Weak Power Supply

Question

I ordered my Inspiron 530 with no separate video card, planning on purchasing a higher end video card.  After receiving my computer I saw it had only a 300W Power Supply which is far less than the minimum required for most video cards.  I also noticed that the PS connectors are not industry standard which makes upgrading the power supply difficult.   I was looking at a Radeon 1950 XT or a comparable nvidia card but they both require a larger PS.  What video upgrade options do I have?

SR45 · Answer

Power Supply Most Often Asked Question......

Dell's power supply is normally underrated, to read the mean average. Reason for this is that Dell wants to be on the conservative side for those that may over do things with their systems. The peak is much higher, and a Dell system can handle many cards that the card manufactures suggest a higher required power supply. Card manufactures list a higher wattage number than is really necessary for their cards, to be more liberal for those individuals that overload their systems with additional hard drives, optical drives, pci slots filled up. This is normally not for those that have a stock system.

This has been an ongoing topic for many years, with the same answer on this forum. Your systems stock power supply will handle many cards just fine. Others have this same system, same power supply and upgraded their cards without issues. Some members may weigh in with their experiences to prove this point. I had a stock 250 watt power supply that handled very well a video card that suggested a 300 and one 350 watter. No issues to report. Many other members have the same experience. You will notice on this forum that this question has been asked on a daily basis.

I prefer the nVidia cards over a ATI card.....

Cards that will work and have worked on that power supply from Dell

DirectX 9 cards

1. 7600 GT

2. 7900 GT

3. 7950 GT Very Good

Power supply upgrade for the below higher ended directx 10 cards

1. 8800 GTS (Two listed are the better ones for your system that will fit)

2. 8800 GT ( On sale shortly)

No power supply upgrade needed for these mid level directx 10 cards

1. 8600 GTS Good card

2. 8600 GT (Fair to lower game setting card)

Message Edited by SR45 on 10-29-2007 07:39 AM

maro-sorcerer · Answer

I have the same dilemma. I have a Dimension 5150, 305W PS.   I would very much like to upgrade my video card to EVGA 8600GTS but I'm also worried about the additional '6 pin PCIe power connector'.   Another thing, does the Dimension 5150 motherboard support SLI? I'm planning to get one 8600GTS for now and probably get another after a couple of months for dual video card setup.

Nitzie · Answer

Thanks for your help.  I'm slowly but surely narrowing down the choices.  I do have one other question.  Among the mid-range 10X cards you mentioned was the 8600GTS.  When I look at the specs for that card I see it needs an additional '6 pin PCIe power connector' while the 8600GT uses just the power supplied by the PCIe slot..  I've seen this requirement for a lot of other higher end cards.  Since Dell does not use industry standard connectors, how do I provide the additional power to the 8600GTS card?

50pence · Answer

Hi, I have a 5150 ( E510 ) with an 8600GTS, I use a splitter so I can power the 6 pin PCI-e socket on the 8600 GTS from the Molex that powers the DVDR-W and DVD-Rom drives using a Molex to PCI-e connector.   I also have a Vostro (basically a black 530) and yes that has 15 pin SATA power connectors rather than Molex however I am sure you can get a 15 pin SATA to PCI-e power connectors.     Regards.

PapaSurf · Answer

Does the 8800gt really need an upgraded PSU? From most reviews, it seems like the total power draw is less than the 305 even at peak, and the 305 isn't even the maximum output of the Stock dell PSU.

maro-sorcerer · Answer

nitzie,   I've been looking at diferent options for a video card upgrade for quite some time now and it's been quite difficult. I finally narrowed my options down to the GeForce 8600 series. I wanted to get the 8600GTS because it is on top of the chart for Nvidia's mid-range gaming video cards. Now comes another obstacle with the power supply. If I had taken the time to research more about my upgrade options when I bought my Dell, I would have switched to a higher PS.   Anyways, I figured if I can use two 8600GTS in the future (SLI), I'd really get the most out of my PC. Only if I knew if my motherboard supports SLI or not.  :(

maro-sorcerer · Answer

50pence,   This is the video card that I'm planning to get: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3041061&Sku=E145-8602&SRCCODE=YAHOODF&CMP=SPC-YAHOO   It has specs that are a little bit higher than those that are shown on NVidia's website. It also requires 400W -- which is kinda huge compared to the 305W capacity of my DELL 5150.   How much power does your 8600GTS require? If it's the same 400W, then I'm good to go.

Nitzie · Answer

I don't really know how much power any of these video cards require.  I'm just going by the specs that are published.  Most require at least 350W and some require as much as 450W.  I just want to get the best card I can for my new computer.

50pence · Answer

My understanding is that a PCI-e motherboard can deliver 75w max and the PSUs are specced accordingly so hence cards that require more than 75w need the extra PCI-e connector(s). The 8600GTS draws around 80 to 85w so does not place much additional burden on the PSU. The quoted 350 / 400w PSU requirement for an 8600GTS is a nominal figure, also the Dell PSU's are known for being under rated.   I.e. no problem!   I would now consider the new 8800GT which - I think - should also be OK with the 305w PSU.

tigerwolf7 · Answer

In addition to what SR45 said, I want to add that Dell's PSUs *DO* use industry standard connections. They are *NOT* proprietary as one poster thought.

Nitzie · Answer

It is my impression that the industry standard connector is Molex, not the 15 pin connector that Dell uses.  In addition, the Foxconn MB (G33M02) is a modified version designed to use the Dell connector. I was told by Dell that I could not use an off-the-shelf PSU to upgrade my computer. Because this is the first new computer I've purchased in several years I could be wrong about this.  I'm basing my statements on info I've researched on the web.

50pence · Answer

Agree re connectors, Molex is a standard however 15 pin SATA are a new standard and Dell is moving that way.   The only issue I have is that I am not aware of a 15 pin SATA to 6 pin PCI-e adaptor.       Regards.

tigerwolf7 · Answer

I'm guessing you're seeing SATA power connections and thinking they're proprietary-they're not.

Dell's PSU is *NOT* proprietary, and it CAN be replaced with an off the shelf ATX model.

However the one they include is already pretty good, and you need to spend at least $80 or so to get something that's actually better (one poster keeps showing a $50 unit that's probably worse than the one that Dell ships with the system).

EDIT: Note also what SR45 said-you can already run many cards on the existing PSU. There's an excellent chance the Geforce 8800GT will work also, although we won't really know until someone tries it.

Message Edited by tigerwolf7 on 10-31-2007 09:19 AM

vgbox · Answer

Is there any chance of using an ATI HD2900 XT with an XPS Gen 4? Even if there is enough power, I would need to somehow graft a 2x4-pin connector on somewhere. And I can't even figure out how to gain access to the power supply. Everything else has these clever green pieces you can push or squeeze, but not this.

tigerwolf7 · Answer

That would work fine, but don't get it unless you can get it for super cheap. I'd personally add an 8800GT to that system.

Locked Topics – Desktops General

Weak Power Supply

Was this post helpful?