i just bought a video card today and i saw that it wants a 300watt power supply and all i have is a 200 (its a compaq its my first cpu that I bought my self) i installed it and it runs fine should i still get a bigger psu and what are some signs that its doing bad?

Power supplies are cheap and easy to replace. I say get the new one. You may not notice much as a general user, but overtaxing the power supply will generate more heat, and actually slow your machine down some as the more power hungry devices pull from the less greedy ones.

You can get a 300W for as low as US$19.99 after rebates of the shelf at CompUSA, or you can shop around on the internet

I threw a 500 Watt power supply in mine, and it'* made a huge difference. It is just a tuch loder, but not enough to be annoying

should i just get a 300watt one and will it hurt my mainboard when u up the wattage and does it have to be for amd processors?

You can go higher, it won't hurt anything, but you do need to see what kind of motherbaord you have. Most likely ATX. If unsure, most real computer stores don't mind you carrying the old one in to compare the connectors.

I would bet real money, though, that you are running an ATX motherboard. Most of them are now. To help determine this, when you shut windows down, does it turn off your computer, or just tell you it'* ok to turn it off? An what version of windows do you have? CPU stats would come in real handy as well.

ok thanx the cpu is about 8 months old so it should be an atx and im running win xp some stats are amd 1.67mhz, 60gig hd,512 ddr ram,266 fsb, and now a 128 mb geforce fx 5200 any others u need?

Sounds most definitely like ATX. If you can look, the easiest way to tell is where it plugs in to the motherbaord. One big connector, or two connecters side by side? The one big connector (ATX) will also have a small 4 pin plug to the mother board, but the big plug is the main identifier.

Just found this link. Might come in handy for ya

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/power/sup/index.htm

one big

ATX then. You can get pretty much anything you can afford then. Just remember, it'* kinda like a car battery, a little bigger than required is good. If your new card (which I've heard mixed reviews on) needs 300 watts, you may want to consider at least 350.

If you want to try and save money by mailordering, look at www.pricewatch.com. On a power supply, tho, I would recommend local, that way if it'* too loud for your taste, or whatever, it'* easier to return and try another one. I got the CompUSA branded one for mine, and it works great, even though I'm stuck with a Dell system.

300 seems to be the standard today. You can run pretty much a basic system with that. If you have more than 1 hard drive, and a few fans, maybe go up to 350.

It'* not the wattage that really makes the difference, its the voltage rails. There are 3 rails, 3.3v 5v and 12v. Under stress, these levels jump around and become unstable. A good power supply has rails that stay as close to those levels as possible. Increasing the wattage will make sure you have enough juice to keep those levels in good standing.

I have a 500W in my PC, only because I run a lot of stuff, and I have lights in here as well.

Brand name is a huge factor. Allied is the best brand for inexpensive, but great performing supplies. You could also pay extra, for Antec, Enermax, Raidmax, or Enlight. All very good brands.