Question regarding Power Supplys

[Lukse]

Hey guys, im kinda new to replacing parts on a PC, just put a new videocard in, 8600gt and am looking to upgrade my power supply as well, just have one quick question. When searching through Newegg.com i saw on the power supplies this questions

PCI-E Connectors


I noticed that some said No, and others has numbers and such.

Now what does this mean really?

Thanks in advance

[blue60007]

Higher end video cards require an additional power source - you plug in a 6-pin PCI-E power connector into the card directly. I don't know if the 8600 needs one or not, but it might.

PSU's with multiple PCI-E connectors support two video cards or even cards like the 8800GTX which require 2 connections - per card.

BTW, check out the General Hardware forum stickies - there's one with good brands of PSU's listed.

What power supply do you have now? Are you sure you need to upgrade?

[Lukse]

well at the moment i have a gateway gt4010, but the video card and amount of ram in it doesn't allow me to play games with a high quality. at the moment i have a 300 Watt Power Supply and wasn't sure when i upgrade to the new video card and extra ram if 300 watts would be enough. heres a link to some specs on my comp http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/R/5891/5891sp3.shtml
if you guys think i shouldn't need an upgrade ill save myself 40 bucks

thanks for replying


p.s if you could help me find a powersupply thats a good bang for the buck for the video card that would be awesome

p.p.s - im a noob when it comes to computers.

[andper10]

I would recommend this PSU for a budget minded upgrade:
$37 - FSP Group (Fortron Source) 400W Power Supply - http://If the Gateway PSU is proprie...82E16817104952 - It has two 18A 12V Rails which is plenty of power for a nice video card upgrade. Theoretically it could power today's most powerful video card (8800GTX) and a reviewer supported that it powered that card's "little brother" the 8800GTS. This is a good link to the video card that you want to buy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130084 How much ram do you have now? Corsair Value Select would probably be a good upgrade.

[Lukse]

right now i have 1 gig, but i ordered another gig stick, should be here soon. and this is the videocard i ordered as well

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814130085 heard alot of great things about it from fellow gamers. fits my budget too

[blue60007]

Hang on...before you get too deep, I'll have to warn you that upgrading the Gateway might not be so easy. Sometimes they'll use proprietary parts and off the shelf parts might not work. Especially the power supply - it might use non-standard wiring for example. You wouldn't happen to have an off the shelf power supply laying around you can compare wiring to? Or, is there a brand/model # on the PSU? We might be able to look it up and get the details...

Honestly, if you want a gamer, upgrading a prebuilt PC isn't the greatest way to go.

[doubledragon5]

Heck you can strip that system down, and put the cpu, ram, hd, video card on to another mb and have a home built system.. All you would need is a different case, mb and your all set..

[Lukse]

100929 - 300 Watt Bestec Power Supply

is what it says on the gateway support site.



Part Number: 100929 - 300 Watt Bestec Power Supply

Following are the specifications for the 300 watt Bestec® power supply.
Specifications are subject to change without notice or obligation.

Feature Specification
Manufacturer Bestec
Manufacturer Model ATX-300-12E
Type OEM ATX12V
Dimensions (L × W × H) 5.5 × 5.9 × 3.4 inches (140 × 150 × 86 × mm)
Safety Certifications UL, CSA, TUV, CE
Efficiency 68% minimum at full load
Reliability > 50 K hours at 25° C ambient conditions.
AC Input Voltage 115/230 VAC with following characteristics:

* Max current: 6/3 A
* Frequency: 47-63 HZ
* Protection: Internal fuse

AC Input is switch selectable between 115 V (100-127 V) and 230 V (200-240 V)
DC Output Voltages
# +3.3 V Max Current: 28 A
# Min Current: 0.3 A
# Load: ±5%
# Line: ±1%
# +5 V Max Current: 30 A
# Min Current: 0.5 A
# Load: ±5%
# Line: ±1%
# +12 V Max Current: 15 A
# Min Current: 0.0 A
# Load: ±5%
# Line: ±1%
# -12 V Max Current: 0.8 A
# Min Current: 0.0 A
# Load: ±10%
# Line: ±1%
# +5 VSB Max Current: 2.0 A
# Min Current: 0.0 A
# Load: ±5%
# Line: ±1%
Notes:
# +3.3 V and +5 V total output not to exceed 180 W
# +3.3 V, +5 V, and +12 V total output not to exceed 288 W
# Load and line refer to regulation.

some more info on the site.

[Mr.Ferrari]

You can have the PSU replaced. I would pick up the FSP 450w. It is not only underpowered, but Bestec is on the lower end of the quality spectrum.