ATI 4850 help with cooling and power

Question

Ok i wanted to buy a 4850 GPU but i don't have gamers hardware so i wanted to know if i shold upgrade my pc or just buy a lower end card... My pc doesnt have a gamers case, i don't think it has fans in it and my PSU is a 450W so tell me what to do because i don't want to spend money on something i can't use

If i need to update how much will it cost me to make my pc compatible with the 4850?

Can buy case fans alone or do u need to change Pc Case?

what kind of PSu do i need?

Do I need to change case if i buy a new cooler just for the GPU?

Do u need special case to support fans or does basically every case have multiple fan support?

If i replace only my PSU to a 550 W one can i use it??and how much will t cost me

How much will it cost me to do everything and is it worth it

My Specs:

Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4 Ghz

1 GB DDR2 Ram ( i know it's not enough)

Asus P5k Motherboard

Sapphire ATI Radeon X 1650 Series

Answer 1

The Ati 4850 is a PCIe 2.0 spec card. Is your motherboard compatable or is it just PCIe x16? There are variations on the P5K line so you need to know first. If you are looking for a gpu upgrade consider a pair of HD 2600's if your board supports crossfire (*not all P5K's do.) but not PCIe 2.0 They should fit in most any tower. If you find you have heat issues leave the side panel off for extra cooling (until you can afford a new tower) Check the specs of the GPU's to see if it will require a larger power supply.

Answer 2

A 600 watt power supply with 2x4 (pci express 2.0) connectors will do but if you change the cooler, it will void the warranty. Just make sure you have two 120 mm fans in your case (at least) with the one in the front blowing INto the case and the one in the back blowing OUT of the case.

Air flow is critical; You can't have all the air blowing in or out like people I have seen who dont understand physics. It has to flow in a direction and by pulling it in the front from the bottom the air is cooler. Your power supply fan is also blowing out the back; so, this causes you to have to blow it out the back to keep from fighting the power supply for air.