What power supply for 9800XT?

[Yawgm0th]

Off-topic: you might consider grabbing a 7200RPM drive. It would really complement the rest of the system.

I understand that you don't want to waste money, but a 330W PSU is almost guaranteed to be insufficient for that system with a Radeon 9800 Pro or XT. You're likely to end up wasting your money replacing hardware if you don't upgrade your PSU.
Besides, you can always save the PSU for later. If you even get a new system, you can put it back in this one and use the 400W+ you purchased in the new one.

That's just my :2cents: It is possible, but unlikely, that your current PSU can handle the video cards your thinking about. It is, of course, your choice.

[shuaib]

Thanks. Btw this is a pc that i'm building right now (the old hdd i just put in cos i had it and dont want to waste money) ill see what happens but i will probably take your advice and get the antec 450w solution as i said before. I was considering getting another HDD, but i dont have broadband so the extra space would be waste for the time being.

[Yawgm0th]

I wouldn't call it a waste of space. The HDD will actually go faster if it's bigger (hard to explain).
But if you don't need space, you should consider getting a WD 36.7GB 10000RPM HDD. It will go incredibly fast without giving you uneccessary space. It's actually more expensive, though, and if you don't have a motherboard with SATA....

[shuaib]

No, i meant i would be unlikely to use as much as would be in 2 80gb hdd's. Ill probaly get one later.

[Yawgm0th]

I know... If you just wanted one for speed because you don't need the space, you could get a WD 36.7 GB Raptor. Very fast but low on space. Perfect for OS and games. Files and stuff can stay on your 5400RPM.

[weta]

I'm running my Radeon 9800 XT on a 300W PSU without any problem at all, they're not a power hungry card. Your 330W PSU should be ok for you at the moment.

[Yawgm0th]

And the rest of your system is???

Of all the people that could double post.... :wink:

[shuaib]

Yeah i heard from another person that he was running a 9800xt on 300w, w/2x7200rpm drives and 2xoptical.

[wayout44]

Some quality low wattage PSU's will live for some time but the strain will eventually catch up with them.

[weta]

That was odd, there was only one post when I left the site yesterday. :?

Admittedly my system is not over the top, nForce2 motherboard, Athlon processor, single HDD, DVD rewriter etc, but it all works fine. My PSU isn't even branded, it's just some basic generic model. If someone is buying a new PSU, then they should consider a decent 400W + unit, given the seemingly power hungry products that are being released at the moment. Personally I'm happy to stick with my existing PSU until I see what develops on the ATX/BTX front.