Wow, great responses! Thanks!

Okay, here are the specs on my current PSU, and I will definitely look in the 700w range now:

Type - ATX12V V2.01:

+3.3V@20A,+5V@20A,+12V1@16A,+12V2@16A,
-12V@0.8A,+5VSB@2.0A

1 x Main connector (20+4Pin)
1 x 12V(P4)
6 x peripheral
3 x SATA
2 x Floppy
1 x PCI-E

Efficiency >70% typically

So I felt this was a terrible power supply to trust with that card. As far as the resolution, I have a 17" monitor, nothing fancy so I was hoping to run Crysis at my native res of 1280x1024, no AA. What do you guys think I would be able to run it at?

The reason I didn't just buy a whole new computer is because I'm leaving for basic training in 6 months, so I just wanted to freshen up my system a little bit until then. Thanks for the help in trying to get it to perform "well enough" without revamping the whole thing :)

P.S. Here is a 650w Corsair for LESS than the 550:

newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005&Tpk=corsair 650w

A Corsair 650 will certainly do if it has the connectors :) You'd need to use molex->PCI-e if you want to crossfire though.

1280x1024 @ very high could be doable for that setup. No guarantuees though, since I can't really compare the CPU's (or rather: I'm too lazy atm to do it).

Haha, understood monkey7. Your help is invaluable. I don't *plan* on going crossfire, but if I did I would probly just use those adapters like you said (good thing that 650 has 8x4pins)

Well, I'm hoping for very high. It's understandable if I have to turn some settings to high - speaking of which, are all gfx settings created equal in terms of cpu usage? I would assume it's the same as GPU load, where smoke/shadows/filtering/shaders are your big ticket items, right?

Also, I just bought that Corsair 650 with 52A on the 12v. :) Thanks guys

Also, I just bought that Corsair 650 with 52A on the 12v.

You have chosen well, the Corsair is a good PSU and should be good enough to run any upgrade you throw at it, including a second graphics card. At the price Newegg was selling this PSU buying now was the right option. In the UK they are selling in pounds for what you paid in dollars (with the mail in rebate).

Thanks for the info :) That's good to know, because in my other comp I've got a CM650w with 3x 12v@22A, and I was wondering if that was enough. You've answered my question before I asked it :)

Got the card today :)

In my Phenom 9550 quad-core, MSI SLI-V2 (nForce 570) mobo, with 4gb pc5200 dual-channel, it ran Crysis with dx9 ultra-high hack at 1280x1024, 2xAA at playable 20+ frames. Benches on High at 40fps.

I'll put it in this computer when the PSU gets here tomorrow and post the specs.

Although I may be replying to myself... :)

I put the PSU and 4870 in this 4200+ today and got the same frames on ultra high bench :) (about 22.5) with the card clocked at 790/1100

So far as I can tell the CPU is not holding it back because the FPS is affected when I OC the card (from 19.5 to 22.5 with a 40mhz OC)

Thanks :)

Hmmm nicely done :D

When you are gaming try keeping CPU-z and taskmanager in the background. Alt+tab out of the game after a few minutes and take a look at the logs to see which was at 100%. That's most probably your bottleneck.

is the powercolor hd 4870 stable because ive heard that it can become unstable very easily after a few hours of gaming. As for PSU i have a Corsair 620W HX Modular which i think is enough if your not going to use crossfire

I can run Crysis @ VERY HIGH with around 30-80fps outside, inside I get around 160fps.

4870 512MB Q6600@stock.

That was sarcasm, right?