How much power is really needed to run a X1950 Pro AGP?

[FtLMaverick]

From what I can tell the X1950 Pro is the best thing out there when it comes to an AGP system. But I have read that they take alot of power to run. Some of you have told me to go with the 7600 GT, which I have not ruled out yet. But why can't/can I go with the X1950 Pro over the 7600 GT? Pretty much all I do is online gaming of FPS games, but I want to run some of the newer games out there. Spec's are below. Thank you for your help in understanding this.

Intel P4 2.6Ghz
Nvidia FX5700
512MBx2 DDR 3200 Ram
80GB Hard Drive
Intel 865 Perl Main board
Mid ATX Case
19" CRT with Zoom
Razer Barracuda headphones
Power is 420w (I think)

 

[Maruta731]

According to shunt-resistor measurements by XBitLabs, the X1950 Pro consumes 66W in 3D under load. Current draw on the 12V rail is about 5A. A modern 420W PSU should have no problems powering it.

 

[nemesismk2]

I've been running a Sapphire Radeon x1950 Pro 512MB AGP problem free with a Qtec 400watt power supply. Just make sure you use driver cleaner to remove all traces of your nvidia video card

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: FtLMaverick
From what I can tell the X1950 Pro is the best thing out there when it comes to an AGP system. But I have read that they take alot of power to run. Some of you have told me to go with the 7600 GT, which I have not ruled out yet. But why can't/can I go with the X1950 Pro over the 7600 GT? Pretty much all I do is online gaming of FPS games, but I want to run some of the newer games out there. Spec's are below. Thank you for your help in understanding this.

<<Intel P4 2.6Ghz
Nvidia FX5700
512MBx2 DDR 3200 Ram
80GB Hard Drive
Intel 865 Perl Main board
Mid ATX Case
19" CRT with Zoom
Razer Barracuda headphones
Power is 420w (I think)

Your cpu dosen't have the power to use the 1950's potential. I agree with the 7600gt advise.
Use the extra money for some extra ram. You need it.
Can you overclock that cpu?

 

[FtLMaverick]

Your cpu dosen't have the power to use the 1950's potential. I agree with the 7600gt advise.
Use the extra money for some extra ram. You need it.
Can you overclock that cpu?

I would love to overclock the cpu but I have no idea how to. I'm an absolute idiot when it comes to things like that lol. So what you are saying is that the cpu isn't strong enough to run the card, but I will be just fine with the 7600GT? Along with getting more ram.

 

[Demoth]

He's not saying your CPU isn't powerful enough to run the card. Only that it will bottleneck the card. How much depends on the game. Most games, especially FPS are much more heavily GPU dependant so even on a P4 2.6, you'd get a decent jump in performance going from a 7600 GT to a X1950 Pro and an even bigger jump going to a 8800GT even though your slow CPU will hurt overall frame rates.

If you have 2 more open ram slots and are not planning to upgrade your MB and CPU within the next 6 months, definately get another 2 512MB chips, though DDR is now more expensive then DDR2.

As for overclocking the P4, your probably out of luck on the Intel board.