My Processor Or My Power Supply?

theledgend · Post by **theledgend** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:52 am

Hi i have posted a few threads before asking around things like what type of processor should i get for gaming. Lately I had a reply in one saying that it might not be my processor at all, instead it could be the power supply.
Recently i installed a new graphics card - Nvidia GeForce 7600 Gs - and apparently my power supply might be too lowm therefore making the graphics card work fine but putting stress on all the other hardware which also need power.. Is this true ?
I found the system requirements on this side of the processor box
- 350W- but where do i find out the power supple of my pc ?
Also if i do need a higher power supply, is it somethingi can fix like putting in a newpower supply and how much will it cost me if so, or will i need a whole new computer?
THANKS

KnightRid · Post by **KnightRid** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:15 am

If you open your case you should see a sticker on your PS that will show you the rated wattage.

Replacing one is easy IF it is a standard PS and not something in a desktop case, or some of the crappy HP's and such have special ones also.

What processor so you have?

what games are you trying to play?

your video card might not handle Oblivion at full settings very well ;)

How much RAM do you have in your computer?

some of those could be the problems also.

Mike

theledgend · Post by **theledgend** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:57 am

KnightRid wrote:If you open your case you should see a sticker on your PS that will show you the rated wattage.

Replacing one is easy IF it is a standard PS and not something in a desktop case, or some of the crappy HP's and such have special ones also.

What processor so you have?

what games are you trying to play?

your video card might not handle Oblivion at full settings very well ;)

How much RAM do you have in your computer?

some of those could be the problems also.

Mike

AMD Athlon XP 2700+ ( processor )

Lord of the rings battle for middle earth 1 and 2

512 MB RAM

Hope you can help =)

zachig · Post by **zachig** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 10:23 am

I would advice you to first upgrade to (AT LEAST) 1GB of RAM, as you'll gain a quite big performance boost, as most current games require (and use) at least 1GB of RAM.

Regarding your PSU, you can always use a "PSU Calculator" to calculate the required wattage for your PC. Here's a link to a VERY GOOD On-Line "PSU Calculator" that I can recommend and Im' using it a lot:

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp

I would advice you to add extra 10%-15% to the results that you get there, just to be on the safe side...

Hope this helps...

SAMSAMHA · Post by **SAMSAMHA** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:21 am

definitely a new psu. for 7600gt you would need at least 400w and 20amps on the 12v.

Most PSU will cost around 60ish for 400ish watts. Go for name brand for the safety of stable rails. Brands such as antec, enermax, seasonics, ocz, pcpc are all good.

zachig · Post by **zachig** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 1:08 am

SAMSAMHA wrote:definitely a new psu. for 7600gt you would need at least 400w and 20amps on the 12v.

Most PSU will cost around 60ish for 400ish watts. Go for name brand for the safety of stable rails. Brands such as antec, enermax, seasonics, ocz, pcpc are all good.

Yeap, ALL brands you've mentioned are VERY GOOD ones. I would add also MUSHKIN to the list, as I'm currently using their P650W PSU and I'm very satisifed with it. It has Quad-Rails of 20A each!!! (Though it DOESN'T mean, of course, 80A in total...

)

KnightRid · Post by **KnightRid** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 6:31 am

Yea, more ram!!!! 1gb minimum and minimum 400w power supply - go for higher if you want to prepare for the future awhile, maybe 650-1000w

I dont know if LOTR is too graphic intense or not. I woudl try the more RAM and bigger PS to see if that fixes it.

Mike

Bwall · Post by **Bwall** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 6:54 am

The PSU requirements for the 7600GS are 350w and 18A on the +12v rail.
The 7600gs can get by with a really low wattage power supply. You should be able to power that system easily with a 350w as long as you don't have a ton of hard drives.
I own both of those games and they are very CPU and RAM intensive. These games slow down even a moderately clocked Athlon 64 with 1GB of ram. With your current hardware your best bet for better performance is going to be more memory, another 512MB would be my suggestion.

Personally I would think about saving up a little cash for a small upgrade to something like the ASRock 775 Dual-VSTA and Intel E4300. That Intel CPU should be dropping to around $120 in a couple of months, and with that ASRock motherboard you can carry over the DDR memory that you have or might buy as well as your current video card. This would be a very significant upgrade over what you've got now and really shouldn't require an upgrade to the PSU.

amdathlonfx · Post by **amdathlonfx** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 7:03 am

Get atleast a 400/450 watts PSU & 1 GB of Ram.

zachig · Post by **zachig** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 8:18 am

Yeah, and if you don't want to spend too much money on a high-quality PSU, you can always go for a mid-range one, like HEC 470W or Top-Power 450-500W PSU, though I'm not sure if these brands are common in your living area...

Hope this helps...

Razorbacx · Post by **Razorbacx** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 9:14 am

When it comes to PSU brand there are plenty to choose from, however I would not skimp here as the PSU is probably, if not the most important component that you've got in your computer. Without something that is proven stable and reliable everything from your motherboard, ram, cpu and video card could be at risk and this is actually cheap insurance when you take into account the cost of replacing said components due to a crappy PSU frying them. I would consider spending somewhere between $75.00 to $100.00 on a new PSU, provided that your current build allows you to change it out as suggested by Knight.