Is a 300 W PSU really NEEDED for a Geforce 4?

[WeaponX]

Is it? I think is says so on the Nvidia site but I don't think it'll NEED it. I have a 250 W PSU...

[elmbruker]

If it say so! Really, I have heard both sides of many power arguments on many pieces of hardware, all you could do is try it out for yourself, and see if it works. Some 250watt psu are better than others. What type, power rating, does it have compared to the power the card requires?

[Cluster]

With your system in your sig, plus a GF4, I'd suggest AT LEAST, a BRAND NAME (Enermax, Antec ... ) 350w PSU. 300w just won't cut it. I'm very suprised your system is running off of 250w. I know my system with a 1.1GHz Tbird, and GF2Ti, is comforatble with 350w. But with something like yours, I'd have at least 350. Especially if your running your HSF off the mobo header

[CSaddict]

A 300 watt PSU is recommended just with your Tbird,let alone a gf4.

[Xantec]

come on now folks. don't overstate it. i'm running the full rig in my sig comfortably on a 350w. and it ran fine with with an 8x burner on a 300w

[Element-Xero]

i agree with the PSU upgrade, those tbirds are power hungry.

And Xantec, while you may be running 'comfortably' on 350w, he has a comparable system and is running on 250w. So I am willing to bet that his PSU is a major cause of instability.

[GoldenTiger]

The GF4 really DOES need a 300w PSU. It eats a ton of power...

[Tracert]

Get the card and put it in your machine. If it works, then your fine. If you get reboots... then u have to upgrade ur PS.

I have a 1.4TB and a Radeon running on the cheapest 250 Watt PS u have ever seen (one of those $15.00 jobs) and it ran at 143 FSB all day.

Only had 1 HDD, 1 CPU Fan, and 1 CDRom. But it worked fine. Never even a glitch. I Just wouldn't go nuts with the perifs.

[elmbruker]

Exactly, like my original post says, try it out, only then will you know. If it doesn't work, get the best power supply you can afford to ensure future expandability.

[WeaponX]

lol I forgot to mention that the Geforce 4 is going to go in another system. This system has a 350 W PSU.

[RoskO (_!_)]

Enhance makes the best 300w out there. Same psu that's in my fong kai, certified by AMD to run 2100+, and Fong Kai gaurantees it can run dual xeons with 10k scsi drives in the system. Lots of the higher watt psu's can't even hold a candle to it. So if you want to upgrade, make sure you do some research. I'd recommend an Enhance brand power supply. Just make sure that it can hold a certain amount of voltage. Don't look only at the w rating.