Can my PSU run a "modern" GPU?

[SickBeast]

It's an Enermax 350w unit. I'm amazed that it puts out more on the +12v rail than some 500w+ PSU's!

I'm hoping to eventually upgrade to an ATI 1950XT AGP...do you think my PSU can handle it? I'm running an AXP3200+, a single hard drive, 2 DVD drives, and a couple of PCI cards.

 

[happy medium]

I have the same psu and it runs my overclocked pent 4 ,overclocked 7800gs. And the rest of the stuff below.I never had a problem.

I ran your specs through this calculater it comes up around 300watts under 100% cpu load.

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

I believe you would need to overclock your cpu to about 2.5 and game at resolution of 1280x1024 with all the eyecandy maxed to see the true benifits of this card. In short your cpu is too slow and overclocking your cpu might kill your psu.

What card do you have now?

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: happy medium
I have the same psu and it runs my overclocked pent 4 ,overclocked 7800gs. And the rest of the stuff below.I never had a problem.

I ran your specs through this calculater it comes up around 300watts under 100% cpu load.

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

I believe you would need to overclock your cpu to about 2.5 and game at resolution of 1280x1024 with all the eyecandy maxed to see the true benifits of this card. In short your cpu is too slow and overclocking your cpu might kill your psu.

What card do you have now?

I have an X800Pro now.

My CPU is currently undervolted at 1.575v, running at 2200mhz. I can increase the fan speed and up the voltage to 1.70v for 2400mhz (not too bad). I can run 2500mhz at 1.80v, but I don't like the heat/noise output at that speed.

I game at 1920x1200 so I figure I will definately benefit from a new card. The only thing is, I don't have any new games that could really push it, aside from HL2 which I've already beaten (and which my X800Pro somehow handles at 1920x1200 w/o AA).

 

[SickBeast]

Also, I knew about that calculator and ran it also; it gave me a 298w requirement with a 1950Pro.

The thing is, I hear the amperage requirements on the +12v rail are the most important.

Further to that, I'm curious as to the efficiency level on PSUs. Just because it's rated at 350w, I assume that it cannot necessarily sustain that much power output long-term. Also keep in mind that this PSU is 5+ years old.

 

[happy medium]

I suggest you try a x1950pro with 512mb of ram with no cpu overclock. I think it will be fine. Run it stock for a while to determine stability. Then overclock you cpu a little at a time and runs some games to see if you psu makes your system unstable. Hey then pm me and let me know how it went!. I can grab a pent4 that overclocks to 3.7 cheap on air. So i'd like to know if you can overclock too. In any event it will be a good upgrade for your resolutions overclock or not. Good luck dude.

 

[JBT]

My 460 watt Seasonic puts out 26A on the 12v line. I run an Oced x1900XT just fine.

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Also, I knew about that calculator and ran it also; it gave me a 298w requirement with a 1950Pro.

The thing is, I hear the amperage requirements on the +12v rail are the most important.

Further to that, I'm curious as to the efficiency level on PSUs. Just because it's rated at 350w, I assume that it cannot necessarily sustain that much power output long-term. Also keep in mind that this PSU is 5+ years old.

Dam I bought mine last year or so. You have to remember thats figure is at 100% system output.

Heres the efficiency levels

http://www.enermaxusa.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=77

 

[SickBeast]

Thanks for the responses, guys.

I'm going to upgrade once Crysis comes out. I'll keep you posted!

 

[happy medium]

yea keep in touch Thanks

 

[shabby]

I ran a overclocked 7900gt on an enermax 350w just fine.