PSU ? re Dell XPS P4 3.00 ghz

[ElderGamer]

Hi
I'm new to the boards. Thanks in advance for your wit and wisdom.

I want to get another year of gaming out of this rig and upgrade the 9800 pro graphic card to the HIS ATI x1950pro AGP 512 (purchased but returnable). The connectors dont match between the PSU and HIS 1950 (4pin molex to a 6 pin PCIe?) and I've read trying to force some match between the two is a bad idea.

This Dell XPS was ordered 05/2003. The original power supply dimensions are long and flat compared to the cube shaped psu's i see all over.

I have experience changing cards but not much beyond that.

Noobish questions?
If a psu replacement doesn't fit is it ok to have a psu that sits outside the case?
Is it possible use a second psu just for the HIS 1950?

Let me know if any other info would help.

Specs below.

Intel® Pentium® 4 3.0

MB: ACPI?

Level 1 (L1) cache: 8 KB
Level 2 (L2) cache: 512-KB

Memory: 1gb-non-ECC

Chip set: Intel 875P

DMA channels: eight

System clock: 533- or 800-MHz data rate

Video: AGP 8X
Display Adapter: Radeon 9800 Pro
Expansion Bus type: PCI and AGP
Bus speed: PCI: 33-MHz AGP: 133-MHz

AGP
connector: one
connector size: 172 pins
connector data width (maximum): 32 bits
bus protocols: 8x/4x/2x modes at 1.5 V

Power
DC power supply:
Wattage: 460 W
Heat dissipation: 1000 BTU/hr
Voltage (see the safety instructions in your Owner's Manual for important voltage setting information
fixed-voltage power supply—110 V at 50/60 Hz
manual selection and auto-sensing power supplies—90 to 135 V at 50/60 Hz; 180 to 265 V at 50/60 Hz; 100 V at 50/60 Hz for Japanese computers
PIN set to MB? 20/24?

PCI
connector: four (two open)
Creative Audigy Audio Processor
1394 Net Adapter Broadcom NetXtreme
connector size: 120 pins
connector data width (maximum) :32 bits

Interrupt levels: 24

BIOS chip: 4-Mb

NIC: integrated PCI network interface

Available devices
ATA-100 Ultra DMA hard drive, serial ATA drive, CD drive, DVD drive, RAID

 

[apache_lives]

you may need a new psu to power the card, but otherwise most of the cards come with a 6 pin to double molex power converter/connecter anyhow

 

[ElderGamer]

Thanks very much for the info. The Thermaltake looks to be the perfect solution and I just ordered it.

 

[apache_lives]

Problem with the adabter is they use 2 molex to create the single PCI-e connector. It's best to use a molex from 2 diffrent lines. Well Dell PSUs don't exactly have a lot of spair connectors on them.

i've ripped apart alot of psu's, all the power lines for the molex connectors are all soldiered to the same point so theres no real point in two seperate connectors etc - its all the same power