Guide for Selecting a Power Supply [ Edited ]

[Big_Dave]

Powerlift,

Look for a OCZ and chose a modular model.   Look at the 12+ volt amperage needed by the 470 and chose a PSU that can support that need.  You might consider the EVGA NVIDIA 460 1GB with External Exhaust to help deal with the heat being generated by a high wattage video card.

[Powerlift]

Thanks for the link, I found this one rated for 40A and the GTX 470 requires 38:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171036

Looks like a pretty good PSU.

[Big_Dave]

Powerlift,

That PSU should work just fine.

[Powerlift]

Thanks for the help.  I know the OCZs were cheaper but the reviews on this unit are good.

With a serious card like this hopefully I can just upgrade to the best processor this board can use (Q9650) and 8GB of DDR3 RAM next year and be good for a few years again.

[Big_Dave]

Powerlift,

A bit of caution.  Your new potential video card and PSU is going to generate more heat so be prepared to deal with that issue.  I typically like to see lower wattage video cards in the smallish HP mini-towers as heat has a tendency to shorten the life of the electronic components.

[dcrutgers]

Quck question:

I just bought a HP Pavilion Elite HPE-300z series. Just like most here, I want to upgrade the PSU because I also want to put a better video card in. Will I have a problem fiting the following PSU and Video card in the HPE-300z case?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130567

Thanks guys!

[Big_Dave]

dcrutgers,

The best thing to do is to open open up your PC and do some measuring.  The 460 length wise should fit but it's a double wide card so the slot next adjacent to the PCI-E x16 needs to be open. 

You might run into a heat issue with the smallish HP mini-tower cabinet so be prepared to deal with it. 

Otherwise, good choices.

[dcrutgers]

Thanks, I haven't received the computer yet, but thanks for getting back to me. Happy to hear that I shouldn't have any problems fitting the PSU and the video card. As for the heat issue, anybody else have experience with this setup and heat?

Thanks!

[Kantucki]

I play lots of games like Crysis, COD, BBC. My upgrade was almost identical to yours and I've had no heat issues.

[dcrutgers]

Thanks, that's good to know. I needed this rig to play Bad company 2 on high! lol