Is my power supply good enough?

wilburgtwoot · 08-06-2007, 10:25 PM

I am wanting to add a ATI X1950 Pro AGP, or a XFX 7950GT AGP to my current AGP system. The only dillema I am facing is that I don't think my power supply will supply enough power. I am using a Thermaltake W0014 480 Watt PS. From reading on the thermaltake website, I believe it only supplies 18A on the +12v, which I know is not nearly enough power for the card problably. I think I want to upgrade my PS as well, but I have absolutely no clue what I need. I was hoping to spend somewhere in the 50 to 70 dollar range for a new supply, but there are just too many different ones out there. I could really use some guidance on what would be the best option for me. I'd prefer to use Newegg.com to buy the unit, so if you can find one on there that would suit my needs, please send me in the right direction. Thanks for the help guys.

Here are my System Specs...

AMD 64 3500+ socket 939
2 gig kingston PC3200 DDR Ram
80G Maxtor HD 8mb cache 7200rpm
2 Sony DVD-rw drives
Windows XP Professional

wilburgtwoot · 08-06-2007, 11:14 PM

Sorry guys, I think I have decided on a 7800GS instead. So keep that in mind. Thanks guys.

**TheMatt** · 08-06-2007, 11:57 PM

The 7800GS is pretty weak, for the price you might as well get a 7600GT AGP. I would look at your first two choices instead. There is also an X1950GT AGP as another option.

I would upgrade the PSU. Here are two good suggestions for solid PSUs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371007
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371002

IMO for 20$ more you should go for the Trio.

Here are my suggestions for graphics cards:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102093
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814241041
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161082

Note that even the first one I posted in that list will beat the 7800GS.

Tumbleweed36 · 08-07-2007, 05:04 AM

I too agree that you don't want to go with the power supply you listed. TheMatt has given you some excellent supplies and do spend the extra $20 for the Trio. It is a much more solid supply.

wilburgtwoot · 08-07-2007, 05:18 AM

I really appreciate it guys. I think I'll go with your suggestions on the Trio and the HIS Hightech X1950PRO. Again I just want to thank you for your all your help, very quick response. Truly appreciated.

**TheMatt** · 08-07-2007, 10:37 AM

No problem.

floydfan · 08-07-2007, 11:50 AM

i would go with the gecube... the extra 256mb of ram is not worth 65 bucks.

**TheMatt** · 08-07-2007, 12:15 PM

Below 1400 x 1050 I agree, but if games are being played at 1600 x 1200 with 8x AF and 6x AA, then it will give a boost.

wilburgtwoot · 08-07-2007, 12:48 PM

I mostly will not be playing my games at 1600x1200. At most, I might play at 1280x1024. But then again if it will run my games at 1600x1200, I might just do that. I also really like the extra ram and the cooler that comes with the HIS. We'll see. I'm gonna decide within the next week or so.

wilburgtwoot · 08-09-2007, 11:12 PM

I finally decided to go with the GECUBE 256mb X1950 Pro. I waited on the power supply, because the reviews on the Trio were fairly poor on newegg. I'm kind of nervous to purchase it, from reading what people had to say about it. I don't know, I guess I could use a second opinion from you guys. I'm really excited about the card though, can't wait to get it. Again, thanks for all your help. You guys definitely helped make the decision making process much easier. I'm looking forward to being able to play oblivion on medium to high settings. :)

**1 g0t 0wn3d** · 08-09-2007, 11:39 PM

DOnt run the card without buying the psu.

**TheMatt** · 08-10-2007, 08:20 AM

The Trio is a solid power supply. If you are hesitant on it, take a look at this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817812005

The Mushkin is one of my favorites to recommend because it is solid and it is a good deal. Here is another good one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104014

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1 g0t 0wn3d

DOnt run the card without buying the psu.

Very good advice because the card and other components can be damaged if the power supply fails.

wilburgtwoot · 08-10-2007, 10:56 AM

Yep I know better than to run the video card without a new PSU. The first antec you listed, the Earthwatts, has very good reviews. The mushkin is very nice as well, so if all else fails that's the one I'm going to go with.

wilburgtwoot · 08-13-2007, 03:14 PM

ok guys, I think I'm going to be smart and change the ball game a bit. I think I have decided that it's finally time to move from AGP to PCI-X. So I'm also going to be buying a new motherboard, and I'm going to be buying a PCI-X card instead. The card I have currently picked out is this one right here, but I need to know if the Antec Trio power supply will be able to supply the power for this card...I think it mentioned like 30 amps on the 12v. I think this will be the smarter move, meaning that AGP is dead, and I can afford this upgrade at the moment. Let me know if you guys have any suggestions on something else I might could get, and also let me know about the Power Supply as well. Thanks guys.

SAPPHIRE 100186L Radeon X1950XT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16

**TheMatt** · 08-13-2007, 07:15 PM

The two I mentioned will hold up that card.

wilburgtwoot · 08-13-2007, 07:43 PM

Ok good!! I'm very excited about these upgrades. I think this card will be much faster than the AGP X1950 Pro I'm assuming. Plus it will allow me to further upgrade in the future as well. I'll let ya'll know how the upgrades go when I get the parts. :)

**TheMatt** · 08-13-2007, 07:59 PM

What motherboard were you planning on getting?

Also, I would avoid using the Term PCI-X in place of PCIe or PCI-E because PCI-X is different from PCI and PCI-E. Just to keep from confusing from the two terms.

wilburgtwoot · 08-13-2007, 09:39 PM

Here are the upgrades I think I have decided on. The motherboard was the hardest to find, and I'm not 100% sure about the one I picked out. Others I have looked at were very expensive in my opinion.

Case

Motherboard

Power Supply

Video Card

**TheMatt** · 08-13-2007, 09:50 PM

Looks good.

wilburgtwoot · 08-13-2007, 09:58 PM

I'm very excited. I'm really looking forward to the overall install, which is going to be really fun for me. I think the case is going to look really nice at night, but I'm going to add more fans to help the overall airflow. The Video Card should have plenty of breathing room now, and will hopefully perform very well. Again thank you guys for all of your help. Thanks for being so responsive and for the excellent suggestions you made.

08-06-2007, 10:25 PM	#1 (permalink)
wilburgtwoot Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 24 OS: XP Home	Is my power supply good enough? I am wanting to add a ATI X1950 Pro AGP, or a XFX 7950GT AGP to my current AGP system. The only dillema I am facing is that I don't think my power supply will supply enough power. I am using a Thermaltake W0014 480 Watt PS. From reading on the thermaltake website, I believe it only supplies 18A on the +12v, which I know is not nearly enough power for the card problably. I think I want to upgrade my PS as well, but I have absolutely no clue what I need. I was hoping to spend somewhere in the 50 to 70 dollar range for a new supply, but there are just too many different ones out there. I could really use some guidance on what would be the best option for me. I'd prefer to use Newegg.com to buy the unit, so if you can find one on there that would suit my needs, please send me in the right direction. Thanks for the help guys. Here are my System Specs... AMD 64 3500+ socket 939 2 gig kingston PC3200 DDR Ram 80G Maxtor HD 8mb cache 7200rpm 2 Sony DVD-rw drives Windows XP Professional

08-06-2007, 11:14 PM	#2 (permalink)
wilburgtwoot Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 24 OS: XP Home	Re: Is my power supply good enough? Sorry guys, I think I have decided on a 7800GS instead. So keep that in mind. Thanks guys.

08-06-2007, 11:57 PM	#3 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,701 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Is my power supply good enough? The 7800GS is pretty weak, for the price you might as well get a 7600GT AGP. I would look at your first two choices instead. There is also an X1950GT AGP as another option. I would upgrade the PSU. Here are two good suggestions for solid PSUs. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371007 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371002 IMO for 20$ more you should go for the Trio. Here are my suggestions for graphics cards: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102093 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814241041 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161082 Note that even the first one I posted in that list will beat the 7800GS. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

08-07-2007, 05:04 AM	#4 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 19,655 OS: XP Professional	Re: Is my power supply good enough? I too agree that you don't want to go with the power supply you listed. TheMatt has given you some excellent supplies and do spend the extra $20 for the Trio. It is a much more solid supply. __________________ ---------- I don't receive email notifications of replies to subscribed threads. (Internet provider policy) Therefore, if I don't respond to your post within 24 hours, please send me a reminder PM and include the link to your thread.

08-07-2007, 05:18 AM	#5 (permalink)
wilburgtwoot Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 24 OS: XP Home	Re: Is my power supply good enough? I really appreciate it guys. I think I'll go with your suggestions on the Trio and the HIS Hightech X1950PRO. Again I just want to thank you for your all your help, very quick response. Truly appreciated.

08-07-2007, 10:37 AM	#6 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,701 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Is my power supply good enough? No problem. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

08-07-2007, 11:50 AM	#7 (permalink)
floydfan Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 399 OS: win 7 rc My System	Re: Is my power supply good enough? i would go with the gecube... the extra 256mb of ram is not worth 65 bucks.

08-07-2007, 12:15 PM	#8 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,701 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Is my power supply good enough? Below 1400 x 1050 I agree, but if games are being played at 1600 x 1200 with 8x AF and 6x AA, then it will give a boost. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

08-07-2007, 12:48 PM	#9 (permalink)
wilburgtwoot Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 24 OS: XP Home	Re: Is my power supply good enough? I mostly will not be playing my games at 1600x1200. At most, I might play at 1280x1024. But then again if it will run my games at 1600x1200, I might just do that. I also really like the extra ram and the cooler that comes with the HIS. We'll see. I'm gonna decide within the next week or so.

08-09-2007, 11:12 PM	#10 (permalink)
wilburgtwoot Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 24 OS: XP Home	Re: Is my power supply good enough? I finally decided to go with the GECUBE 256mb X1950 Pro. I waited on the power supply, because the reviews on the Trio were fairly poor on newegg. I'm kind of nervous to purchase it, from reading what people had to say about it. I don't know, I guess I could use a second opinion from you guys. I'm really excited about the card though, can't wait to get it. Again, thanks for all your help. You guys definitely helped make the decision making process much easier. I'm looking forward to being able to play oblivion on medium to high settings. :) Last edited by wilburgtwoot; 08-09-2007 at 11:17 PM.

08-09-2007, 11:39 PM	#11 (permalink)
1 g0t 0wn3d TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Sedona, az Posts: 6,528 OS: Vista basic 32bit My System	Re: Is my power supply good enough? DOnt run the card without buying the psu. __________________ Bench Test \| PC Wizard \| System specs \| PSU info \| PSU calculator \| Memtest86+ \| Speedfan

08-10-2007, 10:56 AM	#13 (permalink)
wilburgtwoot Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 24 OS: XP Home	Re: Is my power supply good enough? Yep I know better than to run the video card without a new PSU. The first antec you listed, the Earthwatts, has very good reviews. The mushkin is very nice as well, so if all else fails that's the one I'm going to go with.

08-13-2007, 03:14 PM	#14 (permalink)
wilburgtwoot Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 24 OS: XP Home	Re: Is my power supply good enough? ok guys, I think I'm going to be smart and change the ball game a bit. I think I have decided that it's finally time to move from AGP to PCI-X. So I'm also going to be buying a new motherboard, and I'm going to be buying a PCI-X card instead. The card I have currently picked out is this one right here, but I need to know if the Antec Trio power supply will be able to supply the power for this card...I think it mentioned like 30 amps on the 12v. I think this will be the smarter move, meaning that AGP is dead, and I can afford this upgrade at the moment. Let me know if you guys have any suggestions on something else I might could get, and also let me know about the Power Supply as well. Thanks guys. SAPPHIRE 100186L Radeon X1950XT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16

08-13-2007, 07:15 PM	#15 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,701 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Is my power supply good enough? The two I mentioned will hold up that card. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

08-13-2007, 07:43 PM	#16 (permalink)
wilburgtwoot Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 24 OS: XP Home	Re: Is my power supply good enough? Ok good!! I'm very excited about these upgrades. I think this card will be much faster than the AGP X1950 Pro I'm assuming. Plus it will allow me to further upgrade in the future as well. I'll let ya'll know how the upgrades go when I get the parts. :)

08-13-2007, 07:59 PM	#17 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,701 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Is my power supply good enough? What motherboard were you planning on getting? Also, I would avoid using the Term PCI-X in place of PCIe or PCI-E because PCI-X is different from PCI and PCI-E. Just to keep from confusing from the two terms. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

08-13-2007, 09:39 PM	#18 (permalink)
wilburgtwoot Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 24 OS: XP Home	Re: Is my power supply good enough? Here are the upgrades I think I have decided on. The motherboard was the hardest to find, and I'm not 100% sure about the one I picked out. Others I have looked at were very expensive in my opinion. Case Motherboard Power Supply Video Card Last edited by wilburgtwoot; 08-13-2007 at 09:48 PM.

08-13-2007, 09:50 PM	#19 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,701 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Is my power supply good enough? Looks good. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

08-13-2007, 09:58 PM	#20 (permalink)
wilburgtwoot Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 24 OS: XP Home	Re: Is my power supply good enough? I'm very excited. I'm really looking forward to the overall install, which is going to be really fun for me. I think the case is going to look really nice at night, but I'm going to add more fans to help the overall airflow. The Video Card should have plenty of breathing room now, and will hopefully perform very well. Again thank you guys for all of your help. Thanks for being so responsive and for the excellent suggestions you made.