Upgrading PSU

I recently found my powersupply is only 400W, hardly enough for a decent graphics card. So I want to upgrade it, but I don't have any experience in them. Can someone tell me things I need to know?

Thanks for any help:)

Quality is much, much more important than quantity.

There are some power supply calculators like this one; but to give you an idea:

A machine running an Intel Q6600, 2 sticks of DD2 memory, a Geforce GTX 260, 2 hard drives, 2 dvd burners, a TV tuner, 3 externel USB devices using up power, 4 fans, on a regular (non-performance) motherboard comes out to a recommended 370 Watt powersupply.

Most people tend to recommend power supplies with a wattage much higher than actually needed. But they tend to do that to support scalability, and also because if you are nearing the capacity of your power supply, most cheap power supplies will blow out before they hit their limit. A good quality power supply will not.

Your 400 Watt power supply will probably be okay as long as its of a good quality and you arent doing something like SLI or water cooling. If you do want to buy a new one, dont bother going higher than 650 watts unless you plan to run a chandelier inside your PC.

Most people tend to recommend power supplies with a wattage much higher than actually needed. But they tend to do that to support scalability, and also because if you are nearing the capacity of your power supply, most cheap power supplies will blow out before they hit their limit. A good quality power supply will not.

XaosII

Besides the actual power draw, there's also efficiency to consider. A power supply is generally most efficient between 40-70%, so you want to get a power supply that will be operating at peak efficiency most of the time. Too high and your power supply will be very inefficient at idle, but too low and your power supply will start dropping off under heavy load.

I want a new PSU mainly because I need a new graphics card, and 400W seems like the bare minimum with any decent card. As for the budget I don't have a clue about the price range, so anything that has a good balance between quality and price. And another thing, should there be any problems with the physical size of it?Franciscoec

Depends on the vga.  If its a midrange card like 8800gt 9600gt or 3870 4670 or 4830  then you are ok. But if you want something more powerfull like gtx280 or 4870 or 2 vga's then definateky you gonna need a new one

[QUOTE="Franciscoec"]I want a new PSU mainly because I need a new graphics card, and 400W seems like the bare minimum with any decent card. As for the budget I don't have a clue about the price range, so anything that has a good balance between quality and price. And another thing, should there be any problems with the physical size of it?adamosmaki

Depends on the vga.  If its a midrange card like 8800gt 9600gt or 3870 4670 or 4830  then you are ok. But if you want something more powerfull like gtx280 or 4870 or 2 vga's then definateky you gonna need a new one

[QUOTE="adamosmaki"]

[QUOTE="Franciscoec"]I want a new PSU mainly because I need a new graphics card, and 400W seems like the bare minimum with any decent card. As for the budget I don't have a clue about the price range, so anything that has a good balance between quality and price. And another thing, should there be any problems with the physical size of it?theragu40

Depends on the vga.  If its a midrange card like 8800gt 9600gt or 3870 4670 or 4830  then you are ok. But if you want something more powerfull like gtx280 or 4870 or 2 vga's then definateky you gonna need a new one

seems i have to change it since you are the 5th that tells me that. In my sig the person that said she dont see anything was from the state of georgia. 

Ah well in that case it was their fail. But you understand why some people are reacting the way they are. Thanks for not being an indignant jerk about it.theragu40

change it already

[QUOTE="theragu40"]Ah well in that case it was their fail. But you understand why some people are reacting the way they are. Thanks for not being an indignant jerk about it.adamosmaki

change it already

What a shame. I loved the old one, it was one of the funnier ones I have seen.

I don't understand how people did not get that last one. They must be in the same league as the fella that originally asked the question in your sig :P, J/K.

[QUOTE="adamosmaki"]

[QUOTE="theragu40"]Ah well in that case it was their fail. But you understand why some people are reacting the way they are. Thanks for not being an indignant jerk about it.opamando

change it already

What a shame. I loved the old one, it was one of the funnier ones I have seen.

I don't understand how people did not get that last one. They must be in the same league as the fella that originally asked the question in your sig :P, J/K.

Thanks. I couldnt stop laughing when i saw it in yahoo answers the first time.

I7 940@3.6ghz, EVGA X58 SLI, GTX 280@stock, Generic 7200RPM HD, DVD drive, 3 fans with only a 450w PSU. Yes that is a quality PSU with 83+ Efficiency. I don't understand people that recommend overkilled PSU with 700w-1000w. Unless you're running 2 socket CPU's, 3 Videocards, Raid 0 HD's, 3 DVD drivers, Watercooling setup, 5 high RPM LED fans, then by all means go for it.redneckdouglas

If that 450W psu is a quality PSU like thermaltake or antec indeed like you said there is no problem. Then again with a second gtx 280 and a second HDthen a 650-700W psu is definately needed