Computer hardware question for streaming to HD Television

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Mike732

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Jul 25, 2014
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I plan on purchasing a refurbished Dell Optiplex 960 Small Form model. I also plan on installing an aftermarket video card with an HDMI output to stream movies to my television (PlayOn) . Would this be a decent setup, or should I get a higher end machine? Also, does anyone recommend an appropriate video card?

Specs:
Intel Core 2 Duo (3 Ghz)
2GB RAM
80GB HDD
Windows 7
 
Solution
M
The most important factors to consider are the following:

1) What's the power rating (in watts) of the current PSU (power supply unit) in your Dell?

2) Select a video card you'd like to purchase and find out the power it draws.

Unless you get a lower-end video card, you will probably have to replace the Dell's PSU with a beefier one. However, the good news is that you don't need a powerful video card to pipe video to a TV, a very low-end one will work well. Just get a relatively newer low-end card, so that it will be power-efficient and not draw much power. That's the biggest obstacle with adding video cards to old mass-market business PCs like yours, they size the PSU so that it barely handles the equipment it ships with...
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Thelps

Thelps

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Feb 20, 2013
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Your deciding factors will be what kind of videocard you are looking at.

Dependent on the card you may need to:

- Get a larger case (some video cards are quite large)

-Get a more powerful PSU (some videocards draw a lot of power)

Do you have your eye on any specific Graphics Card?
 
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mbreslin1954

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Nov 27, 2010
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The most important factors to consider are the following:

1) What's the power rating (in watts) of the current PSU (power supply unit) in your Dell?

2) Select a video card you'd like to purchase and find out the power it draws.

Unless you get a lower-end video card, you will probably have to replace the Dell's PSU with a beefier one. However, the good news is that you don't need a powerful video card to pipe video to a TV, a very low-end one will work well. Just get a relatively newer low-end card, so that it will be power-efficient and not draw much power. That's the biggest obstacle with adding video cards to old mass-market business PCs like yours, they size the PSU so that it barely handles the equipment it ships with, adding a video card that might draw an extra 100 watts was not in the design and build consideration.
 
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