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eVGA 7800GS AGP and a 300 watt PSU.

spectre440

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dosent sound too promising, does it?

well, to make a long story short, i've finally gotten around to replacing my aging 9600 pro, with a nice spanking new eVGA 7800GS (that i got at like 2/3's of the price it's usually sold at) and i should be getting it within the next couple of days...

the thing is, i really doubt that my aging 300 watt HEC PSU will be able to power it effectivley

i need to know what kind of issues i can expect from an under-powered (litelerly) card. so any help would be appriciated...

i also would like to get recommendations from you folk on dirt-cheap (yet still at least somewhat quality) replacement PSU that would be able to handle the card at least at stock (as i dont plan on overclocking it in the forseeable future) should the need actually arise to replace it. (and i do believe it will arise, at one point or another...)
 
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zOaib

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spectre440 said:
dosent sound too promising, does it?

well, to make a long story short, i've finally gotten around to replacing my aging 9600 pro, with a nice spanking new eVGA 7800GS (that i got at like 2/3's of the price it's usually sold at) and i should be getting it within the next couple of days...

the thing is, i really doubt that my aging 300 watt HEC PSU will be able to power it...

i need to know what kind of issues i can expect from an under-powered (litelerly) card. so any help would be appriciated...

i also would like to get recommendations from you folk on dirt-cheap replacement PSU that would be able to handle the card, should the need actually arise to replace it. (and i do believe it will arise, at one point or another...)


MELTDOWN !!! :D

(MOTHERBAORD , CPU ............ AND OFCOURSE YOUR GRAPHIC CARD ASWELL )
 

spectre440

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zOaib said:
MELTDOWN !!! :D

(MOTHERBAORD , CPU ............ AND OFCOURSE YOUR GRAPHIC CARD ASWELL )


dude, this is serious stuff, that card was a deal too good to pass up, but i still spent a bucketload of money on it... so if you dont have any actual advice for me, dont say anything at all. :laugh:
 
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300 Watts just doesnt do it anymore. I kno it depends on the output of the 12v line, but still even with a high 12v 300 Watt PSU, it just wont cut it with the higher end cards. Sorry to tell ya, but you are going to need another $100 for the PSU. Go with a 500W min. so this doesnt happen again.
 

zOaib

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spectre440 said:
dude, this is serious stuff, that card was a deal too good to pass up, but i still spent a bucketload of money on it... so if you dont have any actual advice for me, dont say anything at all. :laugh:

sorry if u mistook me , but by saying that i mean your 300watt psu will not cut it , and u r gonna risk your whole system that way !
 
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I agree with bruins the ocz powerstream 520 would be a great psu for that system.
 
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buying a nice card when money is tight and having to buy a new psu to power it is a position a lot of folks are gonna find themselves in..

if its a really good 300 watt supply it might work.. if its not the system probably wont boot at all.. if it does boot and is on the edge the system will just be unstable when u game the card..

i think what u really want to know is.. is it safe to try it.. i think so.. in your position i would try it i think.. does it have a spare 50 watts (5 amps) or so on its 12 volt rail.. if it has it will work if it hasnt it wont..

trog
 

spectre440

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a'right...
thanks for all the feedback guys... im probably laying my hands on the card tommorow... and it'll probably take me another couple of days to take the time and go shopping for a new PSU... in the meantime im gonna try an run it with my existing 300 watt PSU... its fairly decent, and i believe i has some power to spare to at least power it up and make it boot but probably wont hold up to any gaming... i also have a 400 watt generic PSU that puts out the 18 amps on the 12v rail that the card needs to run, but the reason im not using that PSU in the first place is cause the wires are too short to reach all of the component in the case... but i guess with some fiddling i can make it happen...

anywas, thanks again for the feedback.
 

spectre440

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situation update!

okay, got my card a couple of hours ago, and along with that i found a generic 400 watt PSU that was lying around the house, porbably from one of my previous systems...

anyways, so i put in the new-old PSU, make sure it works, and it does.
so i go ahead and uninstall my old 9600 pro. every cool here.

put in the swanky new 7800GS in my ye-olde AGP slot and install drivers. :D
and... EVERYTHING WORKS LIKE A FREAKIN' CHARM! :D

you simply cannot imagine how deleriously happy i was at the time... :laugh:

anyways, to make sure everything was solid and worked as it should i let it run 3dmark05 for about 2 hours, and everything is solid and working as it should. :D

got 5486 points. :D
which is pretty damn sweet considering the rest of my somewhat obsolete hardware...

i'll probably get around to replacing the generic 400 watt PSU i put in instead of my old HEC 300 watt one within the next week or so... but for the time being everything is just fine and dandy!

and thanks alot for all the help and advice, you guys! :toast:
 

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glad that u r enjoying your 7800gs ............. now its all about gaming with it ! have fun ;)
 
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Nice to hear that Spectre :)
I wouldn't hold too long on that generic PSU though, remember that unstable voltage can ruin your video card, even if it seems to work without problems, look for a good PSU with the highest Amp output on the 12V rail! Good luck :)
 
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