I have a 375wat psu with a +12vrail at 18amps, and Ive heard it can run a 8800gts,but will it hurt performanc?

Question

Recommended is a 400 watt with a +12v rail at 30 amps, but on Dell forums I heard that my psu has successfully run an 8800gts, but will this limit performance of the card?

Dude, it only costs $300

Answer 1

This is what EVGA lists as the minum specs:
(My buddy works tech support there)

Minimum of a 400 Watt power supply.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 26 Amp Amps.)

By using a power supply with less than the minum rating, you may get it to run, but it could be damaged over time....a card will either run or it won't, the performance won't change to any degree that is noticable.

When the temperatures get hot in the summer, your risk of that happening go up substantialy...power output of a power supply goes down as the temperature inside it goes up.

Typically if it does run, you may experience the game crashing to the desktop or not launching at all, BSOD's after gaming for a while...worse case scenario would be it fails after a short period of time and has to be replaced.

It is always best to have a power supply OVER the minumum specs, then you don't "Peg" it and make it work at its maximum all the time, wich can cause a premature failure on components, or the power supply itself.

If you have a car that needs to travel at 120MPH for 4 hours to get to work...and you car only does 120MPH..how long do you think it will last? wouldnt it be better to have one that does 150MPH, and drive it at part throttle so the engine doesnt sit at redline all the time?

Would you run a LS-7 500HP Corvette on 87 octane gas when it calls for 92 octane premium? If you can afford the car in the first place, why would you cheap out on the gas and risk long term damage to the engine?

Stop by Voided Warranty.com and we can help you with any future hardware questions, Dell forums are not going to have many hardcore experts...

I have been in the top ten fastest PC's before (3DMARK 05) and am in the process of testing "Dry Ice" on my overclocked Core 2 Duo CPU (Temps of -60c!)

I have also built many PC's on strict budgets, so that end is covered too...just ask for $SOLID$ Necro!

Answer 2

Personally I wouldn't try it. 8800 sucks a LOT of power, and if it runs at all, I doubt it'll be stable. Personally, I question the rationale behind buying a $500 video card and not wanting to spend $100 to feed it clean, reliable power. I mean, if you want to scratch your head as to why your pc reboots in the middle of a game or has other stability issues, thats up to you. You also sacrifice a great deal of efficiency if you run your power supply at or near it's limit of output. The closer the psu is to max output, the less efficiently it will run and the more $$$ it will cost in electricity. Email any power supply company you like, they will be happy to verify this fact. Your power supply should have at a MINIMUM 25% more power available then it will ever use. In my OWN power supplies, I like to give 50% at a minimum over what the system will draw at max load. So if you think your system will draw 300 watts at peak load, you should have a MINIMUM of 400-450 watts. I tend to think an 8800 GTS would take even more than that. I run an X850XT and a X2 4400+ dual core and I run 600 watts. And it's solid as a rock. And with power supplies, you DO get what you pay for. A $100 power supply rated at 400 watts will provide more output than a $30 power supply rated at 500 watts, guaranteed.

Answer 3

Dennis Brown - right here I Come & Bob Marley - 3 Little Birds. right here I Come replaced into performed at my Father's funeral. Errol Nimroy Drysdale 22 Sept. 1959 - 22 Sept. 2008. and 3 Little Birds replaced into the music I used to make his memorial video. R.I.P. DAD - I omit YOU :(

Answer 4

Dude just upgrade to an Antec PSU, they are amazing.