card for 300watt power supply

[~(o)-(0)~]

Hey guys, I'm looking for a card for a friend's PC, low end, as its just a Pentium 4 530 so it won't really be able to take advantage of much else, but just a little something to give it a boost.

I went over to tomshardware and they seemed to recommend the 4650 as the best buy for under 100 bucks, so I went and checked a few out but the power requirements for them are all 350-400w.

So my question is, since this system only has a 300watt power supply, what can I get that would be similar to the 4650's performance, or will the power supply be fine?

The system is an HP m1170n Media center PC.

Thanks for your input

Nick

[Upgrayedd]

Looks like the hd4550 and the 9400gt will both run with a minimum 300 watt psu. According to http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1377&pageID=5535 the 4550 outperforms the 9400 and uses less power.

Sources:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_9400gt_us.html

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102819

[wingman99]

9800 GT to a GTS 250 will run fine.:beer:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130467

[gian84]

9800 GT to a GTS 250 will run fine.:beer:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130467

for a 300w psu?lol

[wingman99]

for a 300w psu?lollaugh all you want I'm having the last laugh becase I have a 300w psu with a 8800 my next upgrade will be a GTX 260 216

Here are the fact's GTS 250 PC system full load at the wall is 248 watts -20% =198 watts at the PSU ;)

LINK: http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/16504/10

LINK: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gts-250,2172-10.html

[gian84]

yeah i suppose they can run on that provided its a very good psu with enough amps in the 12v rail. Still risky though, better to stick with the recommended psu :) The OP might do what you suggested and can end up damaging his psu and his system. Yup, definitely not a laughing matter...

[wingman99]

OEM PSU from HP are vary reliable and will shut down if you overload them end of story.:beer:

[KonaKona]

Being a bit pushy are we? Seem to be forgetting that the p4 is such a bottleneck.

I vote for either the 4650 or 4670. They don't use that much power and it's not worth spending anymore on such a old system. The psu should be able to handle those, especially if it can handle a 8800gts 9800gt 9800gt+ gts 250. :)

[gian84]

well seing as we both got a point, its all in the OPs discretion. cheers :beer:

[Cuiiey]

Well it also depends what else he is running as well.