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Upgrading the Power Supply? - infomaster3of7 I have a eMachines D6417. I plan to install a video card, but I want to upgrade the power supply first. Any recommendations? Any max. limit? Best brands? Also if you know the tech. details of my PSU, please let me know. Thanks.

Best Answer: you need to find if your Emachine case can use ATX powersupply. actually, it's not necessary to buy power supply if you wan to add video card, unless you use a higher end video card. for power supply brands use Antec, Allied, or Thermalltake. 400W-500W good enough. - Fox

How much watt your computer needs depends on the video card you will buyand other parts, on the system requirements of the video card it should say the minium watts needed. The system requirements are usually located on the box. - Nik S

power supplies are a key part of the computer. buy one with enought cords to power everything inside the computer, hard rives, floppies and the mother board. - j pringle

Someone mentioned 600Watts as normal?! That's just overkill, not many HOME pc uses that much power even on full load unless you are running dual graphic cards and OCing for very intense gaming or graphic editing. And watts is not everything, you have to check how many amps are on each rails. A 600watt PSU with 18A on the 12v rail might not be enough, where as a 400watt PSU with 27A on the 12v rail is actually better. I'd say a PSU 400-450 watts is more than enough for home usage, make sure to find one with good amount of amps spread across all 3 rails (12v, 3.3v, 5v) - l.v.

Seasonic is one of the best PSUs on the market. I'm using one right now (source below) after careful research of the company, features, stress testing and cost. 1. Rock solid rails. Repeat. Rock solid rails. Power doesn't drop out of spec -- Processor/Video card/Audio card/DVD/7 LED case fans; 2 HDDs on 24/7. 2. Active PFC -- line conditions the power to ensure no brown outs or power spikes that can fry hardware. 3. Great amps to power the hungriest hardware (non-Modular so not to drop in power) -- stay away from modular PSUs as they can't keep the amps up. 4. About 85% efficiency -- Seasonic has the highest efficiency PSUs. Less heat= less money wasted on energy. 5. Wiring isn't very long, so not to make the case a rat's nest. 6. Easy-Grip plugs making inserting and removing hardware not a push/pull headache. 7. 120mm fan that is sooooo quiet. 8. Small PSU (about 8"x8"x8") to fit in smaller cases -- huge gap for air flow between the PSU and DVD drive (midsize case). 9. $140 which is a bargain for a top-of-the-line PSU. Don't buy a PSU less than 500w now, as the components need more watts and amps now. 600w is enough to power most rigs, and have headroom for overclocking. Added Commentary: The problem with getting lower wattage PSUs is that they are inefficient. Only a few lower 500w and above PSUs don't generate and waste energy as much, and they don't pass stress testing (failure rates are high, have cheaper parts that won't withstand the cold start of a PC for long). 80+% and above efficient PSUs waste less energy as heat, which also helps to keep the PC cooler and are made with quality components. It's also difficult to find a 500w or less PSU that has Active PFC (critical for not frying computer hardware due to power spikes from the wall socket. APCs, with line conditioning are much more expensive). Considering this is a eMachine, cost is a major factor too. Factored in cost, efficiency, upgrading (the PSU below can be used in any ATX 2.0 Intel or AMD computer) and safety. - SandyKIT

DO NOT BUY A CHEAP POWER SUPPLY! PC Power &Cooling, manufacture some of the best computer PS on the market. If you want a no questions asked about Quality, Stability, Reliability, Total Performance, then vist their web site. - LOW

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