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I have an Optiplex GX620 SFF tower. I don't think I can replace the PSU, so what's the best graphics card I can use with that setup? Currently, I've got a P4 3.4, 2GB of RAM, and a Radeon x600 SE.

Keeping my first post short and sweet. Sorry 'bout that.

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According to Dell, the mini tower has a 305Watt PSU...Which is the bad news. The good news is that Dell PSUs are actually quite good, particularly on the importaint +12v rail.
The best you can put in without messing around with the PSU is the HD4670, it only draws 48Watts under load so needs no external connector, taking all its power from the PCI-E slot.
And it`s no slouch at lower resoloutions for games either!

Reply to coozie7

I didn't see a 4670 on Newegg. Which one of these would you recommend?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] d&name=ATI

Reply to tinkyXIII

You have 22amps @ 305w continious power, not so lousy for what you have.

------------------------------ P35-DS3L Rev 2 bios F9C l E8400 @ 3.6Ghz @ 1.232v l OCZ Vendetta 2 /LGA775 Bolt-Thru l 4GB G.Skill 8800PI@1000mhz 4:5 @ 1.87v l WD3200AAKS 320GB l Evga 8800GTS 512 l X-Fi Xtreme Music l Corsair HX520 l Antec Sonata III 500 l Vista32 SP2 l Win7 X64 7600
Reply to kpo6969

I meant lousy more in the sense of not being able to put a bigger one in. It may be getting up in years, but I still love this little thing.

Reply to tinkyXIII

People have run 8800GT's with that same psu.

If you are limited to low profile that makes it a bit tougher. The nvidia 9500gt is a decent card without a power connector. Newegg has a couple low profile versions.

Reply to DiscoDuck

since your cpu will be holding you back quite a bit, i'd suggest the sparkle 9600gt. anything more will just be a waste

------------------------------ E7200 @ 3.1Ghz @ 1.06v
Abit P35-E
Zotac 9600GT
6GB DDR2 800
Reply to blackwidow_rsa

The 9600 GT is tempting. Maybe I could finally play Fallout 3...

Thanks everyone!

Reply to tinkyXIII

The GX620 "SFF" uses a 275 watt 17 amp psu, the mini tower uses the 305w.

Reply to Delluser1

I can never keep those acronyms straight! I have the mini tower then. thanks for the clarification!

Reply to tinkyXIII

If you have the mini tower you can upgrade the psu with almost any standard unit, and you don't need a low profile video card.

Reply to Delluser1

+1 for the 4670. you should be able to run it without problems.

------------------------------ ECS A780GM-A, Phenom II x3 710, 4GB Corsair @800Mhz, HIS Radeon 4850, Seagate 7200.11 500GB, Auzentech X-Plosion 7.1 Cinema, LiteOn DL-DVD w/Lightscribe, ASUS TA-863, OCZ StealthXStream 500W, Samsung Syncmaster T240, Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Reply to Nik_I

Just to clarify, my tower is the one in the middle:

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/ [...] _large.jpg

It doesn't seem large enough to accommodate a full-size card though...

Reply to tinkyXIII

That's the desktop model, no psu upgrade and low profile video cards

Reply to Delluser1

Ah gotcha. So am I still good for a Radeon HD 4670 or GeForce 9600 GT?

Reply to tinkyXIII

Should be able to run the 4670 with no problem, not so sure about the 9600gt though.

Reply to ohiou_grad_06

9600gt requires a 6 pin PCI-Express Power connector so I dont think you can run it :: looking at one right now to make sure::

also dont think it matters but there is no such thing as a low profile 4870 even thought newegg says they have one lmao

Message edited by HotRoderX on 02-28-2009 at 03:37:07 AM

------------------------------

http://valid.canardpc.com/cache/banner/514150.png

Reply to HotRoderX

9600GT will be fine. That PSU has >20A on the 12V, which easily will run up to around a 9800GT/4830.

------------------------------ Asus P6T deluxe
i7 965 @ 4.2GHz (200*21), 1.384V
12GB Corsair Dominator DDR3-1600 CAS 7
Reply to cjl

most 9600gt come with 6pin pcie power adapters. so either a 4670 for lower power or 9600 for better performance...

------------------------------ E7200 @ 3.1Ghz @ 1.06v
Abit P35-E
Zotac 9600GT
6GB DDR2 800
Reply to blackwidow_rsa

you should get one of these for your graphic card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817104054

it can power a gtx 260 and i heard it can even power a gtx 280 which is good

Message quoted 2 times

Reply to salabarria

salabarria wrote :

you should get one of these for your graphic card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817104054

it can power a gtx 260 and i heard it can even power a gtx 280 which is good

He would then have to remove his optical drive, or mount it outside and cut a hole in the case in order to wire it up.

Reply to Delluser1

I don't think I want to go to that extreme a level. I'm just looking for a better card than what's in there now. Truth be told, the computer will be passed down to my preschool age niece in a year or so.

Reply to tinkyXIII

salabarria wrote :

you should get one of these for your graphic card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817104054

it can power a gtx 260 and i heard it can even power a gtx 280 which is good

According to SLI zone the 300w version of that product (FSP x3) can handle a gtx295 .

The 450w could handle two gtx 260's

Reply to eppinizer

^ Total BS, I'm sure. lol

Message quoted 2 times

Reply to Bluescreendeath

Bluescreendeath wrote :

^ Total BS, I'm sure. lol

What is it that make's you sure ?

Reply to Delluser1

a 300w can power a 295 but a 450w can power sli'd 260 (which basically is a 285 on one card.) that makes no sense and screams bs.

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ E7200 @ 3.1Ghz @ 1.06v
Abit P35-E
Zotac 9600GT
6GB DDR2 800
Reply to blackwidow_rsa

Hello TINKY, sorry, did n`t spot the SFF part of your spec
I can`t see any useful low profile cards for gaming apart from this;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814162016

It`ll draw a maximum of 60W at full load (5A) while the 4670 draws 48W (4A) so I`d say you r`e good to go with the 275W PSU.

Reply to coozie7

blackwidow_rsa wrote :

a 300w can power a 295 but a 450w can power sli'd 260 (which basically is a 285 on one card.) that makes no sense and screams bs.

How is this BS ?
The GTX295 uses about 214 watts of power, shouldn't be a problem for a 300 watt dedicated graphics psu.
The GTX 260 uses 156 watts or less depending on the model, when run in SLI the power consumption does not double but for arguements sake let's say it does.
2 x 156 = 312 , how would that be a problem for a 450 watt dedicated graphics power unit ?

Reply to Delluser1

thats probably the old 65nm 260s and phased out already. the 55nm should have a lower draw

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ E7200 @ 3.1Ghz @ 1.06v
Abit P35-E
Zotac 9600GT
6GB DDR2 800
Reply to blackwidow_rsa

blackwidow_rsa wrote :

thats probably the old 65nm 260s and phased out already. the 55nm should have a lower draw

The 55nm's do have a lower draw, which is why I stated that consumption was dependent upon the model and used the highest power draw as an example.
Xbit labs put the GTX 260 55nm at 104 watts, two of them would run on a 300 watt graphics power supply.

Reply to Delluser1

Bluescreendeath wrote :

^ Total BS, I'm sure. lol

Why is this BS? Max load with SLI 260's will certainly not pass the 450w break point. Full 3d load on a single 260 is 191.2(according to http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 22-6.html)

I know the 450 wattage seems low but you have to remember that this is a dedicated GFX card supply.

Reply to eppinizer

One last question and I'll be done (I think): Which card do you recommend that won't be overkill coupled with my P4 3.4 and 2 GB of RAM? I keep thinking that a card like a 9600 will be bottlenecked too much with my other components.

Again, thanks for all your advice!

Reply to tinkyXIII

Does the PCIEx16 in your motherboard has max power limitation?
Mine is optiplex 320 and it limits my PCIE to be <25W.
I don't know if it will work with some graphic card which draws current only from the PCIEx16 only (i.e. HD4670.)

Reply to yayacool_sc

How would I check that?

Reply to tinkyXIII

I got this spec by google:
http://www.northwoodcomputer.com/F [...] hspecs.pdf
And it shows 25W limitation for my PCIex16 slot, so I would have some concerns using HD 4670.

What is the graphic card you ended up with?

Reply to yayacool_sc

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