does this work?

[Gravity_1]

well i want a new gpu and are looking to upgrade to a new one. Ive been saving for quiet some time now and just wondering if this could work.
I have a pc with a 375watt power supply and want a gpu that will work with it. First i was looking at a nVidia 7950gx2 but found out that my mobo's BOIS cant run it, then i desided to look at the one just sly of that one. This is a 7900gtx and i was just told bad news by dell technical support that my pc cant run the card im looking at now because of incifiecent power. so this really pissed me off more then finding out that the 7950gx2 isnt supported by my BOIS. so i was wondering/hopen that u guys could bring a smile to my face by telling me if the following linked GPU works with my current power supply. because they also told me that my PSU can not be changed. :x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143062

please tell me it will or i think i will cut myself or cry

 

[slicessoul]

Full specs of your rigs would help.

In general, branded rigs like DELL are made with their own specs and design. They don't use a street market PSU standard size and their power only enough to power up the peripherals in the rig not more not less, and this is the little minus of the branded rig because you have only a little chance to upgrade it or maybe no chance.

Sorry about that dude. But we will see about your specs first.

 

[Gravity_1]

i dont quiet understand your reply but i have an XPS 400.


Intel 945P chipset with intel pro internet and RAID controll
2.8 ghz pentium D prossesor
1gb of dual channel ram
160gb hard drive
6800 nVidia GeForce 256mb GPU

if these are not enough specs to help me out then see the following link.
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps400/sm/specs.htm#wp1053343

now if that link doesnt help u then i dont know what else to say.

 

[slicessoul]

I can understand why DEll support said that you don't have enough power on your PSU. 375 watt is really not enough for 7950 or 7900. Those display cards draw lots of power. So you need 450watt power supply or 500 watt to be safe with more than one rail in their 12v. for ex. : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103940

Your mainboard support PCI express x16, so it's mean that PCI express display card will run on your rig.

Can you open your rig's case ? can you see the Power Supply unit ? what's the measure ?

 

[Gravity_1]

the only thing that i can see r these as followed

Model N375P-00
Input 100-120V ~11.4A
200-240V~6.1A

Output +5V
375w max

Max combined power on +5V and +3.3V is 150w


"then ther are a bunch of timmings that there r no buttons on my keyboard so i cant till u them but ill give u some links and hope they help sry."
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps400/sm/index.htm

click the links at the top
gota run now so im cutting this short

 

[slicessoul]

This is the power capacity of the Power Supply Unit (PSU).

What you need to know is the measure/dimension of this PSU.
I give you a link to antec power supply specs : http://www.antec.com/specs/NeoHE500_spe.html
Look at the dimension unit size. They are measured in inch and cm.

What you can do :

You gave me the manual of your XPS, you can look at the point removing your Power Supply Unit. Go do it, take out your PSU. Then measured it. Does your PSU has the same dimension ? Check how many screw it have ?

This Antec PSU has 4 screw.

If the dimension are the same, you are good to go to change the PSU.

If you are still doubt, another alternative is :
Call DELL support, then ask a Power Supply Unit which has 450 - 500watt.

 

[mesarectifier]

It's a Dell so, as others have said, it will require a bigger PSU for pretty much any upgrade.

Things to check are -

- Is the case the right size for the new PSU?
- Does the motherboard have a proprietary ATX socket?

Dell don't design systems to be upgraded, they design them as new units to be replaced by newer units.

 

[bigsby]

Full specs of your rigs would help.

In general, branded rigs like DELL are made with their own specs and design. They don't use a street market PSU standard size and their power only enough to power up the peripherals in the rig not more not less, and this is the little minus of the branded rig because you have only a little chance to upgrade it or maybe no chance.

Sorry about that dude. But we will see about your specs first.

I have a Dimension 5150, and I can say that they give enough to power up the peripherals, no more, actually most of the time it's less. 310 watts is definetally not enough to power a prescott and an x600. They undercut it as much as they can, so they can save a buck here and there.

You may not be able to get a 7900gtx or anything uber special with that power supply, but if you can't get a new PSU, you can get a 7600GT. Not quite as fast but it doesn't need much power at all.

I heard that there are places that actually build PSUs custom fit for retailer systems, like Dell and Gateway. I can't remember where I saw it, but I saw it somewhere. I'm sure if you googled... well something, you'll find it. I know that my PSU is definetally not a normal size and shape. It's a BTX case as well, so it has different things as well, like an 8 pin cpu power cable instead of the 4 pin.

 

[slicessoul]

Dell don't design systems to be upgraded, they design them as new units to be replaced by newer units.

Yep that's correct. That's the bull$*#t of branded rigs.

IMO, All ATX mainboards has a standard ATX socket. Old ATX with 20 pins and newer ATX with 24 pins. Those branded companies must follow the rules. They can change the shape and/or size of PSU, but cannot change the connector. Well, i can say this because i had some branded rigs before (and i hate them so much). Compaq, DELL, Packard Bell, HP they design their own boards, PSU etc but the connector always the same. Chances for upgrade are very small.

 

[slicessoul]

I have a Dimension 5150, and I can say that they give enough to power up the peripherals, no more, actually most of the time it's less. 310 watts is definetally not enough to power a prescott and an x600. They undercut it as much as they can, so they can save a buck here and there.

Yep they undercut everythings. They can save their bucks, but you can't. That's the strategy.

I mean, what's happen when a computer doesn't have enough power ? they make problems, right ? So, when you have problem, what you'll do ? Call the Support Center then they asked you the send your rigs back to them or they will try to solve your problem by the telephone (which is not free), they will try repair it, could be getting better or could be getting worse, then you have to pay them again for their service. Problem Solved and going round and round and round...

 

[Gravity_1]

ok well im not going to deal with that $^!T. i dont want to spend all my money on a pc its completly pointless unless ur rich, which im a hell of a long ways from. I mean like out of this world a long ways from. so either it works or it doesnt. so now do u think it would be worth getting new ram, cpu or GPU? Pick Only one, which one the most important for gaming?

ram needs to stay under $200 for a pair of 2gb if thats what i should get.
CPU needs to be Pentium D 3.6 or higher and stay under $500
graphics card is another story, so which one is better an ATI 1900XTX 512mb or a nVidia 7900gtx? Support ur answers please! TY

Or do u think i should just start putting money away for a custom pc?

please and thank u!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mesarectifier]

Don't put your money away for a 'custom PC' (as in Alienware/FNW), build it yourself.

What you've specified there (GPU, CPU and RAM) is - sans the motherboard - pretty much a new system anyway.

I won't advise you on parts as I don't really know the US price structure too well, but the 1900 should come down in price when the 1950 actually hits shops.

 

[slicessoul]

For gaming, you need everything (IMO, that's why technology is advancing).
Most of games will be very happy with 2 gigs RAM and it help you to gain more fps. Same like display card. High end card give you the most impressive graphics and fps in the high resolution including anti aliasing, HDR, SM3 and other features. same like CPU, more faster CPU, more faster the loading of the game and it help you to gain more fps too. The conclusion is, they are depending each other, they are working together.

For ex.: You bought a high end display card (7900GTX), but your processor, let's say, Pentium 4 2.6 gigs, your processor are bottlenecking the graphics card. You can still play the games in high resolution but with some hiccups or vice versa.

If you think about custom PC, what'll you do with your XPS ? Sell it ? yeah, can be a good idea, you can have some money to start to build your custom PC. IMO, why not ? Custom PC gives you more experiences than branded.

I don't know your budget, but If you really want to go to build your own custom PC, then this is just a small comparison from newegg.com :

RAM DDR2 2 Gigs : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227124

CPU : You can get AMD X2 or Pentium 4 Core 2 for less than 250$. You can check it in newegg.com too. Another 250$ you can find a nice mainboard like ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI.

I was proud with ATI, but things changed, I love nVidia now. For a comparison, you can see the VGA chart in tomshardware. I think 1900XTX beat 7900GTX in some benchmark or vice versa, but again IMO, they are really a good cards.

Get a good case, antec, thermal take, there are lots of good branch cases out there.

Get a good Power Supply Unit, 480 - 550 watt is enough.

Get a Harddisk Drive, let's say, Seagate 320GB 7200.10. it cost you around 120$, maybe less.

Get a Soundcard, Audigy 2ZS, or X-Fi from Creative. That's a f#*king fine soundcard.

I hope i'm giving you a little point of view on custom PC. Well, you'll need to spare some of your times to get those peripherals. You need to compare everythings. In another way, when you build your custom PC, you won't have a support center like a branded PC.

PS. : Custom PC i mean a DIY PC. Sorry i mixed it.

 

[Gravity_1]

theres a problem though, this problem doesnt involve u but i cant sell my pc. My mom wants my pc that i have now if i decide to get a new one, so it will be a while if i want to save up for a custom which is why i kinda dont wont to quiet yet. Cusidering that i just got this pc around christmas time.(last year) so if i can just stick to upgrade that would be great, but im haven problems finding ram for the pc i have now. There r sertant kind that work with my pc and here r some of the specs for u. Only the following ram will work no others.

DDR2 400MHz (PC2-3000)
DDR2 533MHz (PC2-4300)
DDR2 667Mhz (PC2-5300)

i dont know what the timings on ram means, along with CAS latacy, or voltage if u could explain these a little bit for me that would be great.
if u dont want to explain but u want to help show me a link to some fast ram with the specs from above, thanks!

and if some one could tell me if the following specs r good enough for gaming that would help to, but remeber that im getting a new GPU. HOPEFULLY :lol:

2.8ghz pentium D prossesor
1 gb (2x512mb) of ram
6800 nvidia 256mb GPU (this is what im upgrading right now)
160gb seagate 7200rpm hard drive

is ther anything that im missing let me know, along with if this is good for gaming.

 

[slicessoul]

According to your memory specs, you can only use DDR2 533 or DDR2 667. But i don't see the memory voltage support. Standard voltage for DDR2 is 1.8v, but some of DDR2 memories using, 1.9v-2.3v.

Short explanation, timings is latency. Lower timings equal more faster the memory and more voltage they need.

first of all, do you know which DDR2 memory you are using now ? is it the 533 or 667 ? I think you can see this in BIOS, or you can use Sisoft Sandra to see it.

a sample of DDR2-667 memory which, i think, match with your computer specs :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220095R
It's cheap, standard DDR2 voltage 1.8v, and timing's, well i can say it's good enough.

 

[Gravity_1]

i have 533MHz DDR2 running at 1.8v but my first priority is get a new GPU so yah... the new ATI 1950xtx is out and its cheaper then a nVidia 7950gx2 and the ATI card has DDR4 but the only problem is that i dont know if its better then the 7950gx2 ill give u the link and can u tell me which one's the best? or tell me which one's better for windows vista. if u have an opion on what i should get let me know.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/08/23/ati_radeon_x1950xtx/

also do u know how to overclock things(GPU or CPU) because u sound like u know alot about PC's. If u know how to overclock can u tell me a good overclocking program thats free and how to use it. :lol:

hope u can help, but i think u can
thx

 

[slicessoul]

I just see this review, thanks for the link (i read tomshardware everyday though). It's interesting. They beat each other. ATI made a nice breakthrough with its memory. But soon Nvidia will follow, or make another breakthrough...then ATi make another breakthrough and so on and so on and so on...

If you ask me about which display card is the good one, well, i can't give you the precise answer, sorry. ATi and Nvidia are good cards maker, they made their own breakthrough, capabilities and features, it's a competition for them. Now it depends on the applications, lets say, GAMES and most important BUDGET. Yes, I love GAMES, some games are optimized for ATI and some for Nvidia, if you look carefully on benchmarks result, you'll see that one time ATI win and one time Nvidia win. But mostly the games will run on both cards. But BUDGET ? this one i can't afford. 500$ or more display card just look too much for me. Besides that, technology will always advancing, as long as peoples still like playing Games, so there will be always a new and more advance graphics cards will born. Maybe today the benchmark said that 1950xtx is the best one, Nvidia will make another breakthrough soon...i don't know what... so the point is : You've got your budget, make sure your PC will run together with the card, you check everywhere for the benchmarks and comparison. If you are sure, then buy it. When you'll see another cards born, just don't regret it, then you can say you got a GOOD card.

Just you know, I'm using Asus P5P800SE mainboard, Pentium 4 D 930 3.0GHz, NVidia 7800GS AGP, 1 Gb Corsair ValueSelect RAM, 320GB Seagate 7200.10, Audigy2 ZS Soundcard, Plextor DVD-Writer, Aopen DVD-ROM, CoolerMaster RealPower 550watt Power Supply and a bended casing which i never close it. I'm playing Half Life 2, Ghost Recon, Battlefield 2, Hitman, Call of Duty 2, FEAR and some of tycoon/sim games. Those games runs very well on my PC with 1280X1024 resolution and high settings. I feel comfortable and enough with this PC, and i won't upgrade it in a 2-3 years. Windows Vista will run very well in this PC, i already tried the beta version. I'm just glad to see the technology is advancing.

Are we still talking about finding graphics card for your Dell XPS 400 ?
Or maybe you'll start to build your own build PC by begin with buying this 1950xtx ?

Overclocking can be done in several ways but the result is depending on several aspect too. Does your BIOS support it, does your mainboard support it, does your PC have a good power supply, do you have a good memory and processor, do you have a good cooling device and the last thing do you have guts to do it ?
If you do have good aspects and guts then do it with patience, just don't regret when you fried your processor, corrupting data on your HDD, malfunctioning mainboard and other problems, and be very happy and more careful if you are accomplished the overclock.

You can do an overclock by BIOS or by software such as Clockgen for overclocking CPU, and Powerstrip for VGA card. For processor, what they do is changing the front side bus of the CPU or changing the multiplier of the CPU into more higher but it's because most of processor are locked on their multiplier, so they will only play on front side bus.
For VGA card, Nvidia has it's own overclocking software, it is integrated on their drivers, usually they are hidden, but you can open it easily by using Coolbits registry. You can change your GPU clock and Memory clock easily.
I heard, Ati has the same features on their driver for overclocking.

I overclocked my Pentium 4 D 930 to 3.5Ghz, and my 7800GS to 425/1400Mhz. But i don't have guts to let them like that, i feel safe and better with their manufactured clock.

BTW, thank you for the compliment, i do know things about PC but i still need to learn a lot more.

 

[Gravity_1]

yes i am still talking about my xps 400. my confidence in dell has returned because somepeople in the dell xps formule told me that even though the power supply in my pc says that it is only 375watts its continuis power is higher then some of the 650watt power supplies. also some one that has the same pc as me had a 7950gx2 in their pc and they say it works great. the only complaints that i have of this card is that it could be a little cheaper. Its even out of my budget but i look at it this way " if i can wait calmly until i get enough money for a card like the 7950gx2 then ill of gone through train myself by not buying anything else, then if i decide i dont want the card once i have that much money then i can have some extra money for the next thing that i want! it will also last me that much longer)

but yes i agree it is really expensive

now about overclocking, if ur not sure about over clocking then i think if absolutly need it one day which i dont right now, but if i do some day ill get it profisionaly done and just watch what they do.

the only reason why im upgrading now is for FEAR, Windows Vista, and this new game thats coming out by Crytec called Crisyis! That game looks like it takes alot of GPU power so im preparing so i get the most out of that game. i bet you know about this game and if u dont, i recomend that u check it out :!:

 

[slicessoul]

It's very interesting to know that a 375watt PSU can hold a continuous peak load until 650watt, where did it get the other 275watt ? Besides that, why they don't put this 650watt nominal in the specs ? Why it's only for XPS 700 they put the nominal 750watt in the specs ? is it a market strategy ? if yes, more people will look to XPS 700 right ?

My PSU can't do that, 550watt PSU only have continuous peak load until 650watt. And when my PSU reached its peak for somekind of time, it will automatically shut down.

If you are sure that your PSU will hold the load, so keep going...choose a good card for you.

 

[megame255]

the only reason why im upgrading now is for FEAR, Windows Vista, and this new game thats coming out by Crytec called Crisyis! That game looks like it takes alot of GPU power so im preparing so i get the most out of that game. i bet you know about this game and if u dont, i recomend that u check it out :!:

If the main reason you're looking to upgrade is for vista and games that haven't even come out yet, then it'd be wise to wait for DX10 cards to come out. In the meanwhile your 6800 should do just fine for just about any game. If you upgrade now for the future, when the future comes, there'll be video cards for the same money you would pay for any card now, that'll make your new one look worse than your gf6800 does now in comparision.

 

[Gravity_1]

Yes that is correct that is the market stratagy! Dell wants more people (mostly rich people) to buy there most expensive product. Kinda stupid considering that Dell cant keep up with making enough XPS 700's. There backorder so far into the year that it would be better to order a dumbass Alienware pc. If Alienware beats ur arival time u should be ashamed of ur company! :lol:

The Dell XPS 700 has two versions actually. one with a 750watt power supply and the special edition XPS 700 with a stagering 1kilowatt power supply!
But the only people that can aford that kind of PC r the kind that should go jump off a cliff!

Now about DX10 when r those cards going to be coming out because if i could just get a DX9 card and when Vista comes out just update the driver for the GPU would that be possible? Because if those DX10 cards dont come out till around Christmas time, i dont think i could wait that long(im kind of the impatiant one) so like if its comes out in like a month i would say yes because at this time i dont even have enough money for a nVidia 7950gx2 or an ATI 1950xtx so thats something to consider.

If there not coming out for a while then i would get more ram or a new CPU(what ever one is most important for gaming). and how much more r the DX10 cards because if there even more money then ill pass on that ofer, because these GPU r out of my price range already but im bing patiant and saving up.

sry for the long post!

 

[slicessoul]

750 watt ? 1 kilowatt ? damn...do you think you'll need those PSUs ?
How much it costs a complete rig of XPS 700 ? 3000$-3500$ ?
I still have not insterest on branded PC though.

With 3000$-3500$ i can make more better rig than dell then i will ask them to have a face to face 24 hours benchmark and we'll see who will win. But i wish i have those 3000-3500$ first... :lol:

As i can understand, you are still doubt about your XPS 400 right ? you are still doubt to buy which one will pleased you and good for your rig but you have big ambitions about playing games... . If it was me, i'll keep my money and be happy with my rig. When the time's come...LETS SHOPPING !!!!

btw, what made you buying that XPS ?

 

[Gravity_1]

actually believe it or not i didnt want a brandname pc! i wanted to build my own pc but at the time i didnt know enough about pc's so i went with a brandname pc. The reason i went with dell is because there not overly expensive! I was looking at an Alienware but i got more with this pc then i would of got with the fags at Alienware. Voodoo, Midwest Falcon PC, and alot more were out of the price range. At the time i was trying my best to keep it close to $1000. So i liked the XPS 400 so i got it thats why i chose Dell. If i get rich before i get my next pc, which i doubt will happen, but if i do ill be getting a Voodoo! :twisted: there pc's kick ass. but ill probly just buy new parts along the way and just plop them in a pc. but ill probly be keepn this pc for along time, at the rate of car insurance going up.

As for the price range for the XPS 700 they start at around $2270 and goto what ever the hell u can afford, event the starting price is too much money for me! the only way i could afford this is if i win a FEAR tournament. Theres no games that ther r no good players in! All the stupid rich fags take all the money and leave nothing for the less forchinit! its stupid!

Take for instance Fatal1ty, this guy like smokes the whole compitision and hes already got his own fn motherboard company, what a greedy bastard.
Same with all these other gamers that have like dual 7900GTX. As sone as something new comes out they have to get the new ones. These types of people should just go jump off a clif. Theres people out there less Fortunate then my that probly greave about this all the time but nobody listens to them! so for those of u that read this that always have to have the best of everything i say "go fn kill urself!" :twisted:

that is all i have to say good day to u all

btw i dont care if any words r mispelt, no offense to u Slicessoul.

 

[slicessoul]

btw i dont care if any words r mispelt, no offense to u Slicessoul.

NONE TAKEN.

JUST DON'T BURN YOURSELF. RELAX 8)

There are some people who has some opportunities to always change their hardware easily. I don't know is it because they received too much salary or they are working in IT or maybe another reasons. As i was working in IT shop before, i always had a chance to try new hardwares and made a review about them which is fun. I never closed my computer's case, everyday there was always something change. But fun is not always fun, sometimes i had to take some money from my pocket too...
Lets CHEER UP, I'm Happy with my rig, i think you can do that too, Your rig is quite enough to play games such as FEAR and run Windows Vista.

 

[Gravity_1]

if my rig is so fine and dandy then tell me why its always crashing. My games crash, some of my hardware crashes, and sometimes i even get the blue sceen of death. I have no idea whats causing this, is it the CPU the ram or the GPU? i think its the CPU but i dont know.