Nvidia 9800GT help

mikeyh · 10-16-2008, 03:55 AM

I'm looking to upgrade my PC, but i don particularly want to spend a ton of money fixing it up. The problem i have is that i only have a 430W PSU. The Nvidia website says that the card can run off a 400w psu. i ask because ive heard people say the the card will require a 600w+ psu. I am aware that the card needs a certain amount of amps on the rails, but im not exactly sure what this means.

So, basically, can i run this card and if so, will my lack of wattage limit the cards performance?

P.S., a Pci-E 2.0 x16 card will work in a Pci-e x16 slot right?

OutlawTechie · 10-16-2008, 09:58 AM

My opinion is if nvidia say you need a 400w, then thats all you need! Judging by my experience, I would say that it will not affect the performance of the card, but if you start having sudden shut down problems then the first thing to look at is the PSU. I've got a 8800GT on a 550watt which works fine. Obviously the more USB devices that are attached, and PCI cards you have will affect how much power is being drained.

In regards to your PS - I checked wikipedia and it looks as though pci-E 2.0 and 1.1 are fully compatible. Look under History in this link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express

dai · 10-16-2008, 10:02 AM

you will need a min 550w quality psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...corsair%2b550w

10-16-2008, 03:55 AM	#1 (permalink)
mikeyh Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 4 OS: Windows XP SP2	Nvidia 9800GT help I'm looking to upgrade my PC, but i don particularly want to spend a ton of money fixing it up. The problem i have is that i only have a 430W PSU. The Nvidia website says that the card can run off a 400w psu. i ask because ive heard people say the the card will require a 600w+ psu. I am aware that the card needs a certain amount of amps on the rails, but im not exactly sure what this means. So, basically, can i run this card and if so, will my lack of wattage limit the cards performance? P.S., a Pci-E 2.0 x16 card will work in a Pci-e x16 slot right?

10-16-2008, 09:58 AM	#2 (permalink)
OutlawTechie Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 234 OS: XP	Re: Nvidia 9800GT help My opinion is if nvidia say you need a 400w, then thats all you need! Judging by my experience, I would say that it will not affect the performance of the card, but if you start having sudden shut down problems then the first thing to look at is the PSU. I've got a 8800GT on a 550watt which works fine. Obviously the more USB devices that are attached, and PCI cards you have will affect how much power is being drained. In regards to your PS - I checked wikipedia and it looks as though pci-E 2.0 and 1.1 are fully compatible. Look under History in this link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express

10-16-2008, 10:02 AM	#3 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,790 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: Nvidia 9800GT help you will need a min 550w quality psu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...corsair%2b550w __________________