The Dell stock 305w PSU will easily run cards "requiring" 350w.  I am using a 8600GTS on one of my computers (a 520, but close enough) with no issues, and one of the community members is actually using an 8800 with the stock supply.  I think I've even seen some posts from folks in your exact situation (521 with 8600GT) but you'd have to do a search to be sure.

I upgraded from the 7300 LE to an 8600 GT and decided on the XFX 8600 GT XXX, which is overclocked to 620 MHz.  It slipped right into the E521 with no problems.  It doesn't require and additional power input, has high energy efficiency, and works fine with the stock PSU.  Be sure to download the latest drivers from the Nvidia or XFX websites.  The 7300 LE is suitable only for paperweight services on my real desktop.  The whole process was 20 minutes and the difference substantial.  Shop around and you can get one for about $150; a very good investment.

I'm running the same thing on my system, stock 305w psu. Before I had X1300Pro that also stated 350w minimum.

thank god i found this thread! ive been stressing for 2 days ..- bought a ATI X1950pro 512 from ebay for my E521 , little did i know that it wouldnt fit on my PCi -E slot! ..i tried for a while slightly damaging that black clip that holds those silver panels which cover the slots (thats another problem altogether ) Im not much of an expert in these vid cards thats why i opted for that ATI card..without really knowing about this whole 2 slot card thing...but after reading some post here it seems i could go for Nvidia's 8600GT ..should slot in right? even though some gamers have dismissed this card slightly but im more interested in HD video, making good images. Does the 8600GT shiow good quality HD vids and images? or is ther better cards i could get for the E521?

 

thanks

I very pleased with mine. Vista WEI scores for graghics: aero 5.9, gaming graphics 5.6

So, I did go ahead and install the XFX 8600GT XXX....about 3 days ago and it has been fantastic!

I haven't turn off my rig since the installation and there hasn't been over heating problems yet.

Yes, I did also get 5.9 score and 5.6 for graphics.

The only thing is that the fan noise level is little too high and I'm thinking about getting Zalman GPU cooling fan for it(BTW, compare to my last 5 years old pc, E521 with 8600GT is still significantly quieter).

I have been playing C&C3 and Just Cause with max setting and they run great on Ultrasharp 1907FPV's native resolution. I haven't try F.E.A.R and CoH yet(these are running on my MacPro with 4G RAM, 512MB 1900XT GPU on a 23" monitor.  Max setting with no problems).

Anyway, now knowing 8600GT works great on E521, I highly recommend the card!

Just get the Zalman cooling fan when you pick up the card.

Have fun guys!

 

**************************************

E521

AMD X2 5000+ LIVE!

Windows Vista Premium

(2) 1G RAM at 677

(1) 16X DVD-RW

(1) 250G HD SATA2 at 7200RPM

(1) XFX 8600GT XXX

(2) UltraSharp 1907FPV

On board sound

Stock 305W PSU

 

XFX is the brand.  It's one of the better manufacturers of cards using Nvidia chipsets, along with EVGA and BFG Tech.  The specific card (XXX) is the XFX factory overclocked model.  There's also an Extreme model which is overclocked slightly less.

thats great John! i think i sall buy it..so the cooling fan is needed even if your just using the PC normally for internet and other multimedia task?  noise is something that im not used to..lest hope its not to bad lol . Im still trying to get a refund off this ebay shop ..once i get that (hopefully) i will buy the xfx 8600GTxxx ...ive seen other 8600GT but not XFX whats the difference?

 

thanks

Well fan noise level is not that bad. It just that when I close my window and my room is dead quiet, I kinda hear the louder fan spining noise. It doesn't seem like the fan is spining faster during the game play, but sometimes I hear change in noise level slightly bit and this could be right after the game to cooling it down...not sure. It's really ok, but I want this rig to be as quiet as possible by spending extra $35 or so on Zalman fan. By the way, Zalman fan is near silent.

 

When I had stock 7300LE(which has passive cooling grill with no fan), I coudn't hear any noise from the 12mm CPU fan and the PSU fan.

It took me like good 3 seconds, while I lean my ear near the case to hear slow spining CPU fan noise. I guess this is one of the good thing about Dell's BTX case. very very quiet.

I wil be getting Zalman sometime this week and I will let you guys know the result. Installation should be also very simple.

 

Guys, we all know that if we have beefy 600W PSU, we can all have 8800GTX OC(XXX or whatever) with 30" widescreen monitor. But, I'm not that extreme gamer and with E521's stock 305W PSU, I think that XFX 8600GT XXX is the best bet. It also fully support DX10 as well and works great with Vista. I was little concern about over heating issue, but there is no probem with that. The card is very much future proof with fairly good performance boost from having X1300 or 7300LE. Oh, it also supports 1080P Blueray, HD movies playback, in case if you are getting a BR ROM/burner in the future.

 

Get it now.

 

Cheers

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

E521

AMD X2 5000+ LIVE!

Windows Vista Premium

(2) 1G RAM at 677

(1) 250G HD SATA2

(1) 16X DVD-RW

(1) XFX 8600GT XXX 256MB

(2) UltraSharp 1907FPV

Stock 305W PSU

Thanks Rorsach! another name  i heard good reviews on was Zotoc 8600GT ..