Best value video card with Power Supply only 300W (for flightsimulator)

[T. T.]

Dear all:

Just want to consult with you guys, I'm seriously considering upgrade
my desktop PC and buy a refurbished one from TigerDirect (http://
www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3169478&CatId=2663).
I'm thinking of adding another 2GB of ram (make the total to be 3GB)
and add a PCI-e video card to this machine, to make it a cheap game PC
(btw, I only play flight simulators such as MS Flight Simulator X or X-
Plane 8.x). From what I know this desktop only come with a 300 Watt
Power Supply (and it's not standard sized), which could be problematic
if I plug in a really nice video card (which will require more power).
Could anyone please recommend a good value video card that would be
happy with only 300 Watt of power supply? Many thanks!

 

[Ed Light]

My pc draws 160 watts at the wall full tilt into 3D:
Athlon 64 single core, geforce 6600GT, 2 HD, 2 gigs, 2 tv cards, X-Fi.
If you have a good 300w psu then you can certainly run an 8600GT. Look
at the 12v rating. 15 amps would be nice. But there are 400w nominal
psu's that don't have the 12v rating of 300 watt good ones.

Since the reviews by users include one who said the weak psu could
barely push his graphics card, you'd possibly need to replace it with
something like this -- note the rebate that is good until the 13th:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371005
---
Ed Light

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Thanks, robots.

 

[rjn]

... and buy a refurbished one from TigerDirect ...

<http://search.yahoo.com>
the exact phrase: tiger direct
any of these words: problem trouble scam

For example:
<http://www.consumeraffairs.com/computers/tiger_direct.htm>
"I ordered a refurbished laptop computer. It arrived with
some installation stuff still needing to be done by the
factory ... and no drivers. No sound, no wireless, no nothing.
.... had to send it back to them. It has been over a month
since I paid for that computer, I have no computer!
Tiger Direct didn't even bother replying to my email. ..."

Consider using newegg or cdw.

 

[Mike Ruskai]

Dear all:

Just want to consult with you guys, I'm seriously considering upgrade
my desktop PC and buy a refurbished one from TigerDirect (http://
www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3169478&CatId=2663).
I'm thinking of adding another 2GB of ram (make the total to be 3GB)
and add a PCI-e video card to this machine, to make it a cheap game PC
(btw, I only play flight simulators such as MS Flight Simulator X or X-
Plane 8.x). From what I know this desktop only come with a 300 Watt
Power Supply (and it's not standard sized), which could be problematic
if I plug in a really nice video card (which will require more power).
Could anyone please recommend a good value video card that would be
happy with only 300 Watt of power supply? Many thanks!

According to the Gateway support page for that model, it uses a
standard ATX power supply.

Three different 300 watt models are shown on the component page. They
all have a single 12-volt rail, ranging from 10-16 amps of capacity.
That's not enough for any remotely modern graphics card.

The PSU would have to be replaced. What you want is a 400+ watt PSU
with two 12-volt rails carrying 15+A each, that comes with PCIe
graphics connectors (which means you can be sure the CPU will be on a
separate rail from the graphics card).

Here's a model that would do nicely:

http://computers.pricegrabber.com/power-supplies/m/12701317/sort_type=bottomline

You could comfortably run even an 8800GTX card with that PSU, so you
wouldn't need to filter your choices by power consumption. You could
just get the best PCIe card for the amount of money you're willing to
spend.