Bare Bone System Power Supply Question

[NateKingCole]

I'm building a bare bone system for my brother, so far I've come up with:

AMD 2600+
Asus A7N8X nForce2 Ultra400 w/Audio, LAN, Dual DDR400
Samsung 512MB (PC-3200) DDR400 (OEM)
Asus V9520-X GeForce FX 5200 TD 128M AGP 8X DVI/VGA

Question: He's got an old ass ATX-E-250 in his computer right now. Will this hold up through this upgrade? I'm inclined to say no, but in the interest of saving my little brother some cash, I'd like your opinions.

Aslo any comments on this graphics card are welcom. Is it a good buy at 55$ Canadian or is it a piece of junk?

 

[Starfishy]

Where are you buying from in Canada? This will help me pick some things out. I have found that when I help fellow Canadians with hardware I don't just search newegg.com because we are often limited by supply. If you haven't decided on a certain store you are buying from yet, then give me an area and I will find the stuff for you.

 

[Starfishy]

That is a pretty weak PSU though... although I will say this. Many people on this forum in the past have recommended to never throw out an old PSU. If you are upgrading you might as well try the old PSU on the new rig, and if it doesn't hold up, then buy the new PSU if necessary.

This was the most common piece of advice until lately. Now some people are starting to suggest buying a new PSU with the upgrade. They have suggested that sometimes a failing PSU takes other components with it (ie. mobo, CPU etc.).

I have never observed this on one of my builds and I always try the old PSU first... it might save you a little money, and in my experience the PSU doesn't usually blow up if it doesn't have enough juice, it just won't run at all, or for very long under high load before the system crashes.

 

[NateKingCole]

I am buying from Anitec.ca as they usually have very competitive pricing. And I live in BC so I can usually coerce people that are making a trip to Vancouver to bring some components back for me.

Hence my problem. I need to buy all the components at once or if I decide not to upgrade the psu then I may have to wait a couple weeks before I can get a new one.

Also the psu that I am considering is packaged is in a new case. ACT P9080KL (Black) 18" Tower w/Clear Acrylic Front, side USB ports, 450W 24-Pin PSU. I would buy a antec psu if it was my own system, but like I said my brother is mostly interested in getting the computer as cheap as possible.

 

[mpasternak]

I had a shuttle before with that power supply.

YES it did work. but no, it did NOT work well.

because of the power draw of the video card i was using (geforce6600gt) I lost ability to Burn DVD's. and there were another few anomolies.

will a 5200 work? probably. but you wont have any room to spare

 

[Clob]

A 5200 is a world class POS!



"Battling Gimps and Dimbulbs HERE at THGC"

 

[dunklegend]

He probably knows that, but if you don't have money you just don't.
Give him a better option with the money that the 5200 costs and then that would really be helpful

<font color=blue>If everything seems to be going well, you obviously don't know what the hell is going on</font color=blue>

 

[Starfishy]

This one is in stock and it will do the trick just fine. This is one of the weaknesses that I have noticed with Anitec.ca though. They are usually very good with price and have a good selection of products, except when it comes to PSU's. Our neighbors to the south get a far better selection on PSU's than we do unfortunately.

 

[NateKingCole]

Hmmm, yes the graphics card is probably not worth it, but really I think my brother just wants something to lump along on until I upgrade my video card (which might be soon) and then he can inherit my 9600. Anybody have a preference?

Sapphire Radeon 9600 128MB DDR w/DVI, TV-Out (OEM) (89$)
Sapphire Radeon 9250 128MB DDR w/DVI, TV-Out (OEM) (67$)
Leadtek WinFast A180BT GeForce MX-4000 128MB DDR w/TV-Out (Retail) (45$)
Asus V9520-X GeForce FX 5200 TD 128M AGP 8X DVI/VGA (57$)

Keep in mind the price concerns, so please don't recommend the most expensive one if there is little improvement over the cheaper one. Thanks again all.