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View Full Version : How much power do I need?

MonicaT
08-08-2006, 11:57 PM
I'm in the process of upgrading my computer and right now I'm looking at power supplies. This system will have 2 hard drives, 2 cd rom, 1 cd burner and be running on an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800. I haven't decided on the video card yet. What kind of power supply would I need for this?
saphalline
08-09-2006, 12:53 AM
ATX 3.03, aka ATX 12V 2.03, in the 450W+ range (depending on the vid card, amount of RAM, and likelihood of upgrading).
MonicaT
08-10-2006, 07:58 AM
The likelihood of upgrading is pretty much 100%. We do that a lot. And I'm looking at PowerColor Radeon X800 GTO PCIe x16 256MB for the video card right now. That is if I can sell enough comics on eBay to cover it. RAM will be at least a gig.
saphalline
08-10-2006, 11:56 PM
A Radeon X800 GTO? That's a bit old. How much are you planning to spend on the vid card? I guarantee you there are better options for your money. The X800's don't even have SM 3.0! :eek:

Antec SmartPower 2.0 500W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103937)
MonicaT
08-11-2006, 08:00 AM
I'm trying to get this as cheap as possible. I don't really need anything too high end.

I'd be very open to suggestions if you want to PM me.
saphalline
08-13-2006, 08:08 AM
GeForce 7600 GS - they're like $100! Graphics technology moves too fast to settle for cheap. While a Radeon X800 GTO may very well be cheap, I'd still prefer a more modern vid card. For one thing, the X800's and X850's don't support SM 3.0! You may consider this just a gaming aspect, but Vista's new 3D GUI will require SM 3.0 support.

New hardware is cheap. Don't settle for less!