jnskyliner34

i did a quick google search. and on the BFG website, it says Nvidia recommends at least 350w for the 7800GS

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How To Guide: Install Vista Visual Styles

Cyrisk

Argh..this is confusing and hard to decide.

jnskyliner34

PC Eye, what PSU do those HP comps have? is it more of a stability issue, rather than power?

the 7600GS looks like a safe choice right now. but we want you to get the 7800, lol.

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How To Guide: Install Vista Visual Styles

Cyrisk

I just checked my power supply and it's 200watt max.

jnskyliner34

shucks buddy. 350w is recommended for the 7800. the 7600 consumes less.

do you want to upgrade your PSU aswell? 400-450w would do well for future upgrades.

here's a 430w PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371006

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How To Guide: Install Vista Visual Styles

Cyrisk

Ugh all this upgrading is gonna have me building half a PC..I don't have this kind of money, rofl. Time for a yard sale o_O

PC eye

A 200w isn't a big surprise for an older prebuild while that is still too low for any good mid range model as well. HP may have had a larger 250-300w supply but that would still be strapped power wise for the most for any recent card out.

At this point you would be rather limited to a cheap priced older card and have to look around at a 3rd party site like guru3d.com or omega.net for drivers. NVidia.com only goes back so far there while still carrying drivers further back then ATI. Going with a PCI type card rather then 4x/2x model would be another thought like the 9250 just to see a better then onboard card in while not requiring a larger supply then can be used there.

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Turning the Tongue into a Device Controller
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Is EBay going out of the Auction Business?
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Cyrisk

Yeah I'm just going to try and scrape together about $200-30 and build a new computer with a barebones kit.

PC eye

The main problem with an old case like that would be supplies now are atx while those old prebuilds were mini tower AT type cases. Generally you always had to go back to HP, Dell, Gateway, or whoever to get a replacement supply. 200w is certainly "old" technology since prebuilds have generally seen 300w supplies now for some time now once the 478 P4s and Socket 754s and 939s were out with the new 12v cpu feed added first with the P4 boards.

The newer power distribution on the later model boards saw the need for a higher minimum requirement. If you were working with a slightly newer model seeing a 300 or 301w supply HP would likely have a 350w supply as an option.

At least when you can get into a custom build you decide there what goes in as well as how large the supply is for what you need. With a good "reliable" supply seeing adequate power you can choose just what card you want in.

It's an investment but can make you very happy in the long run. A basic case even bare bones will tend to climb quickly over the $300 mark however. A good case with good air flow generally sees about $70 depending on style and type for a quality case. A good board can be seen under $90 at times with the prices on DDR2 dropping fast lately. Start with a good board first and work up from there.

__________________
Turning the Tongue into a Device Controller
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Sma...ory?id=5647175

Is EBay going out of the Auction Business?
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=5626840&page=1

Intel_man

My HP had a 300 W psu. I swapped it for a 500W.

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CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 @1.86GHz
MOBO: Asus P5BW-LA
PSU: CoolerMaster Power Extreme 500W
VGA: eVGA 9600 GT 512mb GDDR3 @ 750/1870/1000
HDD: WD 250 GB SATA
RAM: 2 GB DDR2 PC2-5300
MONITOR: LG Flatron W2242TQ, NEC MultiSync LCD1530V
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