Is 250w power supply adequate for ATI 9700 pro?

[jakobkraft]

Curious since I have a chance to buy a used one, but will pass if I have to upgrade anything...my ti4600 does the job fine for me, but will improve so long as I don't have to change anything else...

 

[human2k]

Depends on the quality of the PSU. As I recall, I think ATI recommends atleast a 300W PSU, but I heard stories about Compaq/HP shipping systems with a 250W PSU with a 9700 PRO.

 

[Adul]

some would say no, but I think you could get by with a 250 watt. If a Shuttle XPC can run a higher speed processor + a 9700, i don't see why you can't .
Looks like you have a dell machine. So go for it

 

[jakobkraft]

Originally posted by: Adul
some would say no, but I think you could get by with a 250 watt. If a Shuttle XPC can run a higher speed processor + a 9700, i don't see why you can't .
Looks like you have a dell machine. So go for it

That's pretty much what I wanted to hear, thanks!

 

[Sunner]

You'd be amazed what some of those "crappy" OEM PSU's can handle.

One of my boxes at work(Compaq Deskpro) has a 145W PSU in it.
Still, it's got an extra HD, Voodoo3 2000 PCI, SCSI card, a SCSI CD-ROM and a SCSI burner added, all working perfectly.

I don't know about Dell's stuff, but the Compaq PSU's are definately awesome given their low ratings.

 

[RanDum72]

don't know about Dell's stuff, but the Compaq PSU's are definately awesome given their low ratings.

Dell has some pretty solid PSU's despite their 'weird' wiring. I had an Dell (Intel) BX board before running a 1.4ghz Tualatin, original geforce card, and a couple of 10k SCSI drives of its 200w PSU and everything ran without a hitch.

 

[Auric]

Overkill. My 235W is adequate, although my CPU is not drawing on the 12V also. The 300W recommendation is clearly based upon the worst case scenario (ie the most craptastic PSU's in existence).

 

[jakobkraft]

Originally posted by: Auric
Overkill. My 235W is adequate, although my CPU is not drawing on the 12V also. The 300W recommendation is clearly based upon the worst case scenario (ie the most craptastic PSU's in existence).

I'm just about to get it now; can you really run a 9700 Pro with just a 235W power supply?

 

[Malladine]

I wouldn't recommend it personally, but then i've always been cautious in this area. I have a 400W antec for the system I'm building. It'll have a 9700 Gold and the usual top end stuff. I expect it to last though, so even when I'm running something 5 times faster than this system, it'll still hold up.

Rather have extra power than find it lacking, in whatever small way.

Is your problem that you don't want to have to buy a ps just to run your 9700 Pro? If so, I can understand that. I just think that the 9700 series might be an exception to some of the replys you've already had along the lines of "my 200W ran this this and this nd it was fine). I'm no expert on the electronics, but it seems to me that the fact it requires it's own connection to the ps is significant.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Auric
Overkill. My 235W is adequate, although my CPU is not drawing on the 12V also. The 300W recommendation is clearly based upon the worst case scenario (ie the most craptastic PSU's in existence).

yep, amd and ati have combined so that people around here get complete overkill with their power supplies.

 

[Malladine]

That may be true but even so, $60 for a reliable ps isn't much IMO. Not to mention piece of mind

 

[Auric]

In my case it works because the PSU is decent quality but perhaps even more importantly because the mainboard does not compete on the 12V line to supply power to the PIII class Celeron as said. However in the same way that 300W is recommended for the PSU, the Radeon 9700 does not strictly require the 12V power source but only uses it to avoid problems from craptastic mainboard regulators. To wit: after boot (and thus getting past the Radeon power BIOS check) the 12V power can be disconnected and it continues to function with the power supplied via the AGP as normally.

 

[jlarsson]

I'm running an ATI Radeon 9700 Pro in my Dell with a 250w psu. I also have an extra hard drive, and such, and i haven't had any problems.

 

[dexvx]

Seems to me that they need some kind of standard for how they measuring watts.

Kind of like all those 2500W PMPO speakers you see on eBay.

 

[peang]

That may be true but even so, $60 for a reliable ps isn't much IMO. Not to mention piece of mind

But remember he got Dell which mean propietary ps (at least that what i have with my dell )
So once you change your ps, you need to change lotz of things.

 

[tbates757]

Well, considering you are already running a GeForce Ti4600 with that 250W PSU, I think it is highly likely that it will run a 9700 Pro (a marginal upgrade, though)

 

[EdipisReks]

Originally posted by: tbates757
a marginal upgrade, though

wtf are you talking about? the 9700 is a much faster card than a ti4600.

 

[Malladine]

So once you change your ps, you need to change lotz of things.

Ah the proprietary system, my archenemy :|