Gateway PSU restriction?

Question

I have a store purchased gateway system (GT series, 64 x2 6000+). I wanted to purchase a graphics card (presently using integrated video), but they all seem to require a 350-450 watt psu; My psu is 300 watts. I called gateway to try and order a larger psu and was told that anything larger would fry the computer and they advised against it. Does this mean I'm limited to a very small graphics card (83-8500 ish)? Would a card that small even be worth purchasing?

Answer 1

My god, if these are advice from their tech support, no wonder they are going down fast.

If the computer takes standard ATX power supply, you can replace it, no such thing as fry a computer, just get a good brand and quality one.

Answer 2

A larger PSU shouldn't cause any trouble, thier support is clueless.

In my experiance even the lowest end geforce and radeon cards that you can get are way way better than most integrated graphics.

--------------------------------------...

"So, any card will be a whopping improvement over integrated, even the bottom of the barrel?"

That has been my experiance, the last machine I bought a graphics card for the card cost arround £20 and made some games that were unplayable with the onboard graphics playable. Generally my approach if a game won't play acceptablly with the stuff I have already is to look at the minimum requirements on the box and then go up a little from them.

"What should I do about voiding the warranty if I break the seal to upgrade the PSU? Does it even matter?"

Personally I try not to buy from vendors that behave in that way in the first place. I don't consider it too big a deal though since pretty much any part of a desktop can be replaced with a cheap off the shelf part.

Answer 3

As long as the power supply will fit in the case PSU wattage does not matter, unless it is too low ! a computer uses what it needs no more.