Enough for a 4850?

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Pilot53

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 19, 2006
Messages
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My friend has a pc that he is looking to upgrade. he cant afford to spend much but he wants a 4850. The psu is barely adequate for whats in the pc now so Its going to need to be upgraded as well. I have an enermax 431 watt psu that I could give him, it has 20 amps on the 12v rail, will this psu suffice? The pc has one hdd and optical drive, and is running a c2d e6300 thats has not been overclocked.
 
No IMO. It's a 7 year old PSU so it may not be capable of providing 20A on the +12V rail anymore. Plus, the minimum amps required for the HD4850 is 30A on the +12V rail from what I've read so far.
 
I want a Ferrari but can't afford high octane gas...........

Get a good PSU now then get the card. Priorities.......
 
Put the card and psu in and try it, if it doesnt work buy a psu, if it does still buy one.
 
If the PSU can actually run at its rated wattage, it should be able to handle the card fine. According to the [H] review, the card itself uses 186W under load (295W total system usage minus 109W usage without the card) which a 12v rail capable of 240W should be able to cope with. However, it is an old PSU, so I suggest he gets a new one shortly. The Corsair 450VX can be had for around $60 AR, which would be the perfect choice for a replacement.

Edit: The Antec Earthwatts that Danny posted will also work fine. Even the 380W version would probably do the trick, come to think of it. Any good PSU that can push 200+ watts on the 12v line should work.
 
Alright thanks for the help, we'll try the new one and see how it goes and if its unstable i guess he's gonna have to look for a new psu, personally I think it will work out ok, the psu has barely been used also. Are the antec basiq models any good? They are only 35 bucks.
 
Wow fast reply, didnt even finish editing my post, lol. Are there any psu's worth getting that are around the $40-$50 range w/o the rebate?
 
Pilot53 said:
Wow fast reply, didnt even finish editing my post, lol. Are there any psu's worth getting that are around the $40-$50 range w/o the rebate?
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This PSU is a good choice:
Silverstone ST400 400W PSU - $47

However, if you have the cash/need for a $200 video card, at least spend a little extra on the PSU. Cheapening out now means screwing yourself and your systm in the future.
 
Markistehnamezor said:
Doesn't hurt to spend a bit extra just to make sure it supports the 4850 and any little upgrades in the future.
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It's a little hard to spend money you don't have. It's one thing to recommend something a little bit above the stated budget, but to suggest something that's over double the cost and way overkill is pointless and unhelpful.
 
Zero82z said:
The link you posted is actually $105 after MIR, and either way it's still way over budget.
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also, i have that power supply, and ran quad sli with it for a few months , and now run 4870 cf, and will later run 4870x2 cf. its a little overkill for a 4850.
 
my current system in my sig im pulling ~375w with the cpu and gpu @ full load.
 
Wow you guys! Stop recomending PSU's he does not need. I just don't understand why people think I need this huge wattage PSU's. You all have been brain washed. :rolleyes:
 
Pilot53 said:
My friend has a pc that he is looking to upgrade. he cant afford to spend much but he wants a 4850. The psu is barely adequate for whats in the pc now so Its going to need to be upgraded as well. I have an enermax 431 watt psu that I could give him, it has 20 amps on the 12v rail, will this psu suffice? The pc has one hdd and optical drive, and is running a c2d e6300 thats has not been overclocked.
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An Antec EarthWatts EA-380 would provide ample power and still have some headroom. Right now the EA-430 is on sale @ Newegg for $30 shipped AR. You'd be hard pressed to find a better deal.
 
Thanks for the help guys, If he needs to upgrade were just gonna go with the silverstone, looks to be the best option.
 
Ya, normally I say calculate it, see what you really need and always stay with at least the recommended for your video card. Unfortunately the 4850 says its needs a 450 and a 500 for the 4870. So in this case, the 430 might just cut it, but I personally wouldn't bother and just upgrade.
 
ZMTToxics said:
Ya, normally I say calculate it, see what you really need and always stay with at least the recommended for your video card. Unfortunately the 4850 says its needs a 450 and a 500 for the 4870. So in this case, the 430 might just cut it, but I personally wouldn't bother and just upgrade.
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The 450-500W recommendation is to account for low quality psu's with mediocre 12V rail capabilities. An Antec EA-380 or 430 would have no trouble powering an E8400 or Q9300, a couple of SATA drives, and a 4850/4870.
 
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