Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Monitor/Video Forum => Topic started by: spidermonkey on January 14, 2003, 08:46:21 pm
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Hi all,
I have a HP pavillion 7850 pentium III 933 mhz desktop and it has a rather small power supply. (160 watt) I've been told that my case wont hold anything larger then a 200 watt power supply :( It seems like every pci graphics accelerator card I look at needs between a 250 and 350 watt power supply to drive them. Does anybody know of a pci card that would be happy with a 160 watt power supply ? The onboard graphics controller that is currentlly in my computer just can't handle alot of the games when I use hardware stretch. I get major frame skips and serious slowdown so I definately need a better video card. Could I just buy a larger power supply and mount it outside of the case? If so would I have to mount a fan where the old power supply sits so that everything gets sufficient cooling? I would rather find a card that will run with a 160 watt power supply if I could but if I have to mount a larger supply outside then I will. What would you guys do ?
Thanks in advance
S.M.
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If I was you, and the HP doesn't use a propreitary motherboard, I'd get a new case from http://www.compgeeks.com . Around $30 ($10-15 shipping) for a decent case with a 350-400Watt power supply.
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I'm wondering if any PCI card will work - right now, your compu doesn't have to drive any power to the PCI bus... not sure.
I can't answer your questions, but I'd maybe experiment with an older, cheaper card, such as a Radeon VE, both which would work fine w/ MAME. The slower the core memory and engine clock, the less power is required.
The good news is that the video won't draw peak power on bootup, which is the only time that you should need all 160 watts (most power supplies are rated at the peak rating, and don't need to supply anywhere near that once booted up).