Some questions..

i did a quick google search. and on the BFG website, it says Nvidia recommends at least 350w for the 7800GS
 
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
You obviously had a newer ATX not AT type case with an atx standard supply allowing you to swap for a larger one without problems. Dell was certainly one noted even more for seeing custom mounting for their suppllies where only "their own" replacement supplies could even go in.

Times have changed a bit in that sense since they are more interested in drumming up business while competing. At this point the Sony Vaios seem to be the ones seeing the thin AT type of case on their prebuilds while the rest are standardizing to atx.
 
On an older system like that there's not much that can be done since that's what was used there. A look at replacement supplies probably no longer available at HP might show the largest supply that was offered then. By now HP has already dropped anything there in favor of much newer systems they sell.
 
Several have move everything out of a prebuild case into a new one in order to be able to expand along with seeing an atx standard type supply with a little more horse power go in. But supplies that generally come along with cases I'll tell you right now are usually total crap!

Those are either low enders with a name or cheap generic crap jobs that can give out at any time like the one in the $37.99 case there? Any decent 480-500w supply will at least see $60-70 for a beginning price while under $40 for case and supply shows a disaster in the making unfortunately.

Buy a case you like but somewhat flexible for mounting the old style board and get a good supply large enough to use later once you get into a new build. In other words you will have the case but a good supply onhand for later swapping boards along with a larger hard drive, new opticals, and anything else like a tv tuner card and other things.

Another thing if you have someone close with a spare supply lying around see if the 20 out of 20+4pin main power conector will plug into the board there. Many of the old prebuilds still saw 20pin while simply having one thing different on their supplies like Dell with the mounting screw pattern of their own or a possible change in main power connector size whiile still seeing 20pins just so you buy their replacements nothing else.
 
Back
Top