Will 7800GS work in my PC?

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beachnut

Weaksauce
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Feb 23, 2005
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I am looking to upgrade my aging 9800Pro AGP. Upgrading motherboard etc is not an option. I have also looked at the 7600GT and X1650XT but I can get the 7800GS on ebay cheaper. I have a 400W power supply. My PC is an HP a520n and I have 1.25GB RAM. Would an upgrade be worth it? I probably won't by another PC for a couple of more years.
Thanks!
 
Thats quite a jump in videocards; absolutely worth it.

400 watts should do it as long as your system isn't extremely loaded. Whats really important is having sufficient amperage on your +12 volt rail(s) to satisfy the 78GS requirement.
 
400W will be able to handle it, I've seen worse... just check the specs on the amperage how much and we might be able to tell you if it can.

Edit: I meant the +12V amperage, sorry.
 
Upon further review ( it had been awhile since I opened my case) I have an Antec SmartBlue 350W power supply. I guess I will need to pick between 7600GT and X1650XT. Any thoughts on these two? I know they are pretty much equal in most things according to reviews I read.
 
You may be able to handle the 7800GS; not a huge performance gain over the 7600GT but worthy if the price is right. Knowing the amperage rating on your +12 volt rail(s) (rails - because the PSU may have more than one +12v rail) is as important as peak wattage to know. If you have a +12v 1 or A and 2 or B (and so on), it's important to know the combined rating of those rails too; simply because 20 amps and 22a doesn't add up to 42a. The PSU should give you a graph of this listed on the side or bottom of it. Can't stess the +12v enough. Many people seem to 'skimp' it and base everything on wattage.

nV and ATI set wattage and amperage requirements based on a fully loaded system - which is something to keep in mind also.
 
Ok. Here's what it says on the side of my PS.

DC Output +5V +12V +3.3V
Max 35A 16A 28A
Min 1.5A 0.8A 0.5A

Is this enough info?
 
That's 16A on the +12v line. BFG calls for 20A on the +12v line for their overclock 7800GS. Of course, they also call for 20A on the +12v line for their AGP 7600GS, too.

eVGA calls for +12v at 18A on their 7600GS, as well.

So...basically...you've got a lousy PSU that won't be able to even handle a 7600GS, forget a 7600GT or X1650.
 
I had a thermaltake 430 watt PSU with 18A on the 12V and it couldnt take it with the 7800GS.

blacken said:
You may be able to handle the 7800GS; not a huge performance gain over the 7600GT but worthy if the price is right
Click to expand...

Actually not a performance gain at all it would be a loss the 7600GT is a faster card by a small margin and its more efficient. The real trouble is trying to find the GT.

Here are some benches of the 7800GS, 7600GT and other cards. http://xtreview.com/review140.htm
 
well if it came with the pc prob not to good of a power supply you can get 400 wat psu at newegg for 25$ tops i like the pfc active hipro for cheap builds
 
Because a 7600GS calls for 18A on the +12v line, and you only have 16A on the +12v line? The 7600GT and X1650XT are both considerably more powerful and demanding cards.
 
see if you can't find an x850 agp for a decent price. There's no reason to be spending $150+ on a deadend AGP card. You will buy it to see their value plummet.
 
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