power for video card...

[Vathros]

Just got a geforce 6600 card, the box says a 300w is min. I have a 350, when I boot up, it says my card performace was reduced because lack of power. I have a p4 3.2, intel mobo. anyway should I just go out now and get a 500w supply?

[jlreich]

What brand of PSU do you have? If it is a poor quality PSU it may not be enough. Either way though 350W is meager for a modern system. We usually recommend at least a 420-450W quality PSU around here.

Also if you have a lot of components in your machine it may sucking too much power to allow the card to run properly on the 350W.

[saphalline]

Like the box says, 300W is the minimum. That's just the starting point. Once you factor in a faster CPU and more RAM and more than just the basic "1 CD drive + 1 hard drive" configuration, the power requirements can go through the roof!

When playing a game, a 6600 vid card alone can suck up to 60W. And your P4 @ 3.2 tops out at 110W. That's half your PSU's max wattage rating right there! And of course PSU's are the most efficient when their load is at 70% - 245W for your PSU. That leaves less than 100W for the rest of your system, and RAM is a big user, too. I think you can see where this is going. ;)

Minimums are rarely adequate in my experience with computers...