Graphics card recommendations?

Hey there. So, about three years ago, I picked up a Zotac GTS 450 1GB DDR5 128-bit card. You can see the specs here http://www.zotacusa.com/geforce-gts-...40501-10l.html and here is some extra info comparing it to the 7770 http://www.game-debate.com/gpu/index...pphire-edition
What I’m trying to figure out is this: the GTS 450 pulls a max of 106W, and they suggest a 400W power supply. Meanwhile, the 7770 only draws about 80W at most, but strangely enough, they recommend a 500W unit. I'm currently running a Corsair 400W unit, and it handled the GTS 450 just fine without any hiccups. Given those numbers, I guess I'm wondering if I could swap in the 7770 without running into issues?

Whoever told you that was pulling your leg. When you're picking out a power supply for a graphics card, the most important thing is checking the 12V rail to see how many watts it can actually deliver. The total wattage listed on the box isn't really the "starting" capacity; it's just a sum. For example, if you have a generic brand like an Energizer, it might claim 500W, but it might only provide 450W on the 12V line, with the rest being split among the 3V and 5V rails—that’s basically just wasted overhead you find in cheaper units.

The NVIDIA GeForce won't pull more than 80W at most, so there's no way it hits 120W unless you've got a pretty wild CPU setup, but a solid 350W power supply would be a great fit for you. Regarding that Corsair 400W unit, I'm not sure which specific model you have since you didn't mention the part number, but it's a budget-tier supply. It should still handle your card, provided the 12V rail is strong enough; if it can push 250W or 300W on that rail, you'll be fine.

A low-end power supply can usually handle an NVIDIA GeForce without much trouble since those cards don't pull much juice. But if you're stepping up to something more powerful, you really want to look at high-quality units from brands like EVGA, Corsair, or Seasonic... better safe than sorry, right?

If it handled a higher power draw before, it’ll handle a lower one just fine. Those official specs on the graphics card pages are always way too vague; they can't possibly know what the rest of your build pulls, so they just slap a "500W" number on there as a safety net.

You didn't mention which PSU you're running (Dell uses FSP for their OEM units, so it probably isn't complete garbage), but I'm guessing you've got an older, low-tier model. It might be worth swapping it out just to be safe for future upgrades.

So, guys, when I picked up my rig, I got it through Amazon. Here’s what I was running: the case came with this power supply
then I had 2GB of DDR2 SD-RAM
running an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz processor. I just used the standard cooler that came in the box
along with a 250GB HDD at 32MB/s
and an ASUS GeForce 512 MB 28-bit DDR2 card
on a P5K-PL AM motherboard
. After about a year, the fan on the graphics card started acting up and then the whole thing just died on me. I initially grabbed an HD 5450 512 MB, but once I realized the old card was basically junk, I found someone to buy it from and upgraded to a Zotac GTS 450 1GB DDR5 128-bit. Honestly, it worked great; I could run everything on high settings without much trouble. When I was buying it, the guy at the shop mentioned I could probably push for a slightly better card, but he warned it might be bottlenecked because my processor isn't exactly top-tier. Anyway, I found this other card on sale and I'm thinking about pulling the trigger, but I have no clue if my current power supply can actually handle it. Now that I've laid out the situation, maybe you could tell me exactly what specs I need to check on the power supply? This whole hardware side of things is just... I guess it's my weakest area.

I guess I have this power supply. I was browsing through the Dell site earlier—just looking around, really—and I stumbled upon this specific listing. It’s one of those setups that makes you stop and think for a second. I guess I'm just rambling now, but there's something about seeing these specs laid out like that. It feels a bit much, maybe? Or maybe I'm just being old-fashioned. I don't know. Anyway, here is the link to the product page if anyone actually cares to look at it.

Pop the case open and let us know the make and model of that power supply, or just snap a photo of the label. It’s probably some cheap junk since you likely got both the case and the PSU for next to $100.

So, what kind of GPU did you end up finding?

EDIT: Just as I thought, that PSU is garbage. You should probably swap it out. What graphics card are we talking about here?

NVIDIA GeForce should hold up just fine if the GTS 450 managed to survive

Look, it'll hold up, but I guess it doesn't really matter since you should probably just swap out that power supply anyway—it isn't exactly high-end.

You might need a new processor too, since this one is pretty ancient... or maybe just try overclocking it.

Look, the only thing that actually struggled was Crysis. My PC is honestly decent enough, especially since I'm planning on picking up a gaming laptop later anyway. There’s really no point in swapping anything out right now; I could just pop in a new GPU, but I'm not going to mess with overclocking. I don't see the sense in pushing the processor like that, especially since this chip wasn't exactly built for overclocking in the first place.

John Johnson15 said:...that processor just wasn't built for overclocking

I think you might be wrong here. 😬

That whole Core 2 dual-core lineup actually runs pretty cool, and you can definitely squeeze a bit more out of them.
But hey, if you're planning on upgrading to something brand new very soon anyway, maybe just leave it alone.

I mean, it’s kind of a waste of money to grab a new GPU if yours is still performing the way it should...

So, I ended up selling my old GT because, well, I needed the cash—mostly to fund my liquid diet, if you catch my drift. I’ve decided to pull the trigger on this one instead since it’s a significant step up, and it happens to be on sale right now. My only real hang-up is whether my current power supply can actually handle this GPU without blowing a fuse.

Sure.