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305 watt PSU - enough for a 4770?

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - 305 watt PSU - enough for a 4770?

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Long time reader/lurker here, and i'm sorry if this has been answered in the past.

As an owner of a Dell D E520 ..i know... plus a radeon x1350, i finally am ready to upgrade my GPU.

-305W (90 to 135 V and 180 to 265 V at 50/60 Hz). Play on my 1440x900 LCD.
-4 gig ram, 2.8 dual processor.

I was considering going for the 4770 (the 100$ range), the reviews read great, but the more i read, the more i'm worried about my power supply.
ATI officially lists 450 watt as the system requirement.
Also, seemed like my PSU wasn't strong enough for the 4850 sadly.

well, if the PSU is not enough for either cards, can someone recomend a good card for my weak PSU, or a good cheap PSU?

thank you very much in advance ppl.

PS. Is a cooling fans upgrade needed for any of these new G cards? especially if I plan to OC is in the future?

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I'd replace the PSU. Here's some suggestions:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817153023
$36 Thermaltake 430W (yes it will run the 4770)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817703017
$50 PC P&C 420W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371004
$60 Antec Basiq 500W

Reply to IH8U

I am in the same boat with a 300W power supply and will probably purchase the 4770 once it is back in stock. Just thought I would suggest the PSU that I will probably purchase to upgrade mine.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] air%20400w
$40 Corsair 400W

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to fpoama

thanx for the info

sigh... i guess i gotta spend a lil more than i planned.
there goes my plans for a new 1TB HDD, down to only 500 gb haha

BTW, would these PSUs be strong enough for a 4850, or 200-300$ cards if i plan to upgrade in the future?

thank you again in advance

Reply to LUCKYSTARWZ

fpoama wrote :

i guess we'll end up fighting over the damn limited number of 4770s that's never in stock

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to LUCKYSTARWZ

I think every PSU listed would be able to run the 4850 except maybe the Thermaltake, which is 430W but only has 18amps on the 12v. I would probably suggest a corsair 550w or a decent PSU around 600W if you wanted to upgrade to a much more power hungry card later on.

Reply to fpoama

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139008
good inexpensive psu sleeved cables single 30 amps 12 v line

Reply to marco324

Depends on how many amps you have on the 12v rail. Really though even if your computer does run it without poping the weak PSU would likely be stressed and have a relatively short life (hopefully not taking the whole system with it when it eventually dies). The Radeon 4670 uses less power so you could probably get away with just using that, again assuming you have enough amps on the 12v rail.

You could go with a 9500GT no problem (cept for it being a weak card of course ^_^), and possibly be fine with a 4670. I would upgrade the PSU to one of the suggested listed above for anything more though.

LUCKYSTARWZ wrote :

i guess we'll end up fighting over the damn limited number of 4770s that's never in stock

Newegg showed that the Sapphire 4770 was in stock today, but 5 minutes later I checked again and they were out of stock again... O.o

Reply to fpoama

sigh, wonder when this outa stock problem will be solved.
I was planning to get one from Sapphire from the good things i've read, but now I'll be happy to buy one even if it's from Dell.
that was a joke btw.

hmm... If I AM going to upgrade my PSU, I might just consider going the 4850 route, since the price is similar, available Right Now, and from the reviews i've read, a lil stronger than the 4770.
probably i'll buy a new fan too for the hell of it.

Reply to LUCKYSTARWZ

True, but since I got an HP and it is a mid-size tower and is short on space, the 4770 being around 1 inch shorter than the 4850 and also giving off less heat is nice. Plus I am not that heavy into gaming.

Message edited by fpoama on 05-27-2009 at 07:29:10 AM

Reply to fpoama

I also have a Dell Dimension E520 with the 305 Watt PSU and it has 22 amps total on the +12v rails. (264/12=22)

I have been running a ATI HD 3850 on it 24/7 since November 2007 and it has no stability issues so far. No BSOD or random crashes.

Also, you can only use a "single-slot" videocard. A "double-slot" videocard will not fit in the Dell Dimension E520, since it is Dell's version of the BTX motherboard and BTX case. If the HD 4770 with it's large heatsink has a shorter length than my HD 3850, it will probably fit in the case.

Your safest bet with your 305 Watt PSU would be a ATI HD 4670 because it only needs power from the PCI Express slot. The HD 4770 could run on your 305 Watt PSU, but I don't know for how long. The HD 4770 only uses 80W compared to my HD 3850 that uses 95W.

I would recommend getting a Corsair, PC Power & Cooling, or quality powersupply with at least 450 Watts and a minimum of 30 amps total on the +12v rails if you want to upgrade to a more powerful card. Maybe, a new motherboard and case if you want to use a "double-slot" videocard.

Message quoted 2 times
Message edited by aylafan on 05-27-2009 at 08:51:58 AM

Reply to aylafan

Yeah single slotted cards only, but Dell PSUs are solid. I've heard some people running 9600GT's in a Dell 280W PSU. There a member called "DellUser1" he has the most knowledge of Dell PSUs components and accessories

Reply to AKM880

aylafan wrote :

Also, you can only use a "single-slot" videocard. A "double-slot" videocard will not fit in the Dell Dimension E520

With a little bit of modding a dual slot card will fit;
http://contrvlr.no-ip.org:12300/us [...] pgrade.jpg

------------------------------ q9650 @ 4.050 | Asus Rampage Formula | 2x2 Corsair Dominators | WD Black 640 x2
EVGA GTX260 Core216 @ 686/1479/1103 | Antec TPN 750

Reply to Delluser1

thanx again for the info guys

well, from aylafan's experience, seems like 4770 with no PSU upgrade would be safe. at least for 2-3 years or so
AKM

I didn't think my 2.9 D dual core would bottleneck my new card... but i guess there's nothing i can do about that for now.

since most card reviews i've read r for "high" settings, IS a 4770 overkill for my processor and 1440x900 monitor?

Delluser1, love how you souped up the dell, (same model as mine), new psu, got rid of the ugly green casing, new cpu coolers etc.

Reply to LUCKYSTARWZ

Not mine, belongs to a member of the Dell forums.

------------------------------ q9650 @ 4.050 | Asus Rampage Formula | 2x2 Corsair Dominators | WD Black 640 x2
EVGA GTX260 Core216 @ 686/1479/1103 | Antec TPN 750

Reply to Delluser1

The 305Watt PSU Dell Dimension E521 can handle the ATI 4770 (512MB) easily. I replaced my old 7600GS with an ATI 4770 Club3d with succes, but you have to be ready to make some changes on your mobo. In order to make the graphic card click into the pci-e slot you have to replace the passive cooling on the mobo a bit higher. Eventhough the club3d card has a single slot cooler, it's still a lot of work to replace the old one. At first I wasn't sure if my PSU was strong enough to power up ATI's new 4770 GPU. As you know my PSU is the 305Watt version that goes with the Dell Dimension E521 and it doesn't have the new PCie cable to feed the new graphic cards. So I extended my molex cable and connected the molex to PCie converter. On full load the the Dell holds up well. Oh and no pain using my USB powered external drives. Let's hope it will be stable for the next 2 years.

Specs

Dell Dimension E521

CPU: AMD 4200 X2 (stock cooler)
GPU: ATI 4770 Club3d 512MB (stock cooler)
Mem: 4 GB Kingston value RAM
HDD: 160 GB Western Digital
---
Opticaldrive: DVDburner
Cardreader
3 fans
---

Message edited by DjoNage on 08-11-2009 at 11:54:20 AM

Reply to DjoNage

aylafan wrote :

I also have a Dell Dimension E520 with the 305 Watt PSU and it has 22 amps total on the +12v rails. (264/12=22)

I have been running a ATI HD 3850 on it 24/7 since November 2007 and it has no stability issues so far. No BSOD or random crashes.
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/6977/imgp1911a.jpg

Also, you can only use a "single-slot" videocard. A "double-slot" videocard will not fit in the Dell Dimension E520, since it is Dell's version of the BTX motherboard and BTX case. If the HD 4770 with it's large heatsink has a shorter length than my HD 3850, it will probably fit in the case.

Your safest bet with your 305 Watt PSU would be a ATI HD 4670 because it only needs power from the PCI Express slot. The HD 4770 could run on your 305 Watt PSU, but I don't know for how long. The HD 4770 only uses 80W compared to my HD 3850 that uses 95W.

I would recommend getting a Corsair, PC Power & Cooling, or quality powersupply with at least 450 Watts and a minimum of 30 amps total on the +12v rails if you want to upgrade to a more powerful card. Maybe, a new motherboard and case if you want to use a "double-slot" videocard.

I am trying to figure if a sapphire HD4770 will fit into that E520 space. it is a single slot card but with a tall central heatsink - has anyone tried it - don't want to buy & then have to return because it does not fit. my worry is that heatsink may foul MOBO components ?

I already have a PSU upgrade fitted.

Message edited by cybmole on 10-14-2009 at 05:24:35 PM

Reply to cybmole

[quotemsg=1944730,12,62159]I also have a Dell Dimension E520 with the 305 Watt PSU and it has 22 amps total on the +12v rails. (264/12=22)

I have been running a ATI HD 3850 on it 24/7 since November 2007 and it has no stability issues so far. No BSOD or random crashes.
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/6977/imgp1911a.jpg

Also, you can only use a "single-slot" videocard. A "double-slot" videocard will not fit in the Dell Dimension E520, since it is Dell's version of the BTX motherboard and BTX case. If the HD 4770 with it's large heatsink has a shorter length than my HD 3850, it will probably fit in the case.

quotemsg]

what make of 3850 is the one in the Dell E520 picture please- I cannot make out the brand name and many of the ones in on line shops look different + taller

Reply to cybmole

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