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February 29th, 2012 09:00

Upgrading Video Card for Dell Dimension E510/5150

First off, yes I have searched the forums and all the posts I found are a couple of years old which is no surprise since it's a fairly old machine.  I currently have the Radeon X300/600/... video card that came with the machine.  I need to replace/upgrade the card.  I understand that the PSU is only rated at 305W.  That being said, am I correct in assuming that in order to upgrade the video card I am going to have upgrade the PSU?  Do I have to get a Dell PSU or can I buy say a Corsair ATX PSU that is 24-pin or 20+4 pin?  Is there a limit to the wattage of the CPU that the MOBO will accept/handle?  I was looking at a Radeon HD 6450 card but rather doubt that a 305W PSU will support it.  Perhaps an ancillary question is what is the best video card I can put in or is that a question simply governed by the wattage of the PSU?

Thanks.....

10 Elder

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46K Posts

February 29th, 2012 11:00

7gospodinwizard7

The type of video that can be installed is governed by the wattage of the power supply and the space available inside the chassis.

5150/E510 systems do not use a Dell proprietary power supply, you can install most generic ATX power supplies with either a 24-pin or 20+4-pin main motherboard power connector.

As the 5150/E510 has an open back panel, a power supply with or without the on/off switch can be used and can be purchased from most local or online computer stores.

A power supply with a minimum of two SATA power connectors is needed.

Corsair power supplies are good and are routinely recommended by the forum members.

Bev.

 

1 Message

February 29th, 2012 14:00

I just purchased a used 5150 last week & went through the same thing...  check this out - Visiontek ATI Radeon HD4350

www.amazon.com/.../ref=sr_1_1

...it's designed specifically for low watt power supply like the Dell 305W...  mine doesn't arrive until next Monday so I can't speak from experience but from what I have read it is a solid workhorse... will prob not run the newest games on high settings but for $30 - $50 it's definitely worth the money...  hope that helps

1 Message

May 28th, 2012 10:00

I would like to be able to play Diablo III with a Dimension E510. Have you had any luck figuring out what the best video card and power supply is for this rig? Thanks. 

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