NEW VIDEOCARD INSTALLED.

[Sir-diealot]

Well the new card is in, I went from 31.78 FPS fps to 84.69 FPS. My friend says I am not getting the full benefit of the card because I only have a 450 Watt power supply. So my next purchase will be...Yep you guessed it. Here is the card I got.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102730&Tpk=SAPPHIRE%20100228L%20Radeon%20HD%203850%20512MB%20256-BIT

[Schlup]

Oh, I don't know...you have enough to power the card...when they give the recommended amount of power supply you need they are figuring in CPU power and everything else.  So all things being equal I think you have a powerful enough power supply right now.  Now you probably don't have much "extra" power available but that's alright.  I would say as long as your computer is stable and you aren't getting "blue screen of deaths" randomly you're alright with that power supply.  My recommendation to you would be just to start saving your money up for your next build instead of buying a new power supply now...unless you are going to get a HUGE one and use it for your new build.

P.S. Based on the specs you told me you want for your new build you need to be looking at 1200-1400 watt power supplies.

[Sir-diealot]

Oh, I don't know...you have enough to power the card...when they give the recommended amount of power supply you need they are figuring in CPU power and everything else.  So all things being equal I think you have a powerful enough power supply right now.  Now you probably don't have much "extra" power available but that's alright.  I would say as long as your computer is stable and you aren't getting "blue screen of deaths" randomly you're alright with that power supply.  My recommendation to you would be just to start saving your money up for your next build instead of buying a new power supply now...unless you are going to get a HUGE one and use it for your new build.

P.S. Based on the specs you told me you want for your new build you need to be looking at 1200-1400 watt power supplies.

Yes the plan is to get one that I could also use in my next computer. I am hoping to find a good 1600 watt power supply, but the only ones that I have found are in the $330.00-460.00 range. This will become the kids computer after I have built the new one so the I will have to get a router I do believe. Oh we had both figured I would get in the 120FPS range and my power supply did not have enough power cords, jacks, whatever so we had to disconnect my DVDR and a hard drive so that is another reason I want another power supply quick.

[zigzag]

Wow, max power supply i use is 500watt.. and that runs my quad and everything else just fine.. 160-220 fps in css..

bah, and very unhappy with my samsung dvd-burner lightscribe.. quit reading discs 1 week after installing.. and made sure i used the button to open/close (since pushing close can mess em up)..

removed it and promptly stomped it to pieces.. ordered a LG dvd-burner this time (higher reliability rating)

-Zig

[Spyke]

hey. that is ENTIRELY not tru bro. i ran my HD 4870 1 gig for a day with a 410 hiper PSU. ran it perfectly. and it draws WAY more power than a HD3850 will.

[Sir-diealot]

hey. that is ENTIRELY not tru bro. i ran my HD 4870 1 gig for a day with a 410 hiper PSU. ran it perfectly. and it draws WAY more power than a HD3850 will.

I still need to get one with more plug ins anyway so.....

[Spyke]

that very well may be true lol. the older/lower watted ones are not so fairly equipped.

[Schlup]

that very well may be true lol. the older/lower watted ones are not so fairly equipped.

And not modular...get a modular one!  They're the best!

[Sir-diealot]

And not modular...get a modular one!  They're the best!

And what is modular?

[Schlup]

And what is modular?

Modular just means that instead of having 50 wires coming out the back of the power supply there are plug inputs which means you only have to plug in what you are going to use.  You plug them into the power suppy and then to the appropriate connection in the computer.  Very helpful for keeping it clean and simple so you don't have to fish through 400 wires to find the one you want.  Most all of the better power supplies out these days are modular.

[Sir-diealot]

Modular just means that instead of having 50 wires coming out the back of the power supply there are plug inputs which means you only have to plug in what you are going to use.  You plug them into the power suppy and then to the appropriate connection in the computer.  Very help for keeping it clean and simple so you don't have to fish through 400 wires to find the one you want.  Most all of the better power supplies out these days are modular.

Looking for one over the 1000 watt range, can you suggest one?
Would this be a modular? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817814011

[Schlup]

Yep, that's modular...cause you plug stuff into the back of the power supply.

[Sir-diealot]

Yep, that's modular...cause you plug stuff into the back of the power supply.

Is that too much for a good power supply? I know I want a minimum of 1000 watts.

[Schlup]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010320058+1297819680&Configurator=&Subcategory=58&description=&Ntk=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=

That is a listing of all the modular power supplies.  From what you've told me you want to run you don't really need over 1000watts.  You could easily get away with 900-1000watts and be fine with any upgrades you need to make.

[Schlup]

This is a real nice one that will do anything you can dream of throwing at it and more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139007

[Sir-diealot]

Will this work with both my future AND CURRENT setup though?

[Schlup]

Yes.

[Sir-diealot]

Yes.

The 80 plus refers to the efficiency right? if so is that a good rating?

[Schlup]

Yes, what I would look at more than anything is the user reviews.  If it has a bunch of great reviews and it is getting awards from outside companies you'll have a good quality product that will last the test of time.

[Spyke]

Modular is not always better Schlup. actually quite the contrary. sorry to burst your bubble. but the extra break in the line alloes for extra noise. Also can cause ripples in the power, so it wont be clean power. im not saying dont get it. but they can be a bad choice. rather lose a power supply, than lose everything in my PC because of the power supply.

[Schlup]

Modular is not always better Schlup. actually quite the contrary. sorry to burst your bubble. but the extra break in the line alloes for extra noise. Also can cause ripples in the power, so it wont be clean power. im not saying dont get it. but they can be a bad choice. rather lose a power supply, than lose everything in my PC because of the power supply.

You do bring up a good point...modular power supplies are not ALWAYS a good decision.  Some of them suck and will have issues and cause issues.  However, if you get a good one with stable power on the rails that is effecient then I believe a modular power supply to be a better answer than a non-modular power supply.

P.S. the power supply I recommended for you is a good power supply and will not have the issues that he mentioned above as long as you don't get a bad one which is rare.

[Spyke]

You do bring up a good point...modular power supplies are not ALWAYS a good decision.  Some of them suck and will have issues and cause issues.  However, if you get a good one with stable power on the rails that is effecient then I believe a modular power supply to be a better answer than a non-modular power supply.

P.S. the power supply I recommended for you is a good power supply and will not have the issues that he mentioned above as long as you don't get a bad one which is rare.

wasnt meaning to shoot ya down or anything, just wanted to put it out there that not all of them are good. i hadnt seen the link of the one you provided. there are some good ones...but like any other there are alot of bad ones lol.

[Schlup]

No, I hear you...didn't think you were shooting me down.  You brought a valid point that needs to be taken into consideration when making the purchase.

[Sir-diealot]

Oh I forgot to mention that the other reason I want the new power supply is that my video card can be overclocked and that is another reason I need more power.