Power Supply Wattage & New Video Cards

[coyo]

If you have read my other posts, you know I am getting a new PC and hope to put a X800XL based board in it for the video; however, in system requirments it says that it requires a at least a 425 watt atx 2.0 power supply.

My computer only has a 325 watt supply. Will this be a big Issue?

If I have to replace my power supply, could anyone give me advice on a brand--there seems to be huge price difference, from around $25 to over $100 depending on brand & location. Why is this?

Thanks for any advice.

[Roscoroo]

ok you know how there is cheap speakers that are rated at 150 watts ....
then there are expensive speakers rated at 100 watts ...

the 150 watt speakers blow up and rattle within a week ... the expensive 100 watts last for many years  well thats because the expensive speakers are rated at rms power (true power they can take) and the cheap ones are rated at peak power ...

well power supplys for your pc are the same way ... they have cheap ones rated at peak wattage , but the wattage is all combined over all the connections


now a good power supply the power is distributed thru individual "rails"
this keeps it really stable and sort of lets each conponent (AE cdrom, hd, fan, ect) have its own power source

this stops conponents from drawing off of each other as they work and make for a stable system..

Antec , enermax,  make great powersupplys .  

my rule of thumb is if its heavy its ussually a good powersupply

id recommend u get at least a 480watt
those are around $100ish

[SarinGas]

I have sent the last 3 Antec power supplies I have purchased back to them for replacement and the last one failed after having it replaced so I bought a new Ultra X Connect for my system. I bought the 400 watt and I have the same card your thinking about buying but if your interested Tiger Direct has both the 400 and 500 watt versions on sale.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=876412&Sku=ULT31558
Nothing but good things to say about this PSU from me!:aok
The only thing I can tell you is that it may not fit in your D4700 case as these are proprietary to Dell for the components which are designed to fit in it. As I mentioned in a previous post the Dimension 4700 you are getting is a small mini tower. I know for a fact that the small form factor and ultra small form factor cases on the D4700C and Optiplex systems will only accept specifically designed replacement parts so beware when buying a PSU for this system. Youll need to measure carefully the psu thats in it and find one with the same dimensions to replace it.

Also wanted to clear up any confusion about what system I am using with the HSI video card. I am using a custom built system with Chieftec Dragon Tower case, Abit AG8 Third Eye motherboard, Ultra X Connect 400w PSU, 2gigs Patriot PDP PC400 Dual Channel Memory, 2 - 120gb Seagate Sata150 hdd's, 3.5 fdd. Sony 52x32x52x16 combo cdrw dvd, and Sony 16x Dual layer dvd drive. Windows XP Professional with Sp2.

[JTs]

these are a good psu. and if your getting a dell they make replacements for them. oh ya they're heavy
JT

http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/power_supplies/dell/