v0g0ns wrote:

The video card I have is a radeon x1950pro pcie with 512mb, and I've read online that that card needs 450W at least. The pc runs fine, though I havent really used it' at its full potential. Would I need a better PSU for running let's say, the latest games?

The 450W for the PSU is just a recommendation, it also depends on your other components. I reckon the card alone only needs 80-100W in 3D mode, so you could get away with a good 300W PSU in case the rest of the system doesn't draw too much power.

v0g0ns wrote:

And more importantly, would I be reducing it's useful life (of the card) by keep using it with that 300W psu?

No, but a PSU driven too hard will not last very long. When the PSU fails, it could damage any of the connected components.

Try some resource demanding benchmarks (3DMark or something similar). If you encounter errors, a unstable system, or the PSU gets very hot, you'll need a beefier PSU.

I'm pretty sure 300W is not strong enough (depends on other components though - cpu model, number of harddisks and cd/dvd drives...). It's not just the total wattage, but also the maximum current on each PSU rail. Most newer hardware draws current from the 12V rail, 3.3 and 5V are hardly used anymore. Noname PSUs typically have weaker 12V rails and brand name PSUs usually have stronger (I used to have 350W Enermax PSU that had a 26A 12V rail, it could deliver almost all it's power on the 12V rail).
With weaker PSU, you are mostly stressing it so it will probably fail earlier and a failed PSU can have an effect on the other components...

The manufacturer's requirements for power supplies are plain ridiculous and exagerated...! Unless you have a powerfull CPU / GPU (even SLI or CrossFire) / RAM heavily overclocked, plus several HDD's or DVD recorder drives there's no way you'll need 450W for the GPU alone. That's all crap!

Just like 5u3 and gulikoza said, it goes down to how long you wanna keep you machine alive and kicking (in good health). It doesn't mean your 300W PSU won't run your rig, but it's the question of "how long and how safely?" it will do so in the near future without slowly stressing (and reducing the lifetime, or eventually killing) your PC components.

In order to keep your machine on "good health" (like a human body needs a strong heart and good lungs to have better performance on endurance tests) you should play it safe and buy (at least) a quality 400w PSU (brands like Enermax, BE QUIET! or SEASONIC are among the best, but there are more quality brands in the market...).

It may sound expensive (you'll get a PSU under 100$ or €, reasonable enough IMHO), but it's a worthy investment to keep you PC in good health.

Thanks for your kind feedback. Well, the other components in the pc are a core2duo clocked at 2.4ghz, a 400gig SATA HD, a DVD-RW, 2 gigs of DDR2 ram. Nothing extraordinary there. But this computer I'd like to keep running in good shape for at least 4 years before it becomes obsolete. So I guess I'll have to get a more powerful PSU. The ones available here are WinHEC ones. Anyone heard of those? Theres a 550WATT one for 85$. Is it a good deal?

Well, I never heard of those... But I know brand distribution/availability varies from country/continent.

Your best bet is : check out a model that is within your budget (preferably from a well know/trusted brand), look for reviews on the web for that specific model and try to read some user feedback (in forums and so on). That should give you a more solid ground when deciding wether to make the investment in that PSU (or not).

Good luck with your new PSU! 😉

njaydg wrote:

Well, I never heard of those...

I just found a review here:

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1818&page=1

I have a Seasonic 430 W and so far I'm quite content with it:

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1775

The Seasonic is really very quiet. For my "experimental rig" I use a LC Power 550 W, which is a budget PSU with passive PFC but until now never made any problems. It is a little bit louder than the Seasonic, because the fan rpm seems to be higher, so it keeps the case a bit cooler. It also consumes a little bit more power, because of the passive PFC.
Anyway (as you can read in the reviews) the big "W" is not the only thing you have to look at.

Yeah, thats the one Im talking about!

Hmm, tough choice¡, between the Winhec and the seasonic one, hmmm.

Well, if silence is a priority for you, then choose Seasonic. It's a trusted and quality brand, and you can't go wrong with it. 😉