Power Supply and 9800 SE Card

[JND]

Howdy all, I am fairly novice computer user but through a lot of help, I've been learning quite a bit. I have a computer with the following:

Windows XP
P4 1300
512 RAM
Nvidia GeForce 2 Mx/Mx400
250 Watt Power Supply

What I would like to do is upgrade my video card to 9800 SE for what I think will be drastically better graphics for gaming. (NFSU, Star Wars KOTOR, and Unreal Tournament are a few I'm playing now.)

Will I need a better power supply in order to properly run the 9800SE card? I think I might, but I'm not sure.

Also if anyone has any suggestions as to what I should do to help gaming preformance, I'd love to know what I should do.

Nate

 

[BlindApex]

The minimum for the 9800 Pro is 300 Watt... you should be okay...its a toss-up, really depends on if you have the money

 

[JND]

Blind, well if I need to get a new power supply, then I'd do that first and hold off getting the video card another month or so.

What kind of problems would I have if I didn't have enough power?

 

[raiden_nrl]

Mabe overheating or your system randomly shutting down. In some situations your computer might not even start. I am pretty sure you are safe though becuase if it has an agp slot then the people probalbly planned using that much power.