Low Power Graphics Card needed

[Sharky05]

Hi,

I posted here a while ago saying I needed to replace my AGP Radeon 9800 pro as its RAM chips were blown and my screen was covered in artifacts. People recommended equivalent cards like AGP Nvidia Geforce 8600 and 8300 etc.
However the problem with these cards is that they need 300W-400W PSU minumum, and my old Dell only came with a 250W power supply. I find it hard to believe that to get an equivalent card for my machine I should have to double the PSU. Do the ATIs generally use lower power?

I'm not really wanting to spend money on this machine as it is no longer my primary computer, so I was thinking of going for a bit of a downgrade to a Radeon 9250 128MB AGP or Radeon HD2400 256MB AGP. However, I can't find out anywhere what their minumum power consumption is.
So my questions are:
Will either of these cards run off a 250W PSU with 16A on the 12V line?
Which of these are better cards?

Thanks

[MOFO64]

for starters, if you downgrade you have to delete your account here

just kiddin' but bollox to downgrading.

an older 7 series card will cost you peanuts off ebay and would have no power issues. say a 7800GT/GTX for example.

an 8600GT will most likely run no problem in your machine.

or you could simply buy a 2nd hand replacement 9800 if it meets your needs and is no longer your main rig.

[Stukov]

Are you trying to do 3d or you just need a card to boot to desktop?

[Sharky05]

Hi. The 8600GT said it required 300W minumum, and all the nvidia cards seem power-hungry (i guess they aren't - but my PSU doesn't leave a lot to play with).

I'm not sure about buying second hand - I want this to last, and it seems my 9800Pro, which was great, pretty much died of old age.

All my heavy graphics stuff is now done on my mac, so for the desktop which needs the new card it's XP stuff, plus a few games - most graphical intensive games family has for it are Empire Earth 2, RCT3 and Simpsons Hit + Run. I'm not needing to run Splinter cell or anything here.

[sykozis]

[quote=Sharky05;2809367]The 8600GT said it required 300W minumum, and all the nvidia cards seem power-hungry (i guess they aren't - but my PSU doesn't leave a lot to play with).[quote]

Look for an AGP GeForce 7600GS. If I remember right, it's performance is slightly above the 8600GT in most areas while needing less power. It runs solely off the power supplied to the AGP slot which makes it very limited on power consumption. You have no need for an SM4.0/DX10 card with XP, so no reason to waste your money on an 8600GT, which does get rather flaky at 300watts from my experience. Another option, if you can get lucky enough would be to find an AGP Radeon x700Pro, which also only uses power supplied by the AGP slot. Good Luck.

[MOFO64]

^^ agreed.

[prisonbreak]

I have the same system with the old Dell 250w psu. After my Radeon 9800 OEM went bad (don't they all?), I recently replaced it with a used Leadtek 7600Gt that has performed flawlessly since then. Should I be in a different thread now?

[iLovPieNCake]

The best you can get now for a nVidia Card that is AGP is the 7800GS other than that ATi Has a 2600Pro in AGP. Most low end cards don't require a PCI-E power cable which is good but they might suck out to much power. You can try for a 7600GS and if it don't work then just get a new PSU because 250w is extremely low. You cvan probably get a 400w PSU for 20-50$.

[Sharky05]

Thanks for the advice, especailly prisonbrake. will look for a 7600GS or GT. I'm not wanting to spend much more than £50 for the fix.

[Estima8tor]

Here's a decent card for that system.
http://www.twenga.co.uk/offer/216641651.html

I have an MSI 3650 running in my HTPC machine on a 230w psu with no problems whatsoever. There's also a GDDR3 version of this card but I'm not sure if it's available for AGP.

Look for an AGP GeForce 7600GS. If I remember right, it's performance is slightly above the 8600GT in most areas while needing less power.

^^^
That's not correct. The 8600GT is faster than two 7600gs cards running in sli and is a good bit faster than a single 7600GT.

[Sharky05]

The powercolor 3650 looks good, but is the sapphire 3650 any different - this is what I don't understand about the graphics card industry - you seem to get the same radeon 3650 but produced by different names like powerercolor, asus or sapphire.

The sapphire is the only one I've seen reviews for telling me about its power consumption and its about the same price, so is it fair to say it's the same as the powercolor or is there a reason to go for one over the other? (I'll go for powercolor if it's going to definately run on 250w PSU)

Thanks again for putting up with me - it's just after making one dudd purchase already i'm weary of buying another one quickly.

[PineMangoes]

Originally Posted by Sharky05

The powercolor 3650 looks good, but is the sapphire 3650 any different - this is what I don't understand about the graphics card industry - you seem to get the same radeon 3650 but produced by different names like powerercolor, asus or sapphire.

The sapphire is the only one I've seen reviews for telling me about its power consumption and its about the same price, so is it fair to say it's the same as the powercolor or is there a reason to go for one over the other? (I'll go for powercolor if it's going to definately run on 250w PSU)

Thanks again for putting up with me - it's just after making one dudd purchase already i'm weary of buying another one quickly.

A 3650 is a 3650, regardless of brand. There can be a difference as to what memory the card has. I'd look out for a GDDR3 version if you find one. 250W should be fine, the card uses less power than a 9800pro.