PC GPU Upgrade question for the tech savvy

[kennyj2003]

Hey guys need some advice. Here's my pc(don't laugh, i'm broke lol)

AMD Athalon II X2 240 2.8GHZ
5GB Ram
500gb SATA HDD
Ati Radeon HD 4350 >>> Ati Radeon HD 5770(just ordered it)

Here's my question, do I need a bigger PSU? Currently I have a 250W but concerned that it might not be enough but I don't have the cash on hand atm to upgrade. Is it safe to play?

Also I did a test on a website http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine that recomends 258W are these online calculators accurate?

[Ramsus]

Get at least a 400W PSU with a 6-pin PCI Express power connector for the graphics card. You'll probably want something really stable, like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016

That should give you all the peace of mind that you need, plus some spare power. If you can't afford it at the moment, just wait. Cheap PSU's aren't worth the trouble.

In the meantime, you can try installing the graphics card, but check the manual and see if the version you ordered needs the 6-pin power connector to run, and then see if you're current PSU has that. If you plug it all in and it works, then great, you can use it for now, but the strain may eventually kill some components in the long run.

Also, I don't see what's so laughable about that machine. Then again, I've got a 433Mhz Celeron w/192 MB of SDRAM sitting in the corner along with a 133Mhz Pentium desktop.

[kennyj2003]

This is the card I ordered:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/ImageGallery.aspx?CurImage=14-102-898-Z06&SpinSet=14-102-898-RS&ISList=14-102-898-Z01%2c14-102-898-Z02%2c14-102-898-Z03%2c14-102-898-Z04%2c14-102-898-Z05%2c14-102-898-Z06&S7ImageFlag=1&Item=N82E16814102898&Depa=0&WaterMark=1&Description=SAPPHIRE%20Vapor-X%20100283VX-2L%20Radeon%20HD%205770%20%28Juniper%20XT%29%201GB%20128-bit%20GDDR5%20PCI%20Express%202.1%20x16%20HDCP%20Ready%20CrossFireX%20Support%20Video%20Card%20w%2f%20Eyefinity

Wow that's a helluva address lol. Anyway I think it comes with a adapter for older psus. If i do try with my current PSU what are some warning signs I should watch out for besides the obvious melting,explosions,no boot, etc.?

[Ramsus]

Make sure the fan stays running and look for weird graphics glitches while playing high-end games for extended periods of time. That's all I'd really be worried about. Anyway, enjoy your new graphics card. It'll make a big difference.

[kennyj2003]

I really only got it for FFXIV so I hope it doesnt push it to its limits

[ZaichikArky]

Why don't you utilize PSZ's thread for this? It was fairly recent.