No prob.
1) I have never seen systems max out every component at the same time. So if you add up everything that is overstating the realistic maximum peak power draw.
2) TDP can be overestimated, as Anandtech reviews have proven over and over again, AMD/Intel overstate TDP a lot of the time. So the E8400 may actually draw even less than 65W peak.
3) On the other hand it's nice to have a little overclocking headroom (I don't think that mobo lets you OC the CPU, but you can OC the 6850 which will add another 10-20 watts to system load).
I figure that those three things cancel each other out.
A budget of 50 watts ought to more than cover the non-CPU/GPU parts. Hard drives and optical drives consume about 5-10 watts each. A mobo that isn't using its IGP (since you will have a graphics card) probably uses another 10 watts. And RAM doesn't use that much, another 5 watts per stick at most. Same for CPU and case fans, USB keyboards and mice which draw relatively little power (the maximum a USB 2.0 device can draw is 2.5 watts, and it's unlikely your keyboard and mouse hit the max).
In short, you can game on your existing hardware with no problems. The main difference between a strong office PC (one with a decent CPU) and a gaming rig is literally the video card. That's about the only major difference. Compaq is reputable so they probably used a reputable PSU maker like Delta or something. Think about it: why would Compaq use crappy PSUs in their PCs that don't even make spec? Doing that would invite lawsuits and hurt their reputations. The doomsayers are thinking about less-reputable companies who don't care if they give customers out-of-spec PSUs. Compaq/HP/Dell use legit PSUs. Maybe not the best, but they are in spec new. Maybe the capacitors suck more and they lose max wattage faster, but you've still got a thick margin for error.
Also, to that guy above me: where is this "don't ever put 70% load on it" stuff coming from, wtf. 242 watts isn't even 75% of rated PSU max load; it's more like 67% load anyway. And you seriously think Compaq uses out of spec PSUs? Also, going to about 80% is fine, 70% is very conservative. In fact you could go even higher to something like 90%+ load as long as its a good PSU and at good temperatures. Which would you rather have: a PSU running at 60% of max wattage inside a 100 degree F sauna, or a PSU running at 80% of max wattage in a 60 degree F basement? Yeah, that's what I thought.
Also, I remember gaming on an ancient Dell before with a 300W PSU that probably had something like 220W load on it. It did fine.
One of my old rigs was very similar to what yours would be. I got a stock E8400 + 3GB DDR2 RAM + slightly oc'd HD 5850 and was able to play at very high settings for every game I had not named Crysis, on my 1920x1200 Dell Ultrasharp monitor that I used to have. You will easily hit 30 fps in Mass Effect 3, even with eye candy at fairly high settings, and even at 1920x1200 or 1080p. Certain games like Crysis, BF3, etc. you might have to turn down a few settings or play without AA, but otherwise you should be fine.
Higher resolutions or more AA need more VRAM, not more system RAM. 1GB of VRAM is sufficient as long as you don't game at 2560x1440 or higher, or crank up AA a lot (AA eats VRAM like candy). You get diminishing returns on AA anyway so even if I had infinite GPU power and VRAM I probably wouldn't go over 4x MSAA, personally. If you are hitting a VRAM wall just turn AA to 2x or just turn it all the way off and that will almost surely solve your problem.
As for AF, Vsync, etc. they take up some VRAM too but not nearly as much as AA. You should almost always max out AF because it barely affects performance and doesn't eat that much VRAM, and it improves the image quality significantly from certain angles.
Imho, 12GB of system RAM is unnecessary even for a modern gaming rig, let alone a casual one. This is because games just aren't pushing the envelope like they used to, like you said. You could get away with as little as 3GB DDR2 and be okay in almost all games. I am not speculating, as my old system had that amount and did fine.
Glad that you pointed this out. The ~13 Amp figure (for CPU + everything else) was a figure I saw quoted at some forum yielded by a Google search for info on a video card this system could handle. I think it's way, way too high.
Here's the general specifications for this computer:
HP Compaq CD7900 Minitower Convertible PC
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/e...87-3328898-3328898-3784892-3785379.html?dnr=1
And here's the specifications for the Intel Core 2 Duo 3GHz processor:
http://ark.intel.com/products/33910/Intel-Core2-Duo-Processor-E8400-%286M-Cache-3_00-GHz-1333-MHz-FSB%29
That page suggests a Max TDP of 65W for this CPU. That's 65/12= 5.4 Amps. Added to the 10.6 Amps for the Radeon 6850= 16.0 Amps total between the GPU & CPU. So even if I add the ~50W you suggest as breathing room for Mobo + RAM + everything else, my total Amp demands on the 12V rail are ~20.2 Amps. That puts my peak consumption at roughly 75%.
That seems like a fair estimate. When I opened the tower and was looking at the PCI cords I noticed that the new internal hard drive specified only an 0.25 Amp requirement on the 12V rail, or a 6 watt demand. Ergo, in summary, I think the 6850 will clear by a mile with this PSU assuming that it doesn't grossly underperform like some nightmarish PSU's described in this thread. If it fries, I can always order that cheap Corsair.
After all, this computer was a freebie, and I want to put as little into it as possible. Right now I'm on the highest end Intel MacBook Pro that's about 3 years old (don't hiss). So with this PC, even though I don't play many games anymore, I figured I'd try out
Mass Effect 3 on it. Gaming demands have trended down hard due to the console market taking over, so I was hoping the 6850 could run it just below max settings on a 1920x1200 display at 30+ FPS.
Along that line there's one expense I'm considering: RAM. It currently has 6GB DDR2 RAM (2x2GB + 2x1GB). It would run me $108 at Amazon for
2x4GB Komputer Bay PC2 5300 DDR2 RAM to upgrade to 12GB RAM total. Or it would run me about $55 for
2x2GB GSkill PC2 6400 DDR2 RAM to upgrade to 8GB RAM total.
Do you think either of these RAM upgrades are worth it or necessary for a casual gaming build? I do have a 27" Planar 1920x1200 display (if that matters...it's my understanding that larger screens tend to be more demanding even with equal resolution).
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