best graphics card which would run on a 300w pow supp

heya peeps, here is my comp which has a 300w pow supply

HP Pavilion AMD Athlon II 630 Quad-Core 2.8GHz Computer (P6310F) - Future Shop

just wanna know what is the best card i can get which would run off of that 300w pow supply, i think there is a 9800gt version which runs off of 30% less power than the original 9800gt but im really a noob when it comes to this kind of thing so your help would rock, thanks all :)

balltillifall said:

heya peeps, here is my comp which has a 300w pow supply

HP Pavilion AMD Athlon II 630 Quad-Core 2.8GHz Computer (P6310F) - Future Shop

just wanna know what is the best card i can get which would run off of that 300w pow supply, i think there is a 9800gt version which runs off of 30% less power than the original 9800gt but im really a noob when it comes to this kind of thing so your help would rock, thanks all :)

I think an ATI Radeon HD 4650/4670 or a ATI Radeon HD 5670 would fit since they do not need any external power supply connectors. Nvidia's GT240 would also work well I believe.

kurahk7 said:

I think an ATI Radeon HD 4650/4670 or a ATI Radeon HD 5670 would fit since they do not need any external power supply connectors. Nvidia's GT240 would also work well I believe.

You'd think so, with a maximum electrical power through the PCI-E slot of 75W.

However, Sapphire recommends a 400W supply for their 4650 product:

SAPPHIRE- HOME

and the same for a 5670. They suggest a 300W supply for a 4550.

eVGA recommends 300W for a GTS240:

http://www.evga.com/products/moreInf... Series Family

Complex, no?

Well, according to AMD's website, ATI Radeonâ„¢ HD 4600 Series Overview

ATI Radeon™ HD 4600 Series graphics cards consume less than 75 watts under full load, eliminating the need for an external power connection and making them easy to install

so it should work as well.
Edit: Same goes for the 5670 http://www.amd.com/us/products/deskt...-overview.aspx

Consumes less than 75 Watts under full load, eliminating the need for an external power connection and making installation a snap

This help,

techPowerUp :: HIS Radeon HD 5670 IceQ 512 MB Review :: Page 26 / 32

Main ones to look at are Average and Peak, for what to expect when the card is under load. Then go here,

eXtreme Power Supply Calculator

enter in the rest of the system specs and get a rough idea what you need.

Edit: Just ran through the PSU calculator using the specs here,

HP Pavilion p6310f Desktop PC Product Specifications HP Pavilion p6310f Desktop PC - HP technical support (Ireland - English)

and without adding a video card at all it came up with a recommendation of 220W minimum. Hate to say it balltillifall but unless the power 300W PSU (typical HP, ship it out with a PSU that just has enough juice to power what the computer comes with) in your HP is of very good quality, you're going to have to look at upgrading the PSU if you want to add a video card.