Power Supply and New Graphics Card
 

Greetings,
Its time to upgrade. I have a crappy MX440 which means I can play Loderunner and Tetris. You can get a 9800Pro for around $250 or less (if your lucky) but I also have a 250watt power supply. If I upgrade my video card do I need to get a new power supply? A friend of mine got the new 9700Pro when they came out and he needed a new power supply to run his new card. Do I need to upgrade my power supply just in general. I have a P42.6HT, 1.25G DDR 3200 RAM, etc. Do I need more power? Thanks for any info, tips, help, etc.

Yes you do. You could try running as is but expect stability problems or outright failure.

Grab an Antec Tru Power 430. it is a very good PSU, and decently priced at that.

Well if he is going to keep upgrading he could get a 430 watt PSU. But if he isn't that just a bit extreme.

You could just go with a 300 watt or possibly a 350 if you going to upgrade some more but not crazy upgrades.

Why not get something good now and not worry?
I started with a cheap 350 and though "why not eh?".
Guess what? PSU failure. Got myself a good one, problem solved.

You could mabey get away with a good quality 250, depending on the number of other devices.
I would feel uncomfortable running what he has now plus some HDD's and fans.

Hmmm well I have a cheapo 350w PS and I have it hooked up to 2 Maxtor HD's, one DVD-RW drive, radeon 9800 Pro, cathode lights, a bunch of fans. Haven't had a problem.

Since it sounds like you've decided on the 9800 Pro you could just buy it, hook it up and see if there is still enough juice in your system. If you have stability issues, take out the 9800, put the MX back in temporarily, then buy a new PS. 250w might be able to cut it depending on how many devices you have, but eventually sometime down the line you will have to get a more powerful PS.

I would suggest a new case, most of the time you can get a new 450-500w PS with the case for almost as much as a single PS...
Just a thought

Well, the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra *requires* a 350w PSU. I assume the Radeon 9800 Pro will need power around that range. I'd get a nice shitty POWMAX or RAIDMAX 350w PSU if you don't have too many devices. Mine ran my GeForce FX 5900 Ultra fine this past summer with 1 HDD, CD-RW, etc.

The 250w PSU is gonna be pushed to its limits. It might run it for a bit, but I'd expect a death around the corner if it did.

*PS* NewEgg has the Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro NOT on sale for $215. Now that's a deal.

-Lasereth

*PS* NewEgg has the Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro NOT on sale for $215. Now that's a deal.

What does "NOT" stand for? And I think I tracked down the Sapphire at New Egg:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...=BROWSE&depa=0

and

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...=BROWSE&depa=0

They seem identical except one is called Bulk and one Retail. SHould I spend the extra ten bucks for the Retail or does it matter? Thanks Lasereth. You seem to know your way around the graphics card maze. Thanks for your input

The retail card will come in the pretty box and have software included. The OEM will just be the card without software. Whichever one you choose don't forget to put the free newegg t-shirt in your cart before you checkout ! (I wrote the cookiemonster review for the size medium ;-) )

430 watts seems kind of like overkill for the specs he's running. I think the only reason you'd really need to go with 430 versus 350 or so on that setup is if you plan on overclocking. If you're planning future upgrades, the beefier power supply couldn't hurt, though.

Sorry for the confusion Mahler, by NOT on sale I meant that $215 is its ordinary price. That card was on sale the other day for $214, so I didn't want you to think that it was about to be raised in price. :)

-Lasereth

Get a 5900 for 180 bucks and flash the bios.... it will destroy that 9800 for far less money, running at 5950 speeds.

It's not that simple. You have to know which brands support the flash, and even if you get a brand that does support it, it's very easy to fuck it over with one wrong step. I have to admit that if I was going to spend $200 or less on a videocard I'd get a 5900 and attempt the flash, but for $215, that Radeon 9800 Pro can't be beat.

-Lasereth