New guy with power supply question

[new22003]

Hi guys I?m a noob. I am just getting my feet wet working on a hand me down pc with hand me down parts. I have upgraded things like graphics cards, memory, and optical drives before but that?s really about as far as I have gone. I am no expert.

I recently received an older HP Pavilion a320n pc with the specs as follows.
Athlon 2800+
1 gig ram
120 gig hd
a7n8x-la motherboard (HP OEM)

The comp runs great but is less than stellar in the graphics department (currently Radeon 9000). I was also given a Radeon x800xt platinum AGP by my brother which I imagine would really pick things up a bit. I know it still wont be the best thing in the world (some day I will have a 2 gig, pcie/sli, 4000+) but its mostly free stuff and I believe it will be a good learning experience.

My problem is this. The power supply in the case right now is the factory unit from hp and is only 250 watts (bestec atx-250-12z). I know this wont support the x800xt. What do I need to look for in a good power supply? Do I have to worry about any fitment in the case or running too much power to certain devices? I know quality is very important on a power supply do you experts have any recommendations?

Thank yo very much for any assistance.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Welcome new guy. Working with a proprietary case and hardware is a royal pita..OK.

Here's your stock PSU. It is standard ATX size & pinouts on the connections. I'm not sure if you have an off/on switch at the rear of the PSU in your case now. Sometimes a replacement PSU with a switch can cause difficulties.
http://www.power-on.com/atx12v250bt.html

If your set-up can accept a PSU with a downward facing 120mm fan, I highly reccomend you get this bad-boy http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=PS-E5140GH specs at http://www.enhanceusa.com/ A nice 80Plus cert at http://www.80plus.org/

The 24 pin splits for 20 pin application and there will be some connections you won't use on your present system. But this is a VG PSU for $57. You will be able to find something OK in the $40 range but this is a good deal on a very efficient unit.


...Galvanized

 

[Geiser34]

Hey, I actually have an a230n also, and I was wondering about a new power supply, thanks Galvanized, I ordered one.

:thumbsup:

 

[jackschmittusa]

There is no need to worry about a psu suppling too much power to any devices. Psus don't push power to anything, the device simply draws what it needs.

 

[new22003]

Thanks so much for your quick reply. You helped me out quite a bit. Just needed a little confidence witht he swap. Have a great day.