Computers & Networking

[pbarr]

I am about to order a new desktop direct from HP. A 300 watt power supply is included in the base price. It has a Radeon HD 7570 card included. When researching the card on its' product website, it states a 400 watt or greater supply is recommended. Can I trust HP's packaging or do I go with the recommendation from the card's site? A 460 watt supply is optional for an additional $30. It's only $30 but is it necessary?

[TheLexMachine · Accepted solution]

You can trust what HP says. The reccomendation is based on a specific configuration and not what you are going to buy. You can look up real world power usage specs for just about any graphics card and they will tell you whether or not your PC can handle it with the power supply specs it has. I have a 500 watt PSU and my system usage only hovers around 160-180 with all the stuff I have in there. It's the 12v capabilities that are key in having the right PSU. Some can provide a lot at any given wattage and others can't.

[Jimmienomam]

Suggestions on power supplies varies greatly. Depends on what kind of power unit, all drives in, CPU etc etc. HP would not knowingly put an underpowered supply in their computers in fear of repercussions. But if you ever upgrade this machine with another optical drive, GPU etc then I would up the PSU

[pbarr]

Thank you both for replying. I appreciate the input.