Z Man wrote:

I have given a lot of thought to what you have said.

Good to know, I will continue to try and make that time well spent!
Hopefully there are many people who are helped by these types of
exchanges, it just so happens to benefit you, since you so
coincidentally happen to have the exact problem we are discussing.

I also checked out high
end cards from ATI. It seems that the power requirement for most high end
video cards would make me upgrade my power supply. Although it is
inconvenient, I would be willing to do it if necessary.

Another PSU can only help your choices. So then: If not able to judge a
PSU's suitable power accurately by 'watts' alone, how then do you rate
them? Short answer: Available Amperage. It's easy to do since all PSU's
have total available amperage measurements on the unit and retail box.
On the chart you cross reference the +12V line (There are other lines as
well, but the 12v line is the most important) with the model number of
the unit, or some other measurement they provide, like the ambient
temperature, or efficiency, and you get the number of amps available on
either a single or split 12v line.

That's how many Amps that PSU can do, and higher is better, but there
are safety concerns past 20A per line so many units rightfully max out
there. How do you know how many Amps your system will need? First, back
to Watts! Try this handy online wattage requirement calculator.

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

Once you find out just how much wattage your PC is likely to require,
you can now inspect a range of available PSUs and use available amperage
as a measurement to see how that power is distributed. Watts is the
'budget' and the various lines (lingo: 'rails') are the 'expenses'. Your
devices are 'purchases' and like a bank account that goes into the red,
if your electricity requirements over one line go too high, the system
can act all sorts of unstable. Electricity analogies are always
imperfect, but higher amps on a 12V line, plus a relatively high
efficiency rating, generally indicate a superior PSU.

Here's a link to a random PSU roundup, that explains things as you go:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/oth...u-roundup.html

In anticipation of a question, the PCI-e connector (which plugs into
current high end cards) gets it's power from one of the 12V lines, hence
it's importance.


What is it about the
case that houses my PC that would make it imappropriate for the 7950GX2?

It's not the case, it's the motherboard inside the case that worries me.
The 7950GX2 requires a compatible motherboard. Here is a link to
nvidia's compatible motherboard list. I do not think your specific
system board is listed, not a good sign for compatibility, but not a
guarantee of failure either. My advice: avoid.

http://www.nvidia.com/content/geforc...y=manufacturer

Are you running Windows Media Center? I believe all of those HP's
default to MC, just another potential area for concern regarding driver
incompatibilities (and not just the 7950GX2).


In terms of possible ATI cards, I am looking at the VisionTek Radeon X1600XT
Xtreme Video Card, PCI Express, 512MB GDDR3. This card is about $300 at
CompUSA (a little less at Newegg and other online retailers), and the specs
state that a 300w power supply is adequate. Trouble is, once I looked at the
higher end card, I found that I really wanted on

Ah, of course, then it comes down to the same old question, from the
beginning of computer time, "What is the game you most want to play with
your new video card?" Once you have in mind the game (why else get a new
video card?) then you can get the hardware that will run it best...as in
the 'chuck patch'. Look luck, use Newegg!