OptiPlex 380 SFF Video Card problem

Hi Stoney321,

I'm surprised no one answered.  It's pretty simple.

Your OptiPlex 380 SFF has a ~235watt power supply.  The card you chose suggests a power supply of 400-500watts.

You're not going to be able to power much of a graphics card with the SFF power supply.  The big question is why do you want an add on graphics card?

With a google search, using: dell optiplex 380 sff graphics card, I found that someone put in a:
VisionTek Radeon HD 4350 Graphics Card - 512 MB RAM

But, that graphics card also suggests a 400watt power supply.  The graphics card won't use a lot of power until it is under a heavy load.

  And, every specific graphics card and power supply will have their own rating/use.
So, it is "possible" for one or a few people to have a stronger than spec power supply, along with also being lucky in having their specific graphics card needing less power than the spec.

Therefore, the above graphics card may work for some people, but it will also not work for everybody.  As Clint Eastwood said (yea, before my time also:-)) "Do you feel luck Punk?"
:)

My suggestion is to use a :
Nvidia GT 640 128-bit ddr3 video card (50 watts).

You might get away with
Nvidia GT 640 192-bit ddr3 video card (75 watts)
or
Nvidia GT 640 128-bit GDDR5 video card (75 watts)

You'd need to get the cards use from ebay.  I didn't see any new listed.
The cards range from ~$50+.

From Nvidia:

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gt-640-oem/specifications

The performance:
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GT+640

A good review of the GT 640:
http://www.anandtech.com/print/5969/zotac-geforce-gt-640-review-

Btw, you might also want to upgrade the case fan to a fan with more CFM (air flow).  It depends on many factors.  Imho, the 50watt graphics card should do fine.  The 75watt graphics cards might make that small case warm.  In either case, make sure that you allow for plenty of air flow and area around the PC case.  So, no throwing it against a corner, like I have a tendency to do with smaller PC cases. :)

Good Luck!

Thanks for the info.

Fill like a bit of an idiot, im sure i checked the power consumption of that card. Maybe i should have double checked :)

It's very easy to miss stuff like that.  Especially since many manufactures don't list the power requirements for their specific card.  Also, there are a few OptiPlex 380 models.

I did a quick search for a power supply upgrade for the 380 SFF.  I didn't find one.  But, there may be one.

Imho, the Nvidia card is a better choice anyways.  The Nvidia card has a videobenchmark of ~~1000)(?) (I didn't find a benchmark for the 128-bit card) verses ~760 for the AMD card.

But, I know that some AMD cards have some features that gamers like.

Good Luck!

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3515/t/19481200

The above thread has a list of the graphics cards that Dell has verified to work in your system.  You'd likely need to get them used from Amazon or from ebay.

Summary of a post by DELL-Chris M:
==================
Your motherboard only has one video card PCIe x16 slot. Your power supply is only 255w so you are limited as to what video card will work. These are the video cards we validated in this model =

3Y14F ATI Radeon HD4550, 512MB, 1DVI-I, 1 Display Port
C7MG0 ATI Radeon HD4550, 512MB, 1DVI-I, 1 Display Port, Low Profile
XC7P8 ATI Radeon HD3470, 256MB, 2 Display Port, Low Profile

There are several other video cards that only had the DMS-59 port that connects to a dual VGA or dual DVI cable.

You might look locally for a low end PCIe x16 video card but remember your power supply is only 255w.
==================

Is the power supply on the AMD list of recommended power supplies?

http://support DOT amd DOT com/en-us/recommended/power-supplies

From the specs, the SFF does support x16 PCIe

http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/desktops/optiplex-380/pds

Small Form Factor:
Dimensions(H x W x D) Inches/(cm): 12.4 x 3.7 x 13.4 / (31.4 x 9.3 x 34.0)

Expansion Slots:

1 low-profile PCIe x16
1 low-profile PCI

It might be a BIOS issue.  But, all graphics cards support the baseline VGA mode that is used in install.
If you have a recovery DVD, you could try to just boot off the DVD to see if the graphics works.  Do not do a recovery or anything else.  Just boot to see if the graphics card works in VGA mode.

Iirc, the BIOS will try a higher resolution on the initial boot up display.

I know that Dell has had some BIOS and video card support issues in some PCs.

The last thing I can think of is to make sure that you have the latest BIOS for your machine.

Good Luck!

So i decided to stick a 600w spare psu in and the graphics card still not working.

Maybe there is something wrong with the pcie slot? 

Did you ever find an answer to this? Running into the same problem with a GTX 770.

Could not get it working so had to get a different card in the end.

Ended up getting this card which worked.

ATI RADEON HD 6450 DDR3 512mb 102-C26405 DVI DISPLAY PORT PCI-E LOW PROFILE