PSU Replacement, Overkill or Ok?

S

smithaldo

New Member
Afternoon all.

I have questions regarding PSU and a graphics card

I've currently got an Advent PQD4003 and my understanding is that the PSU is around the 300w area.

I've been looking at the Alpine 700w PSU to potentially upgrade whats currently in there.(edit: after looking on the site it doesn't seem like this PSU is reliable) Is this overkill. I will eventually be replacing the whole PC, probably within the next 18 months or there about.

I've also been looking to put in a new graphics card and have been looking at the Geforce GT 52.

Can anyone give me any advice on if these are going to be fine to use with what I currently have, or should I be looking at something else?

Thanks
 
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You do not need a 700W PSU for a GT 520. A Corsair CX 430 PSU would power that card. Alpine power supplies are useless, don't buy 'em.
 
when you want a gt 520 you actually need as minimum a 300w psu...
i would recommend a 630.. it needs the same power and it is faster and better..
the best is to take a better like the 550ti or when that is too expensive take something like the 450gts... it would be a very better choise if you are going to upgrade your psu too....

hope this was useful:)
 
GT 520 isn't much of an upgrade. If you're going to do it I'd suggest at least a 550TI/6850 for gaming. And as said before, Alpines are junk.
 
Denther said:
GT 520 isn't much of an upgrade. If you're going to do it I'd suggest at least a 550TI/6850 for gaming. And as said before, Alpines are junk.
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Most of those models of desktops came with ATI 3100 integrated graphics. Almost any card will be an upgrade that you'll enjoy.

The first thing to do is measure how much room you have. Your computer has a Foxconn A7VMX motherboard which is mATX. Be careful how big of a card you can fit! It would suck buying a card to realize it will not even go in your case.

Once you have the dimensions of your case, start doing research and finding cards that will fit. Once you have some narrowed down, decide on card based on your target price point.

Then once a card is identified, then we'll look at power supplies.

***EDIT***
Another thing, I believe your computer has DDR2 667MHz RAM. It depends what processor you have but it can run 1066MHz RAM with a AM2+ processor only. If you can find some cheap faster RAM...that would also be a nice upgrade!
 
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These are the current specs for what I have

AMD Phenom 9550 (2.2GHz, socket AM2+)
Motherboard Foxconn A7VMX
Memory 4GB DDR2 PC2-5300 667MHz (2 memory slots. Max 4GB)
Hard Drive 500GB

Regarding the RAM upgrade I am assuming that I can switch from the 667mhz to the 1066mhz without creating any issues in doing so?

I've managed to get hold of a relatively cheap Nvidea Geforce GT 520 1gb ddr2 graphics card which I'm awaiting delivery of. It could go one of two ways in that it fits fine, or it doesn't. But as it didn't cost me a lot then I'm not to fussed if it doesn't at this moment in time.
 
You should be upgrade to the faster RAM if the board and CPU support it. Check your board manual first before you buy anything. You going for 8GBs of 1066MHz DDR2 then?
 
tbh if you really wanted to know what PSU you should get, then there are plenty of PSU calculators available online, which require you to list your hardware and then you get a result on what size PSU you can have which will be more the adequate. However as mentioned above an 450W PSU will do the trick for the GPU :D
 
gevablob said:
tbh if you really wanted to know what PSU you should get, then there are plenty of PSU calculators available online, which require you to list your hardware and then you get a result on what size PSU you can have which will be more the adequate. However as mentioned above an 450W PSU will do the trick for the GPU :D
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The only problem is that they are not that accurate. They all give you different answers and usually are off by probably ~100W.
 
Nobody really reccomended a good psu.Get a corsair cx500, it is overkill, but will be nice, if you ever get a new pc.If you need $10 to spair, get a corsair cx430.
 
byteninja2 said:
Nobody really reccomended a good psu.Get a corsair cx500, it is overkill, but will be nice, if you ever get a new pc.If you need $10 to spair, get a corsair cx430.
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I have a CX600 and I like it but I've heard an awful lot of complaints about them (the CX line) emitting a high pitched whine even when the PC is shut off. I'd advise something other than that. I think most are good but there is a possibility of that happening.
 
If the cx500 whines, than get this: newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151093 It is expensive, at a $100 msrp, but only $67 with shipping today, but seasonic makes some of the best power supplys ever.Seasonic makes some of corsairs power supplys (most reccomended power supplys) and xfx power supplys (expensive and highly rated).I have a couple year old ss in mine, and it is great.
 
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