Is 300W power supply enough for ATI x800 or NVIDIA 6800?

Question

Thanks.

guys, give me straight answer. don't "recommend" me.

Answer 1

Barely. 350 Watt or 400 Watt would be better and best would be 500W. Maxxed Out would be 750W.

As every technician I have spoken with says, "Your computer uses what current in AMPEREs it needs." So enough is about 50W more then what you figure is best for your entire computer needs.

If your video card is powered separately some power supplies have been designed to provide the amps for that with an additional special separate power output cable for your video card. (ATI ALL-IN-WONDER 9700 Pro required we connect the cable used for the main hard drives secondary plug for the Floppy disk into the VidCard, which the instructions for the 9700 Pro said to use for the VidCard instead for best performance.)
Read your Vid Card Manual installation instructions and your Mother Boards Manual. For the little head ache it gives you reading them is better then the big one you will get if you don't use a large enough power supply.

And if you upgrade again later, it would be nice to have extra in case your new stuff requires it in the future..

Answer 2

I have an ATI x800, and initially installed it with a 350 watt power supply (which is the minimun specification for this card). The power supply lasted about 2 months before it blew with a loud poping noise and lots of blue smoke. I was lucky that it did not damage any other components. I purchased a new one rated at 450 watts and it works much better. I would strongly recommend you dont run either of these cards with just a 300 Watter.

Good Luck

Answer 3

I think the power supply would only have to do with the type of motherboard you're using. Just make sure the card is compatible with the motherboard and you should be ok.

Answer 4

I used to run a 7600GT with a stock HP 300w/19a PSU. It never messed up.

Answer 5

Depend on other hardware within your system, personally I would just upgrade the PSU to be on teh safe side.