Video card power consumption

[attack plan r]

I'm building a mini-itx PC and currently have a 60w laptop power supply for it. I'd like to put a video card in it (a PCI FX 5500), but all information I have read on the card says that a 250w power supply is reccomended.

Would it be at all possible to use the card with such a dinky power supply, or would I just be setting myself up for failure?

 

[defaultluser]

Depends, really. It would be nice if you bothered to tell use the full specs of your system. Do you use a video card now, or onboard video?

The only thing I can tell you for certain is that the FX 5500 uses 25w or less. This is the maximum power draw allowed by any single card in the PCI spec.

Anyway, it certainly wouldn't kill you to buy a new powersupply if it turns out that one isn't enough. You can get "notebook-style" passive cooled external powersupplies as high as 120w these days.