Need a good low profile video card

[Tyler]

Here's a good power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

It's lower wattage, but has a good name attached to it (and good ratings). It's also very quiet. 400 watts should be plenty considering you're coming from a 165 watt PSU. Should run any video card you plan to put into your PC.

Tiger direct version: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=4236686&sku=C13-2507&srkey=CMPSU-400CX

 

The only possible problem I see with the power supply you found is the lack of SATA connectors: it only has 2, meaning you can only have either two hard drives and no disk drives, or one hard drive and one disk drive. Don't get it if you plan on ever having more, such as getting a second disk drive, or a second hard drive... The cables might be short too, judging from one of the reviews...

 

With your budget, I would buy this guy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102855

Judging from the reviews, it will play CSS flawlessly. And it can also handle Crysis, L4D2, Assassin's Creed 2, Starcraft 2... etc etc. Also, the fan shouldn't be too loud either.

 

Tiger direct version: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5222605&SRCCODE=GOOGLEBASE&cm_mmc_o=VRqCjC7BBTkwCjCECjCE

 

Here's the same card with a different manufature. It doesn't have rebates, but it's cheaper. Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814141114&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Video+Cards-_-Biostar-_-14141114

Tiger Direct: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5680859&SRCCODE=GOOGLEBASE&cm_mmc_o=VRqCjC7BBTkwCjCECjCE

 

Some have rebates, others don't. I'm too lazy to analyze each card with shipping to find out their final prices with rebates. So I'm letting you decide which one to get, if you want one with rebates or without, which one is cheapest with shipping, etc.

 

Thanks, once I get the money I plan on ordering them.

[KScorp]

@toxin Yeah, I didn't bother looking for a higher one, since it seems he's on budget. If you dig around, you can probably find a good PSU with higher wattage, but if you aren't going to be adding a lot of stuff to your current computer (such as a high-end video card) then 400 should be plenty.

[Tyler]

@toxin Yeah, I didn't bother looking for a higher one, since it seems he's on budget. If you dig around, you can probably find a good PSU with higher wattage, but if you aren't going to be adding a lot of stuff to your current computer (such as a high-end video card) then 400 should be plenty.

 

Think im gonna need a better PSU, just looked at the requirements for that graphics card, it needs a 400 Watt or greater power supply, think I should get the 450W or 550W, or would being exact be safe?

 

450W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003

550W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

[KScorp]

Generally, the higher the wattage rating, the more efficient the PSU is at a lower wattage. If you want your PSU to run a bit cooler (due to higher efficiency), and you feel you can afford the extra $20 or $30 dollars for 50/150 watt increase (respectively), then go ahead. However, that's usually just user preference. I don't think you'll find a big difference between 400 and 450 watts.

 

Being exact isn't necessary. As long as you meet the minimum wattage, you'll be fine.

[Toxin]

That's where I somewhat disagree with you:

Meeting minimum Wattage isn't necessarily the greatest thing, because 400W is the requirement for the GPU only, without regards to your Processor, and other hardware. As KScorp mentioned, if you can afford it, always go above the requirement for a better efficiency.

 

And Tyler, instead of blowing $80 on a 550W Corsair PSU, I'd spend $75 and get a 650W Antec PSU.

Antec makes some sweet PSU, too.

[KScorp]

Meeting minimum Wattage isn't necessarily the greatest thing, because 400W is the requirement for the GPU only, without regards to your Processor, and other hardware.

 

That's incorrect. The wattage rating says what kind of PSU most computers would need to run their card. For instance, the card I recommended uses only about 173 watts at full load. (See here for a list of graphics cards' power consumptions. The card I've shown is the fourth down.)

 

However, I did find some discrepancies between the various pages I've shown. Some pages recommend 400W as a minimum (such as here), while others recommend 500W (such as here). Seeing as how this card uses about 175 at full load, and the CPU can use up to 130W (if it's a higher-end i7, most use up to 100W), that leaves about 100W of wiggle room with all your other components until you reach full capacity on a 400W PSU. And that's quickly filled with all the other components such as the motherboard, ram, hard drives and disk drives.

 

Upon further inspection, I figure you could use more than 400W. Toxins would be fine, but with a little digging I found a nice OCZ 550W PSU, that's modular (what this means, is that there isn't a mess of wires for you to deal with. ), and for only $55 after the mail-in rebate ($70 without the rebate). 550W should be plenty for you.

[König]

When you are getting a PSU, make sure you get a quality one. The PSU is not the part you want to be skimming on. A bad PSU can easily, easily fry everything else in your computer. I myself have never heard of "Ultra".

 

Kscorp listed a nice Corsair PSU that will last you a while, but at 400W, it will be enough to get a low - medium GPU but you'll still limit your expansion options for the future. Don't get me wrong, Corsair is known for it's godly PSUs, but at 400W, most newer-ish cards will still be starved.

 

Make sure your looking at the efficiency of the PSU as well.

 

You'd be surprised how many shitty PSUs get out there saying there 500W or whatever, then in subscript saying like 4% efficiency lol

 

Yay 20W power supply!