No announcement yet.

Best Video Card for 300w PSU?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Best Video Card for 300w PSU?

    Just got a new HP Pavilion a6567c which only has a 300w power supply. I thought I would move the NVIDIA GeForce 9300 GE card to my old computer and get something better for this computer.
    What PCI-Ex16 video card do you recommend without replacing the power supply?

    The current PSU is
    Bestec model ATX-300-12Z FDR:
    +12V 19A
    +5V 30A
    +3.3V 28A

    It is quite small (only 6"x4"x6"), so I am not sure if a replacement would easily fit. Also, HP warned me that replacing the PSU would void the warranty (though I guess I could always swap back, if I later had warranty issues).

    It also has an Intel Quad Q6600 w/ 4GB RAM and Vista64.

    Thanks in advance for all suggestions.
    Last edited by V-rex; 08-27-2008, 03:32 PM. Reason: addition

  • #2
    Re: Best Video Card for 300w PSU?

    Its hard to say usually videos cards need that much to power itself but you have the rest of your computer runing off that 300 watt. I had the same problem about 2 years back on my a hp. They do make smaller psus that could reach up to 500watt which is what i found. another way was is if you have a extra cd drive open you can get a cd drive bay psu which is desinged only for you video car heres a link W0099 POWER EXPRESS 250W i used this for 2 months for one of my 8800gtxs i had it worked great. I bought it at microcenter i dont know if they still sell it though.
    you can tyr this out also
    Newegg.com - Athena Power AP-MPS3ATX55E 550W Micro PS3 / ATX V2.2 / EPS-12V Nickel Coating Power Supply Support most of Dell and HP Systems - Power Supplies

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Best Video Card for 300w PSU?

      anything which isnt too powerful and will FIT in ur case. my PSU is only 430W and +18A on the 12 V rail, and im running a 9600GT on it....i tink a 9600GT should work on ur 300W psu.
      Asrock P55-Extreme
      Core I5 @ 3.2GHZ
      2x2GB G.skill Ripjaws DDR3 1600
      ASUS HD5850
      1TB Samsung SATA II
      Corsair TX650W PSU

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Best Video Card for 300w PSU?

        Originally posted by randomness View Post
        anything which isnt too powerful and will FIT in ur case. my PSU is only 430W and +18A on the 12 V rail, and im running a 9600GT on it....i tink a 9600GT should work on ur 300W psu.
        Seeing as he has twice the memory and double the cores you have he'd be playing russian roulette to try 1 of them, eventually something/s will give.

        Comment


        • #5
          Wire from Video Card to mobo?

          I went with the XFX 8600GT. The card which I replaced was a GeForce 9300 GE which had a wire connecting to the motherboard. I moved the 9300 to my old computer without connecting the wire; couldn't find the connector. It seems to be working fine without the wire; but I am curious what it is for. Does anyone know? Thanks.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Best Video Card for 300w PSU?

            I would certainly be looking at getting a bigger PSU for that system. When (probably not "if") it blows you stand a good chance of losing more parts than you expect.
            Antec 900 case (4 120mm and 1 200mm lighted fans + UFO flashing light set + 2 12" and 1 6" Mutant Mods meteor lights) - Aerogate ll thermal controller - Asus M2N-e SLI - AMD 64 X2 AM2 6400+ - Corsair TX650 PSU - MSI 450GTS Cyclone OC - 2 X 2GB Patriot Extreme Performance PC2 6400 RAM - SATA 320 GB Seagate HD, SATA 300GB Maxtor HD and IDE 80 GB Samsung HD - Floppy Drive/Card Reader Combo - LG SuperMulti Lightscribe 18x DVD RW - Plextor PX-716A DVD r/rw - Windows 7 Home Premium 64

            Crude but Effective ... it is a way of life.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Best Video Card for 300w PSU?

              Yes, a PSU is the MOST IMPORTANT Part of your system and should NEVER be skimped on.

              Best to save and upgrade it now, before you fry something and have to buy more then a new PSU later

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Best Video Card for 300w PSU?

                Originally posted by PrairieDawg View Post
                I would certainly be looking at getting a bigger PSU for that system. When (probably not "if") it blows you stand a good chance of losing more parts than you expect.
                Can you explain why you say that? I don't know any way to tell how much power the rest of my computer needs without some test equipment. Furthermore, to be extra safe, I emailed my computer configuration to XFX, They said that the 300w PSU would be fine. Many of their customers run the video card with 300w.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Best Video Card for 300w PSU?

                  Likely because of the Quad and 4GB of ram, plus all other items

                  Did you tell XFX that info?

                  Comment

                  Working...
                  X