Cheap Upgrade from OB 6150SE Help

[UMASS]

Hi All: I just built a computer for a friend of mine. I paid for it out of my pocket because he helps us out with handyman type of things all of the time! Anyway....He plays some light type of games & surfs the net etc. I wanted to get an inexpensive video card other then the onboard 6150SE.

He uses a Samsung 17" LCD (1280x1024) & only has a VGA out. I was thinking about this MSI 4350 512MB @ 25.99 AR $10.00 rebate (if I'm lucky enough to get the rebate)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127411

Also..I should note I'm using a fairly cheap Allied 285 PSU that came with the MSI barebones set up. I don't want to tax the PSU too much.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856167036

The system shouldn't be drawing too much power with:

AMD Athlon LE-1640 CPU 2.6 GHZ Single Core 45 Watts
WD 250 GB HD
Samsung IDE DVD Drive
2 each 92mm Fans

Any insight? Does Nvidia offer something better for anything under $40.00 that doesn't required a power lead?

Thanks for any & all insight!

 

[risqu3]

yeah that should be enough that computer shouldn't be pulling more then 100 watts.

 

[UMASS]

Guys,,,,I'm thinking about this Sparkle 9400GT 1GB for my friend, He is only running @ 1280x1024 so he doesn't need the 1 GB of RAM, but the price is there! I found a few websites & the 9400GT beats the 4350 all day long . It's 47.99 plus free shipping & no rebates deal with.

The Sparkle 512MB is only like $6.00 less, but that doesn't included shipping. So...It really comes out to the same price! Another factor is I only have an Allied 285 PSU with this barbones set up. Do you think I can get away with this GPU @ 285 watts?

NG Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187037

Need to pull the trigger quickly because it's a 1-day sale!

Any help?

Alex

 

[Dangman]

Do you think I can get away with this GPU @ 285 watts?

No. Allied tends to over-rate their PSUs. So that 285W could be a 150W or even a 100W PSU. Warm up a Allied PSU and it'll die sooner or later. I would not add any sort of GPU upgrade to that system as long as the Allied PSU is installed. A shitty PSU can still die and kill parts even if there's a really low load on them.

The 9400GT card is a good choice though.