How important are 2 amps?

[Groundbound1]

I'm looking to get this video card and the manufacturer states that a 450 watt psu, with 30 amps on the 12v rail is recommended. While my power supply should be sufficient in the wattage department with 500 available (peak), it's a little short on amps with only 28 amps peak on the 12v rail. Now, the only "game" I use this machine for is FS9. Do you think the card would miss those 2 amps?

I know the popular opinion would be to give up on agp altogether, but I just built this machine with cost being the primary factor in all the hardware purchases that went into it. The video card is the last piece of the puzzle, and all I want is to finish it. And since I was able to keep under budget so far, and as I won't be able upgrade anything else after this purchase for a very long time, I don't mind splurging a little on the video card. It's gotta last a good long while, ya know?

[pengyman89]

from what i understand 30amps seems a bit high. I believe the 8800gt only needs 22-24A, and i'm running mine just fine on 19A (although I have 3 12v rails. Given the 3850 is a weaker card I would be surprised if your PSU won't handle it.

[Groundbound1]

I guess I can go with that. The reviews I've been reading (the in-depth ones anyway) are talking about how this gpu is actually less power hungry than some of it's older siblings, so maybe I'll give it a whirl. Worse come to worse, maybe I'll need a better power supply. Not a real big deal.

Thanks for the insight pengyman.

[NickN]

hmmmmmmm


Well, when I was younger I was standing on a train platform not paying attention. A train came flying by at full speed and the hand rail on one of the cars missed me by 2 inches

So I am alive because of 2 inches

Perhaps you may wish to consider that 2 Amps can be as critical as 2 inches

Also, when a manufacture posts you need a 450w PSU they are not including the rest of the system in that estimation.

[Slotback]

8800GT needs 26 amps and it uses more power than the 3850... I would expect it to work... But I wouldn't count on it, if it does work then it's likely it will not be performing to speck, and I would NOT risk it.

Get a new PSU.

[Ivan]

If it needs an 8 pin connector it wont work with a 6 pin one. It might not even boot up.

Get a PSU that has 8 pin PCI/E power connectors... 500W is about the minimum amount you need for anything of midrange performance if you do what the manual says

[ozzy72]

You can probably get away with it but I wouldn't recommend it. I did use a somewhat asthmatic PSU for about 18 months with my previous card without any trouble but if you start doing things that demand a serious load on the PSU or you go for over-clocking you'll probably get into trouble

[Groundbound1]

If it needs an 8 pin connector it wont work with a 6 pin one. It might not even boot up.

Get a PSU that has 8 pin PCI/E power connectors... 500W is about the minimum amount you need for anything of midrange performance if you do what the manual says

This one comes with a two molex into one 8 pin adapter,  but now that I'm looking around, the X1950pro is looking pretty nice too. It wouldn't take much to beat the 9600XT I'm using now.