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Best 250W PCI-E video card?

S

sxjxcx

Junior Member
I just bought a GeForce 6800 GS, not thinking that my Shuttle XPC only has a 250 Watt PSU and this card requires 350 W +.

I'm taking this card back tomorrow, any suggestions on what I should get instead?
 
wattage ratings are SO overrate, it all depends on the quality of the unit

in this case, 350 isn't necessary better than 250 if 250 is an Antec/FSP/Seasonic..etc

I don't know what the shuttle use...so i cannot comment on that
 
If a video card asks for 350 W + and I have a 250 W computer, doesn't that mean I can't even use it? I don't know anything about this stuff
 
it erally depends on what kind of psu, the thing about psu ratings is that sometimes they're complete bull$hit!!!!! Is your 250w psu a shuttle psu? or some other brand?
 
Would it make more sense to return my Shuttle and get a (bigger, uglier looking) Shuttle XPC that has a 350 Watt PSU? It will cost me an extra 100 bucks, but it might be worth it if there is no such thing as a good video card that runs on 250 Watts
 
Just try the 6800 GS in your computer and see how it works. I know my Dell psu is only rated at 375W, but it runs a 256MB GTX flawlessly.
 
Okay, thanks, I'll give it a try... what is the worst that can happen? Will anything blow up?

*is scared*
 
haha Okay will do, what's a good test to see if it can work to its maximum ability? Or should I just load up a game?
 
Originally posted by: sxjxcx
haha Okay will do, what's a good test to see if it can work to its maximum ability? Or should I just load up a game?
Click to expand...

Yup, load up something like Far Cry or FEAR.
 
I've got a 6800 gs and I run it on my antec 300 watt ps that came with my case just fine. Haven't had any problems with any games including fear. How much does that shuttle ps have on the 12 volt line? My ps has 16 amps and handles it just fine.
 
nvidia only asks for a 350 watt PSU because of the idiots who spend $10 on a PSU. a crappy 350 watt is going to put out less power than a good 250 watt.

not to mention that anand's uber gaming rig that they test wattage on typically pulls less than 250 watts.
 
Originally posted by: kpb
I've got a 6800 gs and I run it on my antec 300 watt ps that came with my case just fine. Haven't had any problems with any games including fear. How much does that shuttle ps have on the 12 volt line? My ps has 16 amps and handles it just fine.
Click to expand...

It says +12 V = 16 A


 
Thats what my PS is rated at and it works fine. Odds are yours will too. Saying a video card requires x watt ps is really misleading since it's really is needs x amps on y voltage (pretty much always 12 volt) and there is no standard for how the power is spread between the different voltages they provide. Unfortunately saying it requires 10 amps for it on the 12 volt is beyond what most people would be able to make sense of.

You can also check http://www.anandtech.com/systems/showdoc.aspx?i=2643&p=2 for anandtech's rescent article where they put lots more on the 250 watt powersupply that came with the hp amd computer.
 
16A is cutting it close, but it should work. Just play a game, and if the computer just shuts down while you are playing, then you don't have enough power. That's the worst that can happen.
 
thats fine, i ran a 6600GT OC AGP on a 200W Shuttle PSU, along with like 2 hard drives, dvd burner, Gig of Ram, tons of USB peripherals, and overclocked.

i think there is a shuttle that handles SLI, and the psu in it is only like 350 Wor something
 
That would probably depend on the processor a 3.8 p4 would probably be too much. A 90nm a64 3000 is another story.
 
Happy New Year!

Thanks to everyone for their help! If you are interested in knowing, I tryed it out and it does work perfectly! I have tested it out with many hours of (nonstop) gaming over the holidays and 3dmark as well, no problems.

I am using a good APC SurgeArrest Pro power bar and that makes a world of difference, when plugged into a low-end Belkin surge protector I get a nasty message from the video card as soon as Windows loads saying the video card isnt getting enough power. The APC regulates the amount of power going in so that makes total sense. Thanks again
 
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