Best Graphic Card for a 350 Watts system and under 200$?

Question

Looked up a few GPUs in the net and have shortlisted the below:
a) Geforce 7600 GT
b) Geforce 8600 GT and GTS

But my concern is, whether the 8600 GT and GTS will run in 350 watts PSU???

Looked up a few GPUs in the net and have shortlisted the below:
a) Geforce 7600 GT
b) Geforce 8600 GT and GTS

But my concern is, whether the 8600 GT and GTS will run in 350 watts PSU???

**EDIT**:

My Config: I am running an HP DE7100 Desktop with 3.0 GHz PIV HT and 1 GB of ram. The system just has 350 watts PSU. I wont be expanding the desktop further and the Graphics Card is the last that i am going to change in that.

Answer 1

Their power draws:
7600GT = 36 watts
8600GT= 30 watts
8600GTS= 46 watts

It depends on the +12V rail of your power supply and whether you have a processor that draws 65W or less. I was able to run a factory overclocked 8600GT on a 380W Coolermaster with 16 amps on the +12V rail. Processor was just a 65W Sempron 64. I was even able to overclock both processor and graphics card some more.

A 350 Watter with 15 amps on the +12V rail could power the 7600GT and 8600GT as long as processor is a 65 watter. Power supply may have some difficulty with the GTS and dual cores with 85W TDP or higher.

BUT if you have other upgrades in the horizon, better consider a bigger power supply. Do not let your upgrade options be restricted by the power supply.

Answer 2

GeForce 7600 and below is fine

You would want to have a better PSU for GeForce 8

Note that when I say fine, I'm assuming your PSU is a very good quality ones, because PSU do NOT deliver the exact amount of the rated load. Best PSU are around 85%, bad PSU could go way below 50% of its rated load.

Answer 3

Unless you're running the absolute worst hardware other than that card, I doubt your system would even boot with only a 350watt PSU.

You're best off looking for a 6xxx series if you want to stick with GeForce.