Power supply insufficient for video card, system randomly shuts off?

I bought a Gateway (oops) DX4300-03. It came with an ATI Radeon HD 4650 1GB Card rated at 400 watts, but the power supply in the machine is only 300 watts.

I contacted Gateway support and I will have to ship them the computer for repairs but I was wondering should I ask them to give me a better power supply if it's causing problems?

After a few months the system just started randomly shutting off, as in the power light was still on but there was instantaneously no processor, fan, or display activity. Could the underpowered supply cause this kind of problem? Maybe inadvertently by frying the mother board or something?



TY for your responses!|||the problem is not the graphics card but the TV tuner card. this 300W psu would be sufficient without the TV tuner but with it the psu is too weak.



Gateway did a very poor job when configuring this PC. every technician should know that a PC with a quad core processor, dedicated graphics card and TV tuner cannot be powered with a 300W psu.



i would claim a 400W or 450W psu at their costs, it's 100% Gateway's fault.



added

you can disable the TV tuner in the device manager, but i don't think this will solve the problem completely (it will still need some power). my suggestion is

- disable the TV tuner in the device manager

- shut down the PC, then disconnect the power cord (there is probably a power switch on the back but remove the cord anyway)

- open the PC on the side and remove the TV tuner card. you probably have to remove 1 screw first, then pull out the card. touch the card only at the front and the back and wrap it in aluminum foil, this is to protect it from static electricity.

- reattach the side panel again

- reconnect the power cord (don't forget the power switch) and start the PC



if the PC does no longer shut off itself, you have the definite proof that the power supply is too weak.



p.s.

you can also remove the wireless card and the analog modem in case you don't need them. the procedure is the same as for the TV tuner.



the order of the extension cards in your PC from top to bottom is

1. graphics card

2. TV tuner

3. wireless card

4. analog modem|||I like the detailed answer that someone else gave, referencing the tv tuner. But I thought I might add...



While it's probably true that a 300W power supply is way too weak for your hardware, system builders like Gateway can get away with putting in power supplies that are JUST barely adequate for the hardware. What I mean is, it's not necessarily a bad thing to power a system that would normally require a 400W or whatever power supply with a weaker power supply like a 300W. What matters is how much power is required of each voltage rail, not how much total power a power supply is rated for. So in some cases, a 300W power supply COULD be OK for many systems that would usually require 400W.



However, regardless of ratings, it seems like the original power supply in your system is bad, given the symptoms you report. I doubt if it damaged anything, but the sudden shutdowns are a strong indicator that the power supply is probably bad.



You SHOULD request a 400-450W replacement from Gateway. This will accomplish two things. First, the replacement will likely last longer as it won't have to work as hard to power your system. Second, if there was a problem with the original, you do NOT want a replacement of the exact same model. So hopefully requesting a stronger power supply will also get you a better quality one.