Power question

I want to run an EVGA 7900gt with an AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual Core 5200+.....to play Oblivion....the power unit is only 250 watt.....i don't know if the same power is required that i would use with a single core(500 watt).....will i have have to swap out the 250 watt?

 

I would definitely swap out the power supply. 250 doesnt seems enough for a dual-core and 7900GT.

 

I have 4200+ and 7600gs When I bought that (in february) the shop told me that the minimum PSU should be 400W for my dual-core. My old bigtower is a one with 700W, so I was well off there I guess in theory it could work with 250, but of course, I can't confirm how well and stable. The symptoms of instability would be random sudden poweroffs.

 

OK...thanks guys..i changed power units and had no power....the power plug in the 500 is 24 pin and the MB it went into is 20 pin( two unsed ports)...i was wondering if that was my problem....is there an adapter available and might that correct my problem? Also does dual core suck much more power then single?

 

Yes there are adpaters available and yes dual-cores use more power.

 

Simply put, the extra 4 pins are for Intel dual-core m/bs, as they (Intel processors) need more power. Since you have a m/b with AMD processor, these are not needed. Usually, PSUs have two separated power cables for m/b, one 20-pin and one 4-pin (my PSU has it that way), but in your case they are assembled together. If you can physically plug the 24-pin cable into 20-pin power slot on a m/b, all should be well (I have it the other way round, 20-pin cable plugged into 24-pin slot).

 

Thanks Seer...yes, i also have the 4 pin.....the AMD MB has a 24 pin setup that is not being used by the PSU that came w/ the setup as it only has a 20pin plug....again, if i plug in the 24 pin that is with my 500 watt, thus not
using the enter MB socket will it mess things up?....might it be safer to get an adapter instead?