Maximum PC

Other than generating enough power for the PC to run, what good is more voltage than exactly what is needed?

To expand the question (and the answer), when spec'ing out a PSU for a PC, it's the +12V rail that you should pay the most attention to. Today's PCs pull most of their power from the +12V rail, particularly the videcoard(s) and CPU(s).

How many amps you need depends on your parts, but investing in a name-brand unit with a beefy +12V rail does two things. First, it ensures you're not being scammed by a company who overloads one of the less important rails (+5V or +3.3V) in order to artificially inflate the PSU's wattage rating. And second, it provides headroom to upgrade your components. If you only purchase exactly what is needed today, you're going to need to buy a new PSU the next time you invest in a more powerful GPU, CPU, or maybe even some of the less powerful components.

I suppose a third benefit is that you're also accounting for fluctuations in your system. There may be times when a particularly heavy load demands more from your system than you had planned for.

Ok. So I guess I'll be needing a better Powersupply shortly. Thanks. Now I have a question about graphics cards, mainly, I have a Dell Dimension 4700 with the original Mobo (For now). I currently have an NVidia GeForce 8600 Installed, but some games of mine still lag. What is the best possible Video Card I could run?

Since you're looking at upgrading a pre-built machine, you're going to have to do a little homework. Many Dell machines (outside of their high end gaming setups) ship with proprietary parts, and off-the-shelf parts aren't always compatible. The power connector on the motherboard may be keyed differently, for example, which means you could purchase a new PSU and it might not work. It might not even fit in the case.

As to your videocard, you first have to figure out what interface it uses. From a cursory glance at Google, it looks like the Dimension 4700 comes with a PCI-E based foundation, which is good, but you'll want to verify this. If that's the case, the fastest videocard out there right now is Nvidia's dual-GPU GTX 295. The fastest single-GPU card is ATI's HD 5870. And the smarter money is on less expensive cards that pack a punch, like the GTX 275, for example.

But before you go out and buy a card, find out if you can swap in an aftermarket PSU in your system, and make sure your case has room to accommodate a two-slot videocard (most videocards take up two slots).

Finally, I'd suggest opening a thread in this same forum (Help Me Buy/Help Me Build) for help on your upgrade.

If you need help with a build, please post a new topic instead of bumping this old thread.