upgrading video card...power supply question...

[nguyen1025]

Hello, I am curretnly on a 250watt power supply andI'm going to upgrade to a Radeon 9700 video card which recommends at least a 300 att power supply. Will my 250 w be able to run the card w/o problems or no? I Don't want to upgrade my pwoer supply because all the wires make it seem very confusing, like p9 p8 p7 or whatever....

 

[imported_Kensai]

It should work if it's a quality power supply, though I suggest you upgrade.

 

[nguyen1025]

could you help me on the upgrade of the power supply, it seems really confusign with this 20 or 24 pin stuff and i dont know where to plug in all those wires

 

[sundev]

Check out this link: Wattage Calculator

Click on whether you have an AMD or Intel system, and select all your components (CPU, video card, number of HDs, number of USB devices, PCI cards, etc. etc.) and it will tell you what the minimum number of watts your power supply should be.

 

[nguyen1025]

thanks for the help but thats not the part im worried about, im worried about which wire goes where and stuff

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Welcome to AT.

Mechbgon's guide should help you get a feeling for what the different connectors are.

The 20 or 24 pin cable is the huge one and plugs into the motherboard. There is also a square 12V connector that the motherboard will use.

Other than that, the rest of the connecitons are molex or sata power connectors and plug into your harddrives, videocard, and optical drives.

 

[nguyen1025]

how do i know wheter i will use a 20 or 24 pin, do i count the number my current power supply has right now?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: nguyen1025
how do i know wheter i will use a 20 or 24 pin, do i count the number my current power supply has right now?

Unless this is a very new system, I'm almost positive you're going to have a 20 pin PSU right now.

Here's some info on the differences

What's your budget for your new powersupply? Get a name brand with a lesser wattage rating over a generic with a higher wattage rating. (example: a 350watt antec is a better idea than a 450 watt powmax)

Good brands are:
XClio, Seasonic, Antec, Enermax, OCZ, Fortron... etc.

 

[BobDaMenkey]

And for the love of god man, do not freak out about unused wires in your case. If they're not connected and it works fine, then leave it that way(I tutor in a comp hardware class and some kids were freaking because there were alot of extra wires and started to try and force them onto spots on the mobo, and nearly destroyed it.)

It might work, but if you leave your current power supply you're just asking for trouble.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: BobDaMenkey
And for the love of god man, do not freak out about unused wires in your case. If they're not connected and it works fine, then leave it that way(I tutor in a comp hardware class and some kids were freaking because there were alot of extra wires and started to try and force them onto spots on the mobo, and nearly destroyed it.)

It might work, but if you leave your current power supply you're just asking for trouble.

Sounds like you didn't do a very good job teaching your class

 

[nguyen1025]

i have like an intel 915e or something liek that mobo, it only supports up to agp4x and its from the year 2002 so it probably only needs a 20 pin correct?

 

[nguyen1025]

http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817171003

^do you think this is good quality for the price???