Is 300 watts enough...

[Eck]

... power for a Radeon 9700 Pro? I remember reading something about it, here, or somewhere else, can't remember. I've got some generic 300 watt power supply that came with my generic case. After reading the articles about "GeForce FX not being a home-run" I've decided to get a 9700 Pro. I don't want to buy it and have it not work, and then have to wait on a power supply.

 

[Krux]

ur fine, thats enough to run a 9700

 

[Sazar]

Originally posted by Eck
... power for a Radeon 9700 Pro? I remember reading something about it, here, or somewhere else, can't remember. I've got some generic 300 watt power supply that came with my generic case. After reading the articles about "GeForce FX not being a home-run" I've decided to get a 9700 Pro. I don't want to buy it and have it not work, and then have to wait on a power supply.

you will need to get a GOOD power supply unit (psu)

there are a lot that say 300-400-430 and what not watts but thats only a spike reaching there... they normally have an operating PEAK wattage sustainable that is well below those specs resulting in blown circuitary

a good quality psu like those in DELL systems (they have a different convention they use to plug their psu's in.. their psu'c can sustain 200w constantly... not PEAK @ it ) will be sufficient...

300 is fine so long as its name brand... like enermax or antec or something... you do get what you pay for... remember

btw the gf FX is not a bad card... just never lived up to its hype...

power requirements are a LOT higher however... (75 odd watts v/s around 50 for the 9700pro drawn)..

 

[Jz1397-5]

i would suggest getting a name brand 400 of 350 in the near future, or whenever you can. it will run fine on your 300, but a 350-400 would be nice incase you want to add alot more to you case (more HDDs or CD-ROMs).

-9700 pro is a good buy, enjoy your nice video card! (i think that a "welcome to the family" is in order).

 

[Eck]

I won't be adding anything more... except maybe a hard drive, only to clone my current drive to it, and then take it out. So I guess I'll try it with this current generic 300 watt power supply, and if it doesn't work I'll just get a name brand 400 watt power supply.

 

[Tinker]

If you would happen to have to buy a new PSU then try and buy something in the high end. I just bought a 550 watt PSU for $110 with shipping. Make sure it has all the latest protection devices in it. i.e., voltage sensor, heat sensor, current sensor...........

Mine is an Antec with gold plated connectors and plenty of line on the power cables. Seems like a lot now but as you add goodies to your system you will have to wonder if the PSU is big ehough.......

:happy:

 

[Eck]

And oh yeah, talk about a good buy: http://www.ocsystem.com/atirad8512dd1.html. $272, free shipping. Wooooooooo

 

[Jz1397-5]

i'll take 3

 

[Zedric]

The easy way to find out if it works is to plug the card in and try. If it works, it works. If not, buy a new PSU.

 

[Taurus]

ahem, zedric...

Originally posted by Eck
I don't want to buy it and have it not work, and then have to wait on a power supply.

besides, let's say if the power supply did work with the card, but is being stressed. then he's going to have out-of-spec voltages and could destroy the video card he just spent $300 on or anything else in his system.

eck, i think you'll be alright. but just to be safe, install a system monitor program (if you don't already have one) and keep an eye on your voltages. if they wander by more than 5%, then think about buying a new power supply in the near future. if they're off by 10% or more, take the card out! and wait for a new power supply. :blink:

 

[Eck]

Ah, good idea... I've got one. It's called Winbond Hardware Doctor. I usually never used it to look at the voltages, just CPU temps and fan speeds. Thanks, probably would've never thought about that.

 

[Sazar]

Originally posted by Zedric
The easy way to find out if it works is to plug the card in and try. If it works, it works. If not, buy a new PSU.

play some games with it when you plug it in

draws more current when working harder

 

[Zedric]

Re: Re: Is 300 watts enough...

Originally posted by taurus
ahem, zedric...

What?
Never heard of 'trial and error'? I don't think low voltages will hurt the card. At least not much...

 

[Sazar]

Re: Re: Re: Is 300 watts enough...

Originally posted by Zedric
What?
Never heard of 'trial and error'? I don't think low voltages will hurt the card. At least not much...

lol.. low volts will prevent bootup and running of the card... the card itself should remain undamaged but the EULA does state the recommendations