noob PS question

[morellomre]

ok, lemme preface this by saying that all these topics blow my mind so i must be an ultra noob. ive installed a couple vid cards on my comp before but thats the extent of my hardware expereience. im looking to install another new vid card on my comp but im gonna need a new power supply seeing as my current is only 225w and the card i want is minimum 420. im not sure how to find out what kind of power supply i need. ATX? BTX? SFX? ATX12v? i have no clue where to begin. i have a dell optiplex gx270, im upgrading my geforce fx 5200 (dont laugh) to one of the new ati x1600 pros. a little help would go a long way. thanks for your time.

 

[pengwin]

my dad has an optiplex for work..i believe its full size ATX...


anyways.

u do know you have an AGP Slot..

now to answer your question.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104901


that should be fine.

 

[Rugger]

The one thing to check out is the layout of the back panel, i.e. location of fan and switches. Dell sometimes have a different layout and may require some modification of the cases back panel to accomodate the new PSU, i.e. fun with a dremel.

 

[morellomre]

i need a PSU with more power then the one stated above. 420 minimum suggested by the vid card manufactrer so im looking for about 450-500. any thoughts on this one: Sunbeam PSU. price seems a little low, so im suspicous, but the customer reviews are solid. also looking at this one Dynapower PSU. as far as the case goes, ive read that some 'alterations' have to be made. anyone have experience? how about a tool recommendation at least?

 

[waylander]

The x1600 doesn't pull all that much power and how much you need depends on the rest of your system as well. If 225w was powering your system fine with a fx5200 then you don't need to go all the way up to 450w, do you really think that the x1600 will pull 225w MORE than the fx5200?

Neither of those brands you have listed are considered that good and it really depends on how much you want to spend.

pengwin made a suggestion that will work but if you want more just in case and don't want to spend more than $50 then the best suggestion I can make is the thermaltake 430w. This is not the best so if you can spend $70 go with the antec 430w.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153023
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103928

 

[morellomre]

The x1600 doesn't pull all that much power and how much you need depends on the rest of your system as well. If 225w was powering your system fine with a fx5200 then you don't need to go all the way up to 450w, do you really think that the x1600 will pull 225w MORE than the fx5200?

Neither of those brands you have listed are considered that good and it really depends on how much you want to spend.

pengwin made a suggestion that will work but if you want more just in case and don't want to spend more than $50 then the best suggestion I can make is the thermaltake 430w. This is not the best so if you can spend $70 go with the antec 430w.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153023
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103928

just out of curiosity, what happens when its undersupplied? nothing more then a crash?

 

[morellomre]

the 400w FSP is only $7 more. i opened my comp up and i ahve a 250w. in there. even though the 350w sounds sufficient i think im gonna go with the 400w to play it safe. sound good?

 

[pengwin]

sure.

 

[waylander]

Ya, Fortron is a good maker and 400w should be plenty for your needs.

If your system is under powered then you could end up over extending and shorting out the psu but I wouldn't worry too much, more often then not you just have problems booting and random restarts. I really don't think that is an issue here though.

 

[morellomre]

thanks for your help, i ordered last night. hope it all works out. thanks again.

 

[pengwin]

good luck and let us know what happens.