Graphics card for my PC

You have one PCI x16 slot for graphics which is good, but only a 375 watt power supply. In other words you can't really go with a top of the line card without getting a new power supply, but I assume you knew that. With that low of a power supply, you'd likely only be able to get a GeForce 8400 GS card, as the 9 series cards require a minimum of 350 watts power. That doesn't leave much room for error.

If you want a newer GFX card, even a budget one you'll need a new power supply as well.

I recommend that you get an Antec 550 Watt PS for $50 along with an EVGA 9800GT for $75. Granted that's a whole lot more than you need but it'll last you quite a while if you don't play any games. You'll be able to place both in your new system as well, that is as long as you don't end up gaming. If you really want a cheaper card you could go with a PNY 9600 GT for $60 but you'll do much better in the long run spending an extra $10-25 to get a decent card rather than a budget low memory one.

Let us know if you want anymore help.

Basically the 8400 GS requires 350 watts to run. This means that you'd only have 25 watts left of insurance. You'd do much better spending $50 for a new one that's got enough juice to power a new card and all of your current stuff. It's pretty easier to replace a power supply, and yes there are tutorials online.

Here's one tutorial, there are tons more of varying detail on the web... Just search for "How to install a power supply"

How to install a power supply for your computer

EDIT: To answer the rest of your question. Your components probably wouldn't be fried, but they'd end up not working properly and you'd get all kinds of blue screens and shut downs without enough power. As mentioned you're much better off getting a power supply w/ atleast 500 watts that way you can power a decent graphics card and all the rest. That graphics card I mentioned should last you years if you don't do anything graphics intensive such as high end gaming, photo editing, video editing, etc.

Actually, I would recommend an ATI card simply because they use less power and offer more performance, I think an ATI Radeon HD 5750 or something similar to that would work fine.

notsograymatter said:

Basically the 8400 GS requires something like 300 watts of power to run I think. This means that you'd only have 75 watts left for everything else and most processors require between 65-90 watts on their own. You'd do much better spending $50 for a new one that's got enough juice to power a new card and all of your current stuff. It's pretty easier to replace a power supply, and yes there are tutorials online.

Here's one tutorial, there are tons more of varying detail on the web... Just search for "How to install a power supply"

How to install a power supply for your computer

EDIT: To answer the rest of your question. Your components probably wouldn't be fried, but they'd end up not working properly and you'd get all kinds of blue screens and shut downs without enough power. As mentioned you're much better off getting a power supply w/ atleast 500 watts that way you can power a decent graphics card and all the rest. That graphics card I mentioned should last you years if you don't do anything graphics intensive such as high end gaming, photo editing, video editing, etc.

If an 8400gs requires 300watts to run, the 5870 would require over 1000watts to run, yet the 5870 requires only less than 200watts full load.

kurahk7 said:

notsograymatter said:

Basically the 8400 GS requires something like 300 watts of power to run I think. This means that you'd only have 75 watts left for everything else and most processors require between 65-90 watts on their own. You'd do much better spending $50 for a new one that's got enough juice to power a new card and all of your current stuff. It's pretty easier to replace a power supply, and yes there are tutorials online.

Here's one tutorial, there are tons more of varying detail on the web... Just search for "How to install a power supply"

How to install a power supply for your computer

EDIT: To answer the rest of your question. Your components probably wouldn't be fried, but they'd end up not working properly and you'd get all kinds of blue screens and shut downs without enough power. As mentioned you're much better off getting a power supply w/ atleast 500 watts that way you can power a decent graphics card and all the rest. That graphics card I mentioned should last you years if you don't do anything graphics intensive such as high end gaming, photo editing, video editing, etc.

If an 8400gs requires 300watts to run, the 5870 would require over 1000watts to run, yet the 5870 requires only less than 200watts full load.

Well first of all I said about, it could be 200 I really have no idea because the ratings weren't on the card I looked up. Now that I have, I've found that they do require 300-350 watt power suppies:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-108-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-451-_-Product

Even a normal (non-double) 9800 GTX+ requires a 500 watt power supply.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133246

How are you coming up with your figures anyway? It's not of function of how much ram it has or what the memory interface is.

The 5870 doesn't require 200 watts under full load. It requires 500 on some cards, probably more on others. Read the specs.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-456-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-329-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-084-_-Product

EDIT: Even a Radeon 4650 requires 350-400 watts of power...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161308
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814129123

To the original poster: He was trying to make a point that NVIDIA cards require more power than ATI cards. While that might be true in some cases, his figures aren't close to correct. As you can see in the specifications of each card, a 5870 (Newest, Top of the Line ATI Card) requires 500 watts of power. The card I recommended to you requires 400 watts of power.

Basically, you'll need enough for your graphics card's ratings plus a bit of insurance incase you ever want to install anything that the graphic's card rating doesn't include.

I recommend NVIDIA card because I've had much better experiences with them and they have larger memory interfaces than ATI cards (the number before -BIT in the card name) For example, an ATI Radeon 4650 has 1GB of memory and 128-bit memory interface. The 9600-9800 GT normally has 512MB and 256 bit, but if you're worried about memory you can also get a 9800 GT with 1GB and 256 BIT memory.