Depends what graphics card you buy and the amps the PSU can handle.

*edit*

I seem to have wandered outside of OT ...

 

Which 400W do you have? What's the brand and model?

The PSU is the most important part of a system, but it can sometimes depend on what you already have.

 

Psu is much more important.I would get that first as it is practically the most important piece.

 

I cant exactly find a webpage about it but its a ****ty Superflower SF400-P12 or something it has a 120mm blue LED fan

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gawdz I cant exactly find a webpage about it but its a ****ty Superflower SF400-P12 or something it has a 120mm blue LED fan

Damn, I don't know how good or bad that one is. I mean, it may be great, or it may be horrible.

Do you know what the +12V wattage capacity is? Or better yet, can you post a good pic of its specifications label?

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwoCables Damn, I don't know how good or bad that one is. I mean, it may be great, or it may be horrible. Do you know what the +12V wattage capacity is? Or better yet, can you post a good pic of its specifications label?

Sure just give me a sec

 

Here ya go

 

Oh no! Yeah, replace that thing as soon as possible! It looks like a really old PSU! With a +12V wattage capacity of just 240W, it's not much more than a modern-day 250-275W!

Yikes.

 

Er, looks like it's really more a 240W actually.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ruckol1 Er, looks like it's really more a 240W actually.

Well, not really because as far as I know, not even the best consumer PSUs have a +12V wattage capacity that is exactly the same as the total wattage rating of the PSU.

For example, the mighty SeaSonic X-650's +12V wattage capacity is 648W.

So this Super Flower unit is basically a mediocre 300W power supply by today's standards.

 

so will this even run my pc?

 

uhm, before you even buy a GPU, you should actually upgrade your processor. buy a PSU, and then a processor, and finally a graphics card. anyone agree? I think the pentium D would bottleneck a new card.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gawdz so will this even run my pc?

I wouldn't trust that PSU any farther than I could throw it, especially if I were to replace my onboard graphics with a discrete graphics card.

I mean, which graphics card do you want to buy?

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by trojan92 uhm, before you even buy a GPU, you should actually upgrade your processor. buy a PSU, and then a processor, and finally a graphics card. anyone agree? I think the pentium D would bottleneck a new card.

Agreed

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by trojan92;12983117
uhm, before you even buy a GPU, you should actually upgrade your processor. buy a PSU, and then a processor, and finally a graphics card. anyone agree? I think the pentium D would bottleneck a new card.

Its a Pentium D 950 3.40ghz with 4mb built in cache. http://reviews.cnet.com/processors/intel-pentium-d-950/4507-3086_7-31692239.html?tag=mncolBtm;rnav

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gawdz;12994098
Its a Pentium D 950 3.40ghz with 4mb built in cache. http://reviews.cnet.com/processors/intel-pentium-d-950/4507-3086_7-31692239.html?tag=mncolBtm;rnav

Yeah, but unfortunately it's still not as good as what you could upgrade to. Even the Core2 architecture is noticeably better.

For example, you could get the E8400 and have noticeably superior performance even before overclocking. It's a Core2 Duo with a stock clock of 3.0 GHz, 6 MB of cache, and it's a "45nm" (nanometer) chip. Even though yours is 3.40 GHz, the E8400 would kinda crush it.

I know I look biased because that's the CPU I'm using, however it was recommended to me by other OCN members just because it is almost the best dual core CPU for gaming (which also makes it awesome for almost everything else).

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by trojan92 uhm, before you even buy a GPU, you should actually upgrade your processor. buy a PSU, and then a processor, and finally a graphics card. anyone agree? I think the pentium D would bottleneck a new card.

Quote:

Originally Posted by i7Stealth1366 Agreed

Agreed.

What kind of budget are you talking OP? Wouldn't be difficult for us to plan out an upgrade path for you while keeping a strict budget. You've got a great hard drive/OS/case, so that's a significant portion of your PC already in great shape. It's that mobo/cpu/power supply that's worrisome, even before looking at a graphics card. If your ram is DDR3 you would have an even easier time upgrading.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by -Apocalypse- Agreed. What kind of budget are you talking OP? Wouldn't be difficult for us to plan out an upgrade path for you while keeping a strict budget. You've got a great hard drive/OS/case, so that's a significant portion of your PC already in great shape. It's that mobo/cpu/power supply that's worrisome, even before looking at a graphics card. If your ram is DDR3 you would have an even easier time upgrading.

Well thats like the best news i've heard bout my rig, as its my first rig and im still looking for a job i dont have a great lot of money im thinking about getting this second hand Core 2 Duo e4500 for 55 bucks or i could wait until i get my job and save for a new mobo and CPU?

 

you should save up a bit more and get the E8400 as recommended by the above member.

 

No.

Just save up for a new mobo+CPU.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stefy No. Just save up for a new mobo+CPU.

What CPU Mobo would you recommend?

Quote:

Originally Posted by trojan92 you should save up a bit more and get the E8400 as recommended by the above member.

Yeah but he also said my mobo was just as bad.

 

Get a new power supply first. If you don't, then you will be sorry that you didn't.

 

Give us a budget that you'd be willing to spend on your PC.

From there we can work with different component combinations.

 

Regarding your motherboard: it will at least take a CPU like the E8400.

However, you will have to do this one part at a time. So, start with the power supply.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaguarbamf Give us a budget that you'd be willing to spend on your PC. From there we can work with different component combinations.

Budget and do you overclock? I've seen some cheap SB boards, but some of them can't overclock at all.