I want to know if i were to insert a Video Card into a PC with a power supply i might have doubts about running it but still might be a chance but if it wasnt strong enough what would happend would it just fry or would it just not start? And if it did start but when i ran an ap that needs more power would it just crash or fry then?
no it wouldn't fry it would: a) don't get past bios/no display b) u could get past windows and everything could go ok until u open a video or a game and crash c) it could go ok
I've always heard that there is a chance that if you run a PSU that doesn't have enough power for your system it can die and take your system down with it. But as of now I'm running a 7950GT with a generic 300 Watt PSU, until I can get a new one, and I haven't had any problems.
Im asking because i want to try to run a Radeon 9550XT 128mb AGP with a 160watt Micro ATX PSU as my friend is running a 9600XT dont ask why does it work on an exact same PC so i was figuring if hes been running it for 1 year already fine shoudlnt i be able to? LOL!
Yea I'm sure I'll regret that but as of now I want to play and I had to send my last PSU back to newegg becuase it wouldn't boot up so now I'm ordering another. But thats another story. As of now it works perfectly but I don't know how long it will last like that.
I know, but like I said it's not long term it's just for about a week or two until I can get my new PSU.
Yea, I actually haven't had any problems up until just a minute ago when I was playing a game and it shut down. Atleast I only have the 7950GT, I was going to get the 8800 GTS, but I figured it would be too big, hot, and take too much power for my store bought computer. But sorry, I have gone off topic and directed this thread away from his original question.
Well dont worry its about the same thing. SO guys do you think i should be fine if my power supply cant handle a 9550XT 128mb? I dont really care if it dosent i just want to try it im just worried if it dosent owuld it start and then Fry the other components or would it do nothing? Im going to get a 350watt PSU in 3 weeks but would love to use the card in the meantime i could get an ATX PSU tommorow but this is Micro ATX so its crap and alot more expensive. 100au for 350watt MicroATX.
I have ran my card for about a week now and all I have noticed with it being underpowered is occasionally a game will crash, and a few time my computer shutdown but I think the complete shutdown was caused by something else. It doesn't seem to matter how long I play, but does depend somewhat on what the requirements for the game are. For instance it doesn't seem to crash when playing older games like counter strike, but with newer games that require the graphics card to work harder, it seems like it crashes more. Also I have noticed alot of heat from the card but I also am not sure if this would be an insuficient power issue or just my not very well cooled case. I hope I can last a few weeks too. My card requires 350 watts, so I am 50 watts short, although I know I will still need more power than that. How much power does the 9550XT actually require? Then again I'm no expert, but I guess going by what some people have said and my experience in the past week, it seems to depend alot on how hard you are on the card. Because I would assume that when the card isn't doing much like internet browsing it doesn't use as much power, but when playing games that require alot of graphics power, it would use alot more.
It says they recomend 300watts with other components but on the Power calculator this PC with the card is said to use 190wats when running on its limit and it says Note: This is an estimate the requirment is ussualy lower then it notes with the peripherals working at maxumin power. so i guess i might run it. well all i really want is GTA III-SA, Sims 2, Grand Prix 4 which might push it a bit. But hey since you run one of the top of the range cards with a 300watt psu LOL! why can i do a High Mid range one with 160watts. LOL! as ive said my cousin has the exact setup with same 145watt PSU and he runs a 9600XT the only diff is i have a dvd burner which adds 10more watts then a regular drive. Im just worried i wont blow anything.
You may want somebody with more knowlege than me to give you more information, but from what I can tell it doesn't like your card will be that underpowered. I've played GTA III for computer and it didn't seem like that hard of a game to run. I don't know about SA and Grand Prix 4, but the Sims 2 doesn't seem that bad either since when I play this game my GPU temp only goes 3 degrease above Idle temp. If you are only going to be running it like this for a few weeks I would't think much would happen, except for maybe a game or system crash when you are running graphicly intense games. It seems like things start to go wrong with stuff that is underpowered in long term situations, not so much in just a few weeks. But as I've said you may want somebody elses opinion before you do it, for I am only going by my experience in the past week and other things I have read.
spenman91 i was running a 7950 for a few weeks and it never really got hot at all it's prolly your case some of the older psu's were really robust and could work way above there max wattage just don't go get anything light or it will let you down
Yea, it gets so hot I have to run it with the side of the case off. With the side of the case on, it runs idle at about 60 C. When running games that require alot of GPU power it can get up to about 96 C. As of now I have it rigged with the side of the case off and a mini fan blowing into my case. But it still runs up at about 85 C sometimes which is still way too hot. But it's a HP stock case, so I deffinately need to do something different. As for the PSU, I got the computer last december in 06 so it's not that old, so I'm not expecting much out of my current PSU.
