can my power supply handle 4770?

[robertoac]

My current computer specs:
-Q6600 2.4 ghz quad core
-two hard drives
-8500 gt

My power supply says:
-Max continuous power: 350W
-12Va: 18A
-12Vb: 18A
+5V: 13A
+3.3V: 15 A
COmbined power on 12a and 12b total 300W

This power supply came with my HP and it Delta Electronics brand.

I would like to put an ATI 4770.
Do you think I can or should I replace my power supply?

 

[Schmide]

Your Kentsfield Q6600 uses near 115w at load. That being said the 4770 uses about 50w. So doing a load profile

115w q6600
40w 8500gt
20w chipset
25w harddrives
5w ram
25w dvd fans misc

total 230w

You're really only jumping up 10w, so I would have to say yeah.

At load you are running at 66% of your PSU's maximum.

A good power consumption article.

xbit-power

 

[dguy6789]

Another good article for learning about power supplies.

Anandtech

 

[Schmide]

Originally posted by: dguy6789
Another good article for learning about power supplies.

Anandtech

I've looked at the numbers in the anandtech PSU article and I'm pretty sure the measurements are at the wall.

If you compare another article

9600gt example

The numbers add up and agree. So actual power usage relative to those numbers is about 20% lower.

I wish they would have expanded how they acquired their numbers and what testing was done like the xbitlabs article does.

 

[robertoac]

thanks for the responses, they helped me a lot.