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I've got a new XFX 7800gt graphics card, but I'm worried about using it with my machine's stock power supply. The manual says I need a 350+ watt PSU that does 12v with a 20amp current. I did some looking and foud that very few power supplies in the price range that I'm comfortable with (<$75) offer this kind of err performance? The antec 500w are close, 12v @ 19a, but I'm not interested in spending $100 for something that isn't powerful enough.

So I ask, do I honestly need a PSU that meets the volt/amp requirement (stock is 400w and something like 17a at 12v). Can anyone suggest a PSU that will fit my needs that's not going to be overly expensive?

I did some searching on newegg and only found one which meets my requirements JustPc?, never heard of the brand, though the 5 reviews at newegg are good.

Can anyone offer up a suggestion to another PSU to use, perhaps something cheaper, I don't think I really need a 500w power supply when a good 350 or 400w for less would be enough.
Of course, I understand the importance of the powersupply, and that it's better to get a good component rather than fry something, but really, I don't want to spend $150 bucks on one of those high end OCZ ones if I don't need to.

The 7800 doesn't need 20 amps, they just figure anyone who has a power supply that can do 20 amps on the 12 volt should have enough juice for a comfortable safety margin.

HardOCP had this to say about the 7800 GT:

Another great thing about this card is its power requirements. A 350-Watt power supply is recommended and the total draw of the card is around 75-80 Watts, so it is very power friendly relatively speaking.

Figure out how much juice the rest of your system needs with the SH/SC Power Supply Guide, and from there you should be able to figure out how much power you really need.

Does the fact that the XFX is somewhat overclocked increase it's power demand any?

Have a look at Hiper power supplies, whilst they're relatively new to the market, they have a good reputation. Not too pricy, either.

InnocentBystander wrote:Does the fact that the XFX is somewhat overclocked increase it's power demand any?

Perhaps, but I doubt it would be that much bigger.

Some research showed that the XFX's draw is 100watts. How many amps on the 12v would that come out to, about?

InnocentBystander wrote:Some research showed that the XFX's draw is 100watts. How many amps on the 12v would that come out to, about?

P=IV, so you'll need around 8.33 amps just for your GPU.

Then it sounds like I really will need a 20amp PSU, to be on the safe side.

another side question, by using the 2 4pin flat power connectors to 1 rectangular 6pin PCI-E power connector are my amp requirements going to be any less (splitting it up might require less current? I don't know...)