Shuttle PSU

[shoes]

I don't know if any of you are familiar with the shuttle case but,

Ok recently I've been thinking about buying a barebone shuttle. I went to Fry's yesterday and thought I would look at the specs and such and I noticed they have only low psu outputs like 250watts is the max. I also just bought a 128mb radeon 9800pro, and i think it said that the recommended power input to it is 300watts.

Would I still be able to plug my 9800 into the agp slot and get normal performance? Also, would i have cooling problems?

on a different note. I currently have a 2 year old computer with 512 mixed kingston ram, 2.0 ghz p4 processor, 128mb gf4 mx440, and some intel chipset of which i don;t know the model number. by installing my 9800pro, will i be able to use its potential to the utmost, or do i have a limiting factor that will not allow me to fully benefit from the gfx card (i.e. bad mobo)?

ty for help if you can

 

[Nubius]

I suggest you really step up and get like a 400w PSU with nice strong rails meaning the +3.3v, +5v, and +12v Rails, next time you look at a PSU or if you have a spare near by, then look at the side sticker and look for those ratings so you know what to look for. I really suggest trying to get a PSU with ATLEAST 350w with a +12v rail rating of 18a which you might not be able to find, so 400w would probably be Optimal, especially because you might want to upgrade and add components down the road.

You don't want to plug in a graphics card if you don't have a PSU that can deliver the appropriate power as fluctuations and not enough power can fry your card.

Regarding this:

on a different note. I currently have a 2 year old computer with 512 mixed kingston ram, 2.0 ghz p4 processor, 128mb gf4 mx440, and some intel chipset of which i don;t know the model number. by installing my 9800pro, will i be able to use its potential to the utmost, or do i have a limiting factor that will not allow me to fully benefit from the gfx card (i.e. bad mobo)?

Is that your only computer or is that a secondary you're wanting to know about? Either way, installing that graphics card would do nothing but help that system along, of course this only applies to gaming and you'd be able to raise your refresh rate more in windows lol but that's about it. Other than that, you shouldn't be limited by anything and should be able to enjoy good and smooth gameplay with that processor, amount of RAM, and that vid card.

 

[shoes]

Yeah thats the only think i would be using it for in windows.

I know i should get a higher output PSU, but such a product is not available for a shuttle case, which is a really small computer case designed for maximum portability ( www.shuttle.com ). The highest is 250watts but you think that would fry my card? i wouldnt be overclocking or anything. is there any way i can check the limits on my graphics card to see what the minimum power input is?


edit
i hear from a gaming forum that the rails for the shuttle psu are very strong and can support cards other video cards that require the same power input. what do the rail values mean and does that scenario even make sense?

 

[Codeine]

My friend has a shuttle with a Barton, they arent anything specail besides the fact they are small. I would persoanlly just built myself a small computer. Those case's are very easy to get ahold of. I think the computer you have now will be faster then that shuttle. If your looking for a fast computer then dont waste your money on a shuttle.

 

[shoes]

no the reason i want to get the shuttle is because im a college student and i move around a lot. it's also nice to not have a big full size tower on your desk with your monitor and so on and so forth. i also like the way they look, speed was never really a concern but seeing as how i would just transfer all the parts from my current computer to the shuttle, and be upgrading to a new motherboard, albeit a small shuttle motherboard, it would still be "faster" than my current computer. I am not planning on doing this until next summer when i have some extra money and will have different living conditions than i currently do. so the reason i posted here was just to clarify some compatibilty issues with my current parts and the shuttle capabilities.

i also just looked and found that the latest shuttle cases have 350watt power supplies which would solve all my problems except they are 400 dollars while i was only planning on paying around 200.

does anybody know if the major manufacturers (intel. amd, msi, nvidia, ati, etc.) are planning any price cuts within the next few months? i figured they would be with the emergence of pci-x and insanely fast new breed of cpus.

 

[Codeine]

Well it all depends on if they come out with somthing new, so things slightly get out dated and the price may shift. I dont know where in the world you can get a computer for 200$, nor would i even dare to put up with somthing like that.

I know where your coming from believe me, with the money issue. I would suggest to save at least 50$ a month intill next year. Then get one of the best shuttles. One around 600$.

I promise you your gonna get rippet off if you get a shuttle for 400$. Somthing for that much money plus coming from a manufacturer witch will have to make some sort of profit off this computer. What im saying is that they are stuffing a computer with crap if its for 400$. So save money and get a shuttle for around 600$. But within a year prices will drop.

 

[AMD 0wn4g3]

Output:+3.3V@32A;+5V@40A;-5V@0.5A;+12V@36A ;-12V@1A;+5VSB@2A

thats from the Antec Tru550, best psu for a good price out there ($110 @ newegg)

 

[shoes]

yeah buuuuuuuuuuuut i am getting a shuttle which is a small form factor case.

does anybody know of a psu that will fit in both a sff and a mid tower like i currently have? i dont really know anything about psu's other than the implications of the watts.

 

[Leonidas]

200 to spend on a barebone is not all that horrible, i dont know why codeine was so negative on it, i would suggest 400 personally as a top limit, and personally i think that 300W will be fine for what you are doing, ive got a 300w with 2 optical drives 2 ide harddrives a 5200U and an athlon xp-m overclocked to 2.5 ghz... and it runs just fine, but on the validity of the whole matter i would say just look for a smaller case that still supports ATX and go with it, they even sell cases with HANDLES, so easy portability. you are still gonna have to lug your monitor around.and all your cables so its never gonna be easy.

 

[shoes]

see right now i just bought that video card for 230 dollars. i only got it because after rebates it is 150 dollars. i havent sent the rebates in because after you do that you cant return it so i figured i would test it out first and make sure it works. I was also thinking about switching to a shuttle anyway BUT one crucial thing happened: when i was getting ready to install the card i checked my PSU on my current computer just on a whim (i had assumed it would be adequate for the card because when i started this post i thought my only concern was the power supply in the shuttle) and saw that it was only 160watts. I guess that is what you get when you get a computer from your parents who bought from Gateway. Anyways, i am now in a dilemma as a result of this new discovery that my computer cant power the graphics card i bought for it SO i figured i have a few options:
A) return the video card and just wait around until everything gets cheaper so i can upgrade anything i need then
B) return the video card and buy a shuttle barebone and use the parts from my current computer, which has all the parts i need and upgrade the card later
C) keep the video card and and buy a new PSU which makes me stuck to this huge and ugly gateway case for another while

there are also intermediate options such as

D) buy a power supply from shuttle now and stick it in my computer and hope it works (could it?)
E) wait until the beginning of next year when my rebates become dangerously close to becoming invalid and see if there are any christmas time or after christmas time sales on what i need/want.

again, the absolutely preferred scenario is that when everything is said and done, i have

1) a SFF computer case such as MSI or Shuttle or even Antec (which i don't really like the look of and i saw in the store and it seems so big and heavy for a sff..)
-with compatible mobo/psu of course
2) a decent or more than decent video card capable of playing the latest games such as HL2, other valve source engine games, WoW, doom3, nfsu2 and so on and still be able to play next gen games decently.
3) peice of mind that i didnt get ripped off.


again, my current specs are
OS: WinXP Professional 5.1 Service Pack 2 (Build #2600)
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 , 2.00 GHz
Video: Plug and Play Monitor on nVidia GeForce4 MX 440 (1280x1024x32bpp 75Hz)
Sound: SoundMAX Digital Audio
Memory: Used: 282/511MB
HD: [C:] 54.99/74.53 GB [F:Local Disk] 38.22/38.29 GB
Motherboard: Intel D845GRG