GPU PSU question

[j0j081]

I just upgraded my video card from a 9600gt to a gtx260 core 216 and gave my 9600gt to my friend who had an 8600gt. He has an HP pc with a Q6600 at stock speed and 2 sata hdds but it only has a 300 watt power supply. I find it hard to believe HP only included a 300 watt psu with a quad core cpu and discrete graphics card. Does he need a more powerful psu to run this setup safely? I only have an Antec 500 for my system but according to what it has on the 12 v rails it should be enough for my setup however if I had to I could get a new psu for myself then give him mine but it is money I really don't have atm. What do you guys think? He doesn't game hardcore like me but we were planning on playing Aion together soon. Thanks.

Oh yeah, if this is cutting it close would underclocking the core of the card make a difference?



Moved to PSU forum.

Video Mod BFG10K.

 

[plonk420]

try this: http://support.asus.com/PowerS...r.aspx?SLanguage=en-us
or http://www.antec.outervision.com/

doubtful underclocking it will help.

if you DO get a new PSU, tho, just get a pc power & cooling ... or another top tier PSU: http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=108088

it's not worth it to save $10-20 just to skimp on a PSU

 

[cusideabelincoln]

The 9600GT won't use that much more power than the 8600GT, maybe at most 30W more but it could be as little as only 10W more (power usage can vary from video card to video card as well as over time - when the cards were made).

 

[exar333]

OEM companies like Dell and HP often underrate their PSU ratings; the 8600 used max 50w and the 9600 uses more like 95w. I would think the system would still be OK with the new graphics card, but there might be some increase in heat due to the PSU being close to it's max load.

Is your 9600GT one of the 8800GT clones, or a more "stripped-down" version? If it is a less powerful 9600GT, then it probably will work even better.

 

[Schmide]

Originally posted by: ExarKun333
OEM companies like Dell and HP often underrate their PSU ratings; the 8600 used max 50w and the 9600 uses more like 95w. I would think the system would still be OK with the new graphics card, but there might be some increase in heat due to the PSU being close to it's max load.

Is your 9600GT one of the 8800GT clones, or a more "stripped-down" version? If it is a less powerful 9600GT, then it probably will work even better.

I don't think the 9600gt uses near 95w, it's more in the 70-80w range, with later process models probably in the 60w range. All 9600gt cards are g94 based, the only time you see 8800gt (g92) versions are in the 9600gso. I made a nice little table for gsos yesterday.

[ ] SP 96 SH 48 RA 12 192bit bus ddr3 g92 (cut down 8800gt)
[ ] SP 96 SH 48 RA 12 128bit bus ddr3 g92 (cut down 8800gt)
[ ] SP 96 SH 48 RA 12 128bit bus ddr2 g92 (cut down 8800gt)
[ ] SP 48 SH 24 RA 12 256bit bus ddr3 g94 (cut down 9600gt)

IMO your friend will be more than fine in a HP 300w PSU OEM computer. Other than the 4770 and EE versions of the 9800gt and 9600gt, it's the best card for the job.

Edit:
My conception of the maximum component wattage on his computer.

110w q6600
30w g33 chipset
75w 9600gt
8w ddr2
25w 2x sata drives
25w fans DVD etc

273w - however the HDs really only draw from the 12v when they spin up and the major offenders of the 12v are the CPU and graphics card. Most likely loaded the system would be somewhere in the 200-250w range.

 

[j0j081]

Originally posted by: ExarKun333


Is your 9600GT one of the 8800GT clones, or a more "stripped-down" version? If it is a less powerful 9600GT, then it probably will work even better.

it is a full version. The evga superclocked one, I used rivatuner to downclock it's core to stock speeds for now.

 

[frozentundra123456]

I am running a 9600GT with a dual core cpu on an acer generic (very generic!!) 300watt PSU. So far no problems, but I have had it only a few days. My card is a galaxy "low power" 9600GT that I got
on closeout from Best Buy. I don't really know if it uses less power than a regular 9600GT or if that is just advertising hype. It does, however, not require an external power connector. The card is
somewhat underclocked, but I did overclock it back to stock clocks and tried it for a short period without problems.

 

[j0j081]

the one you have definitely uses less power. well we had a session of Aion tonight and seems to be working fine so far. Guess it isn't something that'll go bad overnight though.