Can my PC power supply handle it?

[w1deawak3]

I've decided to upgrade my video card from a GeForce 7900gs to a GeForce 8400gs, and well, I'm not too sure my factory power supply can hack it. I'm currently using an Emachines w3615 with 2gb of ram and windows vista 32but home premium. I've the turned internet upside down looking for the specs to see if my can run with that or not but to no avail. If I cant run it as is, which I'm sure I can't, any recommendations on a upgrade would be most welcome.

 

[sllewe]

Well, yes your power supply could handle it just fine.

That is because upgrading to the 8400gs is not an upgrade. Its a downgrade, a big one in fact. The bigger number does not mean a better card. Not by a long shot.

Your current 7900 has 7 times the memory bandwidth, 3 times the fill rate, etc. etc.


Now, you could upgrade the video card, but if you are running on the PSU that came with the emachine, you should/will have to upgrade.

 

[Ritwik7]

Exactly as AtK SpAdE puts it. Why exactly would you want to get the 8400 GS? It is a much more inferior card to what you presently have.

 

[w1deawak3]

Thanks for quick replies and also for the heads up about the 8400gs. I was just poking around looking for a new one because my 7900gs recently broke. Any suggestions?

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Have you tried popping the 7900 in the oven? Before you label me a kook, look here on how it's done.

Worth a shot IMO. You have nothing to lose.

 

[Ritwik7]

Could you please specify your budget? You could look into the Radeon HD 4850/4870.

 

[w1deawak3]

The budget is between 200-250 dollars, so both the 4850/4870 fall into that price range. Sorry for the bare bones posts, its been a long week.

 

[LinkedKube]

Maybe this psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016
With this card should do you well
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150437

Puts you under your budget and would be a great performance increase over what you have.


I wouldnt suggest getting a better card unless you're running a 24" monitor with or something with comparative resolutions. Maybe you can spend the extra money to add another gig of ram to increase general performance of your pc.