pc hardware?

Question

I have a dell xps gen5 and 3.5 p4 HT with 4gb ddr2 ram, 320gb, nvidia 6800 gtoc 256mb,with 460 watt power supply, dvd rw and dvd drive, memory card media hub,floppy,tv tuner card, Im wanting to know can an nvidia 8800 gts 320mb have enough power to run with the pc, I know that Dell's are hard to upgrade and that u get what you buy, but im wanting to wait to build a pc until the beginning of next year, I did my research and it states that the 8800 gts 320mb is capable no problem at all to run the video card but then again im just making sure it will all run smoothly, once playing games such as test drive unlimited and crysis and so forth, please leave some good details and opinions

Answer 1

You should be able to run the 8800 on 460w. However, there is a possibility you might have some system instability with that set up, as almost 90% of those 460w will go to power the graphics card, leaving barely any for the rest of your components.

But you might still be fine, because on my old computer I ran a graphics card that required 300w on a 220w power supply and it seemed to work out alright, but to be on the safe side, I'd recommend you upgrade to a 500w+ capable PSU.

Answer 2

You should be alright. You have a good power supply in 460watt. Now if you're asking if you will be able to play the games without downgrading the graphics, it seems that unless your system is brand new, then you almost always have to downgrade the graphics for the newest games.

Answer 3

Nvidia GTS requires less power than the GTX model (400W versus 450W). But you are close to the edge with that 460W power supply, especially if you attach peripherals to your computer. http://reviews.cnet.com/graphics-cards/nvidia-geforce-8800-gts/4505-8902_7-32143069.html