Windows 7: Give me all of the benefits of upgrading my power supply please (:

I'm upgrading from a 300-350Watt (i forgot) with geforce 8600gt to a 450Watt power supply and a geforce 9800gt. I would like to know what kinds of benefits I will be receiving from doing so if any. Obviously I know about the graphics but I want to know more about the PSU. Thanks.

If you are wondering the exact psu it is this one here:
NEW 450 Watt 20/4-pin ATX PSU Power Supply SATA LED BLU - eBay (item 290447460717 end time Jul-21-10 15:07:06 PDT)

it may be crap, I'm not really sure. But it is enough to run my graphics card and that's all I wanted.

What else is running on the computer? how many external USB drives, HD,s etc?

It should run the GFX, and you probably wont notice any difference other than stability.

I have 10 usb slots in total (4 of which were added via PCI slot) and one hard drive.

btw are they easy to install? i've installed memory, graphics, and other PCI things, but never any PSU's

Info on power supplies …

- Recommended Power Supplies | silentpcreview.com
- Everything You Need to Know About Power Supplies | Hardware Secrets
- How to Buy a Power Supply - wikiHow

Which 8600 is your graphics card? An 8600 GTS wants a 450W power supply with at least 22A on the +12V line.

Th eBay special that you list is crap. 17A on the +12V line is poor for a 450W supply. That's not much better than you'd do with an honest 300W PSU (15A typical). There are a number of 400W supplies that offer rather more current, like this one:

Newegg.com - Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W Continuous Power ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

(Antec Neo Eco 400C, 30A. $50 + $6 S&H.) You don't need a $200 PSU, but I wouldn't wish a generic supply like that on anyone.

PSUs are fairly easy to replace. They are usually held in with 4 screws at the rear of the case. The only question is whether there is room to remove it easily. In a tight system, it may be easiest to remove the PSU if you first remove the motherboard or optical drives.

I already bought the ebay one >:

oh well, I only need it for the graphics card anyways

That will make the prettiest boat anchor i have ever seen.

Antec DOES make good power supplies

BTW I have an Antec Neo HE550 as well as an Antec Signature SG-850 in my main rig, both of which are very good power supplies. Stable, clean & extremely quiet.

The biggest benefit is increased headroom for power draw. If the system was running stable as it was, you shouldn't notice anything different in using the new PSU. You can tell a good PSU if you aren't thinking of it. If you have stability issues, then you start to think about the PSU.

That and hope when it goes boom that it doesn't take anything else with it.

levelchaser it is a bit of a long read but well worth it,

Power Supply Information and Selection - Tech Support Forum

And another on cheap power supplies,

The Bargain Basement Power Supply Roundup Review