Hi I have a little confusion with my PSU...again. Right, so I want to upgrade my machine. I would like to add a new graphics card and a second hard drive. The trouble is, I don't know whether or not my PSU can handle it. For various reasons, I cannot upgrade my PSU My current spec is in my signature. None of my components are overclocked. I currently have the Dell version of the ATI HD3650 (256MB). I would like to swap it for a Sapphire version with a bit more grunt. Card The trouble with this is that, although I am running a 3650 at the moment quite happily, the ATI site suggests a minimum spec of a 400w PSU. I only have a 350w PSU. Here is the sticker on the side if that helps. I also want to add a Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB. Will this fry my PSU? I did the Power Supply calculator, and it said i needed 228W as my system is. When i amended it include my upgrades, it said i would need 255W. How accurate is this site? Is it correct? Essentially, can I add a 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F1 and a Sapphire HD3650 512MB to my system with my existing PSU.
Um, what makes you think the Sapphire version of the same card will be any faster? It may have a different cooler or slightly higher clocks (posting a GPU-Z screenshot of your current card would verify), but it's still the same GPU at the end of the day, so definitely not worth a £35 upgrade. I'm interested; what are the reasons you can't upgrade the PSU?
Upgrading because it doubles my graphics memory from 256MB to 512MB, and because the Sapphire card has 2xDVI, which I need. For some reason, the Dell one has 1xDVI, 1xHDMI and 1xDisplayPort. Reasons I can't upgrade my PSU: -Money -Time -Skill -Worried I'll muck it up (I manage to muck up most other stuff except fitting RAM and graphics cards) Will it work though?
Right, first things first ditch that PSU and get a decent quality one instead of wasting your money on buying the same GPU with more memory.
Yeah, the problem is that the an HDMI cable doesn't fit into the HDMI slot because of where the card is positioned. There is a metal lip on the case which stops the plastic bit of the cable from engaging.
I didn't see benchmarks, nor know the card, but by doubling the memory, it may get about 10-15% increase in performance as textures fits better. Is it worth it? of course not. Get a new computer case, transfer everything to it without braking anything. (of course before you do such a thing see if your motherboard is a standard format so that the screw holes fit the new case. Get a normal PSU with more power and get a better GPU.
Your current PSU will work fine if you really don't want to upgrade it. A decent PSU only really becomes a priority on higher end systems or if you're overclocking. The extra vRAM won't make much difference unless your monitor resolution is really high - the GPU will always slow down performance before it runs out of memory, so IMO is a pointless upgrade.
I really do not want to upgrade my PSU. I only need a new graphics card for the ports, but the SpinPoint is pretty much essential. I have a spare VGA monitor, but the only free ports on my card are HDMI and DisplayPort. Will I be able to connect it somehow? The current PSU will work though?
Yes, the extra memory on the graphics card and an additional HDD will make little difference to the overall power draw.
To try and save a bit of cash... Is there any way to connect a VGA display to an HDMI port?! Would: Filed down HDMI cable (see above) V HDMI-DVI Adaptor V DVI Cable V DVI-VGA Adaptor V Monitor work?
Perfectly valid, if money weren't an issue, atm I think you should just get the HDD, getting the same graphics card a second time as an improvement doesn't make much sense Probably, are you a fan of input lag though? That many adaptors and convertors and cables can't be good, atleast I think so
Had a bit of a brainwave: IDEA! would this work? Don't know why it didnt occur to me before. EDIT: Use this instead of DVI-HDMI converter?
Sorry it will not work. The adapter must be on the video card... as for example, the DVI plug on your GPU outputs VGA as well, but your cable most likely does not. I onced tried that, and despite having those DVI cables with all it's pins.. it failed the work. My guess, in my situation, is that despite having all the pins on the plug, the wires are not there OR the adapter does some wiring loop or something to tell the GPU to output a VGA signal.
What about this? People seem to have got this to work. @GoodBytes: I drew the diagram wrong: The DVI-VGA adapter plugs int the card, not the monitor.
HDMI has no analogue output - you can cable it to VGA, but it won't do anything. If you have a TFT already then do HDMI->DVI and then DVI->VGA for the other monitor.
