU bottleneck might be a major issue.

Also, that PSU isn't very good. If we do determine that a GPU upgrade would be beneficial, you will most likely need to upgrade your PSU as well.

subasteve5800 said:
If you could post your full system specs it would be helpful. Judging from the fact that you are running DDR2 RAM (you're sure it isn't DDR3?), I'd say you are running a fairly old system where a CPU bottleneck might be a major issue.

Also, that PSU isn't very good. If we do determine that a GPU upgrade would be beneficial, you will most likely need to upgrade your PSU as well.


Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz (2 CPUs)
3070MB RAM ( 5300U DDR2)
NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS 512 MB
1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)



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Graphics card Master
Power supply Master

A 380W Antec Earthwatts (~$45 online) can handle any graphics card with a single 6-pin PCIe power connector; so can a 430W Corsair Builder.
Your Bestec is a PSU-shaped object, hardly fit to power light bulbs: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=... although yours is the -12Z and this review is of a -12E. There may be differences, but after reading that review, decide if it's a risk you care to take.

Edit: Graphics card manufacturers inflate PSU requirements in the often vain attempt to compensate for all the liar-labeled junk out there. A graphics card with a single PCIe power connection draws no more than 150W, and that's running flat out. More typical is 80W-130W depending on the card. That's well within the capacity of a quality 380W-450W PSU.
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