Hello,
I recently got an Asus 1GB GTS450.
It seems to be working fine with my 400Watt psu.
However on the box of the card it says it needs a minimum 450 watts.
Should I upgrade my psu? my card seems to work just fine.
Thanks for the help.
Hello there, markvis14!
It depends, the manufacturer recommends a 450w power supply for the entire system... if your PC doesn't have a lot of drives (physical and optical), a lot of cooling fans, LED lights, and you're not OC'ing your system, I don't think it's completely necessary to upgrade your PSU.
Other thoughts: i don't know what brand is your PSU, hence, i don't know if it's 80 plus certified, generic, don't know its amperage rating on the +12V Rail. There are a lot of factors.
400w i'd say it's a little tight. If you bought a ~110$ GPU, the least you could do, it's to chip in another ~60$ for a decent PSU.
Here: Newegg.com - Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
Here: Newegg.com - Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
I'd recommend the EA-650. 60$ and 650W of pure 80 plus bronze power
Agreed, upgrade ot a more powerful PSU. It may seem to work fine at the moment but most likely will cause problems later. Best case would be you have poor display, artifacts in vodeo and games, worst case is you will burn out something serious.
I always recommend more power supply of quality than you need. Every thing starts with a quality power supply. Example:: If you need 450w put in a 650w power supply. Reason is you will be working a 450w power supply close to its limits. A 650w power supply or bigger will just be gliding along making less heat. It also gives a little extra if you want to add something down the road. Its only a few more dollars to go with more power.
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