Upgrading video, do I need a large PSU

[JCROCCO]

I am upgrading a Dell system, and it has a stock 375W PSU. I will be upgrading the CPU from a PentD 915 2.8 to a QUAD Q6600 2.4, going from (2)512mb ram to (4) 1gig ram, and swapping out the nvidia GeForce 7300 LE (256meg) with a 1 GB Radeon HD 4670 DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 Graphics Card.

I saw a spec that said the video card requires 400w PSU, with 550 recommended, and my PSU is 375.

With all the upgrades, should I consider upgrading the PSU?

This is on a Dell Dim 9200.

Reason for upgrade is making it Revit Compatible. It runs it now, but very slow.

 

[yh125d]

Take a good look at the PSU, what brand is it? Also, how many A on the 12v rail/s?

 

[JCROCCO]

It is a DELL

It states +12VA / 18.0A
+12VB / 18.0A

Max combined / 30.0A

 

[vj8usa]

That's more than enough for a 4670. You're sure the mobo will support Core2s, right?

 

[JCROCCO]

Really? Great, but why then do they recommend 550w PSU?

Is my stock Dell PSU just better than the average 375w PSU's

 

[frozentundra123456]

If you look closely at the PSU recommendations, I am fairly certain AMD (ATI) recommends a 400 watt power supply. I believe the 550 watt recommendation is for crossfire using 2 cards.

Your power supply should be more than adequate. I am running a 4650 on a 300 watt power supply with only 13 amps on the 12 volt rail. The 4670 might use a bit more power than the 4650, but it will be very close. I am running a less loaded system than yours however (only dual core CPU).

 

[Billb2]

Originally posted by: JCROCCO
I will be upgrading the CPU from a PentD 915 2.8 to a QUAD Q6600 2.4,...

Are you sure the motherboard/BIOS supports that upgrade?

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Apparently it can: http://en.community.dell.com/f...18808517/18931503.aspx

 

[JCROCCO]

yes, I am doing all the upgrading through Dell, which they GUARANTEE it, I know I could possibly buy elsewhere for a little less, but the gurantee makes it worth the while.

Thanks for asking and looking tho

 

[Denithor]

Um. The 4670 was specifically designed as a low power card. Doesn't even have a separate plug for direct line from the PSU because it sips such a small amount of power. You'll be fine on a 375W PSU, honest.

Power consumption test.

When it comes to power consumption, the Radeon HD 4670 is nothing short of awesome. At idle our entire testbed (Intel G45 + Core 2 Quad Q9450) used only 67W with the Radeon HD 4670. Under load running Crysis we were looking at 139W.

Any more questions?


EDIT: One further comment - Dell is known to understate their PSUs if anything. These little guys have run GPUs all the way up to 9800GT and 4870 without flinching. If you're planning on playing games I would actually suggest a bit beefier GPU, such as a 4770 or even 4870 (look again at those charts - you'll be fine).

 

[JCROCCO]

Thank you ALL for your help and input.

 

[MODEL3]

Originally posted by: JCROCCO

I saw a spec that said the video card requires 400w PSU

Oh those AMD lawyers...

Just kidding probably the one who suggested the 400w PSU was using a Phenom X4 9950!

 

[akugami]

I think the issue with PSU recommendations for video cards, regardless of whether it's from AMD or nVidia, is because in the past PSU's were so overrated. There used to be a glut of cheap PSU's that at peak could for instance output 400w but it couldn't do it for long. At least not safely for long. The proper max wattage probably should have been rated at 350w but they could make their PSU seem better and more desirable by rating it at 400w.

The climate today is much more different and PSU quality has improved by a lot. While there are still the cheap "value" brands, there are also a lot more middle of the line brands that are a cut above and are relatively well built. Whereas before there was 3 or 4 middle of the line brands you can now point to probably 7 or 8 middle of the line brands.

 

[s44]

Well, some OEMs (HP for one) still use junky PSUs. Dell has long used well-made overengineered Delta units.