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What video card can a 300 watt psu keep running

F

flamingelephant

Golden Member
I have an older PC, running a Sempron 3100+ with 1 Gig of Ram. It's running an onboard 6100 for graphics, and I'd like more zip. It has an open PCIe slot, but the psu is only 300 watts.

What kind of card could the psu take and not cause problems?
or
Bite the bullet and upgrade to at least a 450 watt and maybe a 4650 or 9500?

Thoughts?
 
Originally posted by: flamingelephant
I have an older PC, running a Sempron 3100+ with 1 Gig of Ram. It's running an onboard 6100 for graphics, and I'd like more zip. It has an open PCIe slot, but the psu is only 300 watts.

What kind of card could the psu take and not cause problems?
or
Bite the bullet and upgrade to at least a 450 watt and maybe a 4650 or 9500?

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

sounds like you have an oem comp so what is the brand if you do? with that cpu and 1 gig of ram a video card upgrade is only part of your worries. 1 gig of ram is not going to cut in newer games so you need at least 1 gig more. that cpu is pathetic for gaming. not only is it just a single core it is also very slow and will not provide a good experience in modern games. you could go with a 9400gt and get another gig of ram and keep your current power supply. a 9500gt may be okay too depending on how many 12v amps your power supply has. anything more will mostly go to waste with that cpu.

 
its a 2 or 3 year old eMachines w3118. More memory can be in the future... It originally came with 256, but bought a gig a year ago. I've tried it with the gig and both a 256 or a 512 on the other slot, but had stability issues, so left it an 1 gig until I felt like buying another one.
12v side has 15 amps....

Current bottle neck to me seemed to the video, so I figured I'd start there, since a half decent card would work in this one and another system down the road...
 
Originally posted by: flamingelephant
Current psu is a bestec... pretty sure they aren't so great
Click to expand...

Dell? Those are able to run just about any PCIe video card that does not need additional power. How soon are you going to be making your purchase? Right now the Radeon 4670 is the best, but it will soon be eclipsed by both NVIDIA and a future ATI Radeon. All depends on when you want to do the upgrade.
 
Originally posted by: flamingelephant
its a 2 or 3 year old eMachines w3118. More memory can be in the future... It originally came with 256, but bought a gig a year ago. I've tried it with the gig and both a 256 or a 512 on the other slot, but had stability issues, so left it an 1 gig until I felt like buying another one.
12v side has 15 amps....

Current bottle neck to me seemed to the video, so I figured I'd start there, since a half decent card would work in this one and another system down the road...
Click to expand...

well no point in buying a card until you also get more memory. with only 15amps even a 9500gt will be pushing it since that power supply is also pretty old now.
 
I've put 9600gt(s) into lesser systems. You'll be fine in my opinion. A clawhammer uses less than 70w load.


My load power

3100 = 60w
Chipset = 20w
HD = 7w
Ram = 3w
Fan, DVD etc = 25w

Total 115w

You should have well over 100w to play with. Get a 4670 (50w) or 9600gt (60w) and you will notice a big difference. You're cpu will be fine. XP is fine on 1gb. Just don't expect uber numbers.
 
Originally posted by: Schmide
I've put 9600gt(s) into lesser systems. You'll be fine in my opinion. A clawhammer uses less than 70w load.


My load power

3100 = 60w
Chipset = 20w
HD = 7w
Ram = 3w
Fan, DVD etc = 25w

Total 115w

You should have well over 100w to play with. Get a 4670 (50w) or 9600gt (60w) and you will notice a big difference. You're cpu will be fine. XP is fine on 1gb. Just don't expect uber numbers.
Click to expand...
have you actually tried to play games with that cpu and 1 gig? my parents had basically the same emachines and I put a 7600gs in it a couple years ago just for a week. 1 gig is not enough to play modern games and even games then would be hitting the hard drive. that cpu is weak as hell and wont even come close to pushing any decent card. most games nowadays need a dual core just to get playable framerates. also 15 "rated" amps on a 3 year old bestec psu is hardly encouraging. he should just get a very cheap card to get off the integrated graphics and another stick of ram. that system could easily hit close to 200 watts with a 9600gt and most of that would come from the 12v. thats just asking for trouble on an old cheap psu that may not even actually delivered 15 amps when new .
 
Originally posted by: toyota
Originally posted by: Schmide
I've put 9600gt(s) into lesser systems. You'll be fine in my opinion. A clawhammer uses less than 70w load.


My load power

3100 = 60w
Chipset = 20w
HD = 7w
Ram = 3w
Fan, DVD etc = 25w

Total 115w

You should have well over 100w to play with. Get a 4670 (50w) or 9600gt (60w) and you will notice a big difference. You're cpu will be fine. XP is fine on 1gb. Just don't expect uber numbers.
Click to expand...
have you actually tried to play games with that cpu and 1 gig? my parents had basically the same emachines and I put a 7600gs in it a couple years ago just for a week. 1 gig is not enough to play modern games and even games then would be hitting the hard drive. that cpu is weak as hell and wont even come close to pushing any decent card. most games nowadays need a dual core just to get playable framerates. also 15 "rated" amps on a 3 year old bestec psu is hardly encouraging. he should just get a very cheap card to get off the integrated graphics and another stick of ram. that system could easily hit 200 watts with a 9600gt and most of that would come from the 12v. thats just asking for trouble.
Click to expand...

For one a 7600gs is way less than a 4670 or 9600gt so that argument is moot. If you look up bestec 300w psu they have 19a on the 12v so that will be fine. In reality you're looking at less than 170w on the 12v line which is about 14a. Unless you have a bad PSU it will run fine for many years. The OP has yet to really tax his or her PSU so I bet it has plenty of 60-70% load in it.

You're being too pessimistic.
 
no real way to know, even with good psus you tend to buy a little leg room.

watt ratings can be dodgy on cheapies.
you won't get away with much
 
Originally posted by: Schmide
Originally posted by: toyota
Originally posted by: Schmide
I've put 9600gt(s) into lesser systems. You'll be fine in my opinion. A clawhammer uses less than 70w load.


My load power

3100 = 60w
Chipset = 20w
HD = 7w
Ram = 3w
Fan, DVD etc = 25w

Total 115w

You should have well over 100w to play with. Get a 4670 (50w) or 9600gt (60w) and you will notice a big difference. You're cpu will be fine. XP is fine on 1gb. Just don't expect uber numbers.
Click to expand...
have you actually tried to play games with that cpu and 1 gig? my parents had basically the same emachines and I put a 7600gs in it a couple years ago just for a week. 1 gig is not enough to play modern games and even games then would be hitting the hard drive. that cpu is weak as hell and wont even come close to pushing any decent card. most games nowadays need a dual core just to get playable framerates. also 15 "rated" amps on a 3 year old bestec psu is hardly encouraging. he should just get a very cheap card to get off the integrated graphics and another stick of ram. that system could easily hit 200 watts with a 9600gt and most of that would come from the 12v. thats just asking for trouble.
Click to expand...

For one a 7600gs is way less than a 4670 or 9600gt so that argument is moot. If you look up bestec 300w psu they have 19a on the 12v so that will be fine. In reality you're looking at less than 170w on the 12v line which is about 14a. Unless you have a bad PSU it will run fine for many years. The OP has yet to really tax his or her PSU so I bet it has plenty of 60-70% load in it.

You're being too pessimistic.
Click to expand...

and you are not being realistic. the point I was making was that 1gb was NOT enough even nearly 2 years ago for many games and even then then that cpu was weak even with a modest 7600gs. his psu has 15 amps and he even mentioned that. the bestec that HP uses has 19amp but this is the one one that emachines uses and I can confirm that it does have just 15 amps. also this is a 3 year old cheap psu that might not have ever actually been able to deliver 15 amps when it was new.
 
Surely some games high end will not play great. A lot will. If it only has 15a get the 4670 it uses less power. You're being an FPS elitist.
 
Originally posted by: Schmide
Surely some games high end will not play great. A lot will. If it only has 15a get the 4670 it uses less power. You're being an FPS elitist.
Click to expand...

no I am being realistic. that cpu he has came out Q3 2004. even a 4670 is shitloads faster than any video card that anyone ever would have imagined putting with that cpu. top of the line cards from 2004 cant even play most modern games at all so why do you think his cpu should? a 4670 would mainly go to waste in a system with an entry level single core cpu from 2004 and thats a fact. when is the last time you have even seen a game benched with any single core much less a Sempron? would you like some links to current games that show even a high end single core can barely play modern games if at all? here are 2 games right here he wont be playing.


a 4000 A64, a much faster than his Sempron can only muster 9 fps in Far Cry 2 http://www.pcgameshardware.com...hmarks/Reviews/?page=2

a 4000 A64 can only get 24 fps in FEAR 2, sure you could lower the res and settings but that wont help much when youre cpu bound. notice it also get 1fps for the minimum. http://www.pcgameshardware.com...mpared/Reviews/?page=3

that psu is junk and his cpu was considered weak several years ago so all he needs is an entry level card so he can at least play some games.
 
Originally posted by: toyota
Originally posted by: Schmide
Surely some games high end will not play great. A lot will. If it only has 15a get the 4670 it uses less power. You're being an FPS elitist.
Click to expand...

no I am being realistic. that cpu he has came out Q3 2004. even a 4670 is shitloads faster than any video card that anyone ever would have imagined putting with that cpu. top of the line cards from 2004 cant even play most modern games at all so why do you think his cpu should? a 4670 would mainly go to waste in a system with an entry level single core cpu from 2004 and thats a fact. when is the last time you have even seen a game benched with any single core much less a Sempron? would you like some links to current games that show even a high end single core can barely play modern games if at all? here are 2 games right here he wont be playing.


a 4000 A64, a much faster than his Sempron can only muster 9 fps in Far Cry 2 http://www.pcgameshardware.com...hmarks/Reviews/?page=2

a 4000 A64 can only get 24 fps in FEAR 2, sure you could lower the res and settings but that wont help much when youre cpu bound. notice it also get 1fps for the minimum. http://www.pcgameshardware.com...mpared/Reviews/?page=3

that psu is junk and his cpu was considered weak several years ago so all he needs is an entry level card so he can at least play some games.
Click to expand...

Not everyone plays fps on super high settings with their cards. The games you're listing are all fucking fps! In fact, I remember playing Civ 4 and WoW just fine with my 754 2800+ at stock with 1gb and 6600GT thank you.

Also, 15*12=180 watts on the 12rail. Looking at Anandtech's 4670 review, a whole system draws less than that much power.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3405&p=9

He'll be fine, even with a crappy power supply.
 
Yeah pick two of the most taxing games to make a point. The fact is a lot of good games that will run fine. Left 4 Dead and Call of Duty 4 for example. Many games do fine with a lesser CPU.

I've have (gave to my sister) a 9600gt with a Toledo x2 on a 7 year old Aria 300w psu and it's been running fine for 6 months. When I put my clamp meter on it it says 190w at the wall, which is about 160w on board. It's watercooled to boot.
 
Originally posted by: Schmide
Yeah pick two of the most taxing games to make a point. The fact is a lot of good games that will run fine. Left 4 Dead and Call of Duty 4 for example. Many games do fine with a lesser CPU.

I've have (gave to my sister) a 9600gt with a Toledo x2 on a 7 year old Aria 300w psu and it's been running fine for 6 months. When I put my clamp meter on it it says 190w at the wall, which is about 160w on board. It's watercooled to boot.
Click to expand...

well Fear 2 is not a very demanding game at all but clearly will not be playable. if his interests are playing games like Fear 2 then he needs a better cpu too. the 4670 is not going to get him any better experience in modern games than a 9500gt would with that cpu.
 
Originally posted by: Hacp
Originally posted by: toyota
Originally posted by: Schmide
Surely some games high end will not play great. A lot will. If it only has 15a get the 4670 it uses less power. You're being an FPS elitist.
Click to expand...

no I am being realistic. that cpu he has came out Q3 2004. even a 4670 is shitloads faster than any video card that anyone ever would have imagined putting with that cpu. top of the line cards from 2004 cant even play most modern games at all so why do you think his cpu should? a 4670 would mainly go to waste in a system with an entry level single core cpu from 2004 and thats a fact. when is the last time you have even seen a game benched with any single core much less a Sempron? would you like some links to current games that show even a high end single core can barely play modern games if at all? here are 2 games right here he wont be playing.


a 4000 A64, a much faster than his Sempron can only muster 9 fps in Far Cry 2 http://www.pcgameshardware.com...hmarks/Reviews/?page=2

a 4000 A64 can only get 24 fps in FEAR 2, sure you could lower the res and settings but that wont help much when youre cpu bound. notice it also get 1fps for the minimum. http://www.pcgameshardware.com...mpared/Reviews/?page=3

that psu is junk and his cpu was considered weak several years ago so all he needs is an entry level card so he can at least play some games.
Click to expand...

Not everyone plays fps on super high settings with their cards. The games you're listing are all fucking fps! In fact, I remember playing Civ 4 and WoW just fine with my 754 2800+ at stock with 1gb and 6600GT thank you.

Also, 15*12=180 watts on the 12rail. Looking at Anandtech's 4670 review, a whole system draws less than that much power.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3405&p=9

He'll be fine, even with a crappy power supply.
Click to expand...
thats about the only games I could find where a site actually wasted their time to benchmark with a single core cpu. a Sempron is even worse than what they used. I hope you realize that something like 4670 is 8-10 times faster in modern games than a 6600gt but ONLY IF you have a decent cpu. putting a 4670 with an entry level single core cpu from 2004 is a stupid waste of money.
 
Originally posted by: toyota

well Fear 2 is not a very demanding game at all but clearly will not be playable. if his interests are playing games like Fear 2 then he needs a better cpu too. the 4670 is not going to get him any better experience in modern games than a 9500gt would with that cpu.
Click to expand...

Sure it is. You can play at higher resolutions and for the most part the video card is at least 70% in games.
 
Originally posted by: Schmide
Originally posted by: toyota

well Fear 2 is not a very demanding game at all but clearly will not be playable. if his interests are playing games like Fear 2 then he needs a better cpu too. the 4670 is not going to get him any better experience in modern games than a 9500gt would with that cpu.
Click to expand...

Sure it is. You can play at higher resolutions and for the most part the video card is at least 70% in games.
Click to expand...

Fear 2 is not that demanding compared to other games out there. there are plenty of games that will not be playable with a slow Sempron no matter what video card you stick in there. going to a higher resolution doesnt help if the game isnt really playable in the first place.
 
The point is moot. If the original poster gets it just for Left 4 Dead. It will be worth it. Stop getting stuck on a couple titles.
 
Originally posted by: Schmide
The point is moot. If the original poster gets it just for Left 4 Dead. It will be worth it. Stop getting stuck on a couple titles.
Click to expand...

the minimum to even run that game is a 3.0 P4. a sempron 3100 is weaker than a 3.0 P4. funny though that only a 6600 video card is needed though. lol


couple of titles? try more than half the games made in the last 2 years would have trouble with a Sempron cpu.
 
I know a few people that run single core with ok video cards and it works fine. A 3100 will hold it's own against a 3.0 p4. One of my friends has the exact same system with a 1950pro that I gave him. It works fine for cod4 and L4d.
 
Originally posted by: Schmide
I know a few people that run single core with ok video cards and it works fine. A 3100 will hold it's own against a 3.0 p4. One of my friends has the exact same system with a 1950pro that I gave him. It works fine for cod4 and L4d.
Click to expand...

yeah I just looked at some benchmarks and the Sempron 3100 754 is about like the old 3.0 P4. so congratulations he might actually meet the bare minimum cpu required to play a game thats based off an enhanced 5 year old game engine. lol. anyway I still think he should just get whatever card he can for under 50 bucks and get another gig of memory. anyway thats enough bickering for tonight...😎
 
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