350W power supply not sufficient?

[sumrandomguy]

Recently I brought my computer into a shop to replace the motherboard. The technician at the time said that my power supply is weak (which might have cause my mobo to short) and suggested I change it (to something they sold in the store). I told them to leave it for now and just do the mobo replacement. My current one is 4 year old noname brand (Elitech?) 350W and it supplies power to:

P4P800 mobo + P4 3.0Ghz cpu
ATI 9600XT AGP video card
1 80GB hard drive
1 optical drive
1 floppy

So 3 questions…
1. is it really a bad/weak power supply or did the computer shop try to get more business from me?

2. is the current PS sufficient if I wanted to change my videocard to an X850XT PE in the near future? (looking at an upgrade)

3. if it is not sufficient for the X850 and would suggest a change, what would it be? (I’m looking for the best bang for the buck…anything for $40 or under?)

Suggestions, comments all welcome!
Thanks for your help :cheesygri

[carmaster]

Recently I brought my computer into a shop to replace the motherboard. The technician at the time said that my power supply is weak (which might have cause my mobo to short) and suggested I change it (to something they sold in the store). I told them to leave it for now and just do the mobo replacement. My current one is 4 year old noname brand (Elitech?) 350W and it supplies power to:

P4P800 mobo + P4 3.0Ghz cpu
ATI 9600XT AGP video card
1 80GB hard drive
1 optical drive
1 floppy

So 3 questions…
1. is it really a bad/weak power supply or did the computer shop try to get more business from me?

2. is the current PS sufficient if I wanted to change my videocard to an X850XT PE in the near future? (looking at an upgrade)

3. if it is not sufficient for the X850 and would suggest a change, what would it be? (I’m looking for the best bang for the buck…anything for $40 or under?)

Suggestions, comments all welcome!
Thanks for your help :cheesygri


If your power supply has lasted and worked fine for 4 years I would just leave it. However, if you want to upgrade to a better video card you will need atleast a 500W good brand power supply. The Cooler Master and OCZ power supplies are good, but they cost $70-$100. The forty bucks will get you a no name unreliable power supply.

[Aske001]

There are plenty of web sites that will let you calculate your power requirements - just do a search.

A good 350 watt power supply should be more than adequate for your current system, and even if you upgrade to the X850. But power supplies vary in quality, as you will see if you check out a few online tests. Just like most other equipment, if you buy a really cheap junk power supply that you have no way to easily measure, you can't assume that it delivers the published specifications.

[Kwirky]

So 3 questions…
1. is it really a bad/weak power supply or did the computer shop try to get more business from me?

It's not weak, but a 4 year old generic is not a good thing to have in your system.


2. is the current PS sufficient if I wanted to change my videocard to an X850XT PE in the near future? (looking at an upgrade)

The spec sheet only calls for a 300w PSU for that card.


3. if it is not sufficient for the X850 and would suggest a change, what would it be? (I’m looking for the best bang for the buck…anything for $40 or under?)

Suggestions, comments all welcome!
Thanks for your help :cheesygri

Although 350w is sufficient, a better brand might be a good idea, and if you're going to do that might as wel get one with a bit more headroom. My recommendation: http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11730AC7426&vpn=FSP400-60THN&manufacture=FSP GROUP

[woof]

I think you really have to ask yourself whether your money might be better spent by not spending it right now. Stop trying to upgrade bits and pieces of an obsolete system and live with what you have for now while you save your money for a completely new system down the road.