Power Questions about Nvidia Cards

[wedge_00]

Just wondering what is the deal with the 6600 series nvidia's from what the Specifications say it needs at least a 300 or 350 Watt supply to run.. But yet People 'say' they can get it to run on a 250 watt supply, but yet an ATi Radeon 9800 can't power up on that amounts of watts?

I understand that Nvidia do upgrade and alter the power consumption needs of the new series of cards, but how can a card that out-performs a 9800 (which fails to easily power up on a supply of 250)

TRUTH OR FICTION, You decide.....

I do understand the idea that some Power Supplies are better quality than others such as Antec and Zalmann....

Using the Wattage Calculator on the internet my system which is

AMD 2600+ (Throughbred: 2.16 Ghz)
ASUS A7N8X-LA Motherboard (Limited build due to it's bad quality)
640 DDR 400 RAM (Clocked at 333Mhz)
MSI GeForce 4 Ti4200 128MB AGP 8X
60GB SAMSUNG 7200RPM HARD DRIVE
Hewlett Packard 4x DVDRW +\-
No-Namer 250 Watt Supply (Can't be bothered to check out)

Should be able to handle a 6800 if i take out the GF4 Ti..... Yeah Right.

 

[4W4K3]

The people running a 6600 series card on a 250w power supply aren't the most intelligent. They are taking a huge risk. Overloading a PSU can potentially fry every component in your PC, or if your lucky just die and not take anything with it. Why take the risk?

Manufacturers don't want lots of returns/RMA's, so they step up the "required" specs to give them a little safety cushion.

While it may run on 250w PSU, its dangeriously close to overloading the PSU. Requiring a 350w PSU puts less stress on PSU and pretty much guarantees the card will work as it's supposed to.

Make sense? I personally recommend 350w or higher on ANY setup really lol. I'd feel more comftorable with a 420w or higher . But i bought a 550w hehe.

 

[DoomUK]

What he said. 250w is just daft...

A decent 550w+ PSU will cover you and your system.

 

[wedge_00]

Thanks for the advice guys... I thought that you might be able to run one of the cards but you would running along a dangerous line anyway. I'd like to upgrade my PSU but my PC is a Compaq so getting a new PSU is ruled out due to issues with the CASE and PIN Connectors to the Mobo...

Looks like im going to have to invest in a whole new setup ...

CHEERS!!!

 

[EricB]

spend 30 bucks and don't worry about it

http://www.dotdotpc.com/productpages/powersupplies-500wt.htm

 

[4W4K3]

spend 30 bucks and don't worry about it

http://www.dotdotpc.com/productpages/powersupplies-500wt.htm

Are you kidding? Cheaping out on a PSU is like the #1 thing NOT to do. It's the backbone of your computer, and probably the most dangerous part. Make sure you get a QUALITY PSU, even if it means waiting to get it till the next paycheck. Having a PSU take out your other hardware is no fun, and usually it's not under warranty.

 

[EricB]

Are you kidding? Cheaping out on a PSU is like the #1 thing NOT to do. It's the backbone of your computer, and probably the most dangerous part. Make sure you get a QUALITY PSU, even if it means waiting to get it till the next paycheck. Having a PSU take out your other hardware is no fun, and usually it's not under warranty.

I've seen this same psu for 80.00 at other stores

 

[4W4K3]

I've seen this same psu for 80.00 at other stores

It looks liek a POS, what brand is it?

Maximum Power: 500W (advertised as 550watter?)
Hold-up Time: Not specified
Efficiency: Not specified
Overload Protection: Not specified

What are the amperage rating on each rail? Is it active or Passive PFC? They basically tell you NOTHING abotu the PSU.

Nothing against you, just the PSU itself lol.

 

[CyToToXiC]

I'd like to upgrade my PSU but my PC is a Compaq so getting a new PSU is ruled out due to issues with the CASE and PIN Connectors to the Mobo...

like he said, if compaq is like dell, that psu will fry the compaq's mobo.


so it really don't matter the quality of the psu

 

[Apokalipse]

you probabbly could run a 6600 on a 250W PSU, provided that PSU is a good quality one. the 6600 does use less power than the 9800, because it's core is more efficient. after all, it was made a couple of years after it.

still though, at the very minimum I'd run the 6600 on a 300W PSU (a good quality one) because, it's just stupid not to.

the brand of the one EricB posted is an "Arrow"
that's what it says on the side. it doesn't look very good though, only an 80mm fan on the top, and a whole lot of "Not Specified"

for a PSU, I'd maybe get this, this, this or even this depending on how much you're willing to spend