Feeling the limitations of a quick buy

Memory Of 98

Last year, while a bit stuck for money I decided to throw together my own PC, bad idea. While at the time, I only had limited knowledge of computers, I bought a lot of second hand pieces and over compensated in some areas.

Rough Specs.

RAM: 8 Gigs Corsair RAM
Motherboard: Gigabyte M68MT-S2
CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 260 3.2GHZ
Graphics: ATI RADEON 5450
Power Supply: 450W
Harddrive: 1 Terrabyte

Now that I have a bit more money I want to upgrade the Graphics card without having to change the power supply. So, I need something that is an improvement over the lackluster 5450 while not necessitating the need to buy a new power supply and not needing an external power supply, by which I mean a cable connecting the graphics card directly to the power supply.

Many thanks in advance.

uberpixie

Memory Of 98 wrote: »

Last year, while a bit stuck for money I decided to throw together my own PC, bad idea. While at the time, I only had limited knowledge of computers, I bought a lot of second hand pieces and over compensated in some areas.

Rough Specs.

RAM: 8 Gigs Corsair RAM
Motherboard: Gigabyte M68MT-S2
CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 260 3.2GHZ
Graphics: ATI RADEON 5450
Power Supply: 450W
Harddrive: 1 Terrabyte

Now that I have a bit more money I want to upgrade the Graphics card without having to change the power supply. So, I need something that is an improvement over the lackluster 5450 while not necessitating the need to buy a new power supply and not needing an external power supply, by which I mean a cable connecting the graphics card directly to the power supply.

Many thanks in advance.

Most importantly: what brand PSU?

Memory Of 98

uberpixie wrote: »

Most importantly: what brand PSU?

I got this one off of a friend at the time.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/ULTRA-QUIET-ATX-450W-POWER-SUPPLY-IDE-SATA-NEW-/220901049039?pt=UK_Computing_PowerSupplies_EH&hash=item336eba82cf#ht_3012wt_1280

uberpixie

Memory Of 98 wrote: »

I got this one off of a friend at the time.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/ULTRA-QUIET-ATX-450W-POWER-SUPPLY-IDE-SATA-NEW-/220901049039?pt=UK_Computing_PowerSupplies_EH&hash=item336eba82cf#ht_3012wt_1280

That looks like an incredibly cheap and nasty POS power supply that will melt and set your pc on fire if it goes anywhere near to supplying half the watts it claims to be able to.

Buy a new "quality" power supply and bin the old one before even thinking about adding a new gfx card....
(unless you go for something that uses very little power....)

uncle_sam_ie

That PSU looks nasty. This one is much better.
http://www.dabs.ie/products/xfx-450-watt-core-edition-single-rail-psu-w--full-wired-cables-7NSV.html?refs=55420000-50544&src=3

partyatmygaff

I'd second what everyone else is saying about the PSU. You're not going to be able to upgrade to anything half-way decent without a better PSU. Even another 450W but from a reputable manufacturer.

Memory Of 98

uberpixie wrote: »

That looks like an incredibly cheap and nasty POS power supply that will melt and set your pc on fire if it goes anywhere near to supplying half the watts it claims to be able to.

Buy a new "quality" power supply and bin the old one before even thinking about adding a new gfx card....
(unless you go for something that uses very little power....)

You know I never actually looked into it. When my friend heard that I was progressing from Laptop to PC, he gave me that PSU for free. After googling it when you asked, and seeing its price, I feel that even getting it for free he robbed me.