Power Supply - Single HD 5850

[Mark M]

Hello All,

Appreciate that there are several versions of this question (might be better placed in another section)but just looking for some quick feedback. Thinking of upgrading my Dell XPS 420 (bought back 01/2008).

Current spec:
XPS 420 PREMIUM Q6600 QUAD CORE 2.4Ghz
3GB DUAL CHANNEL DDR2 667MHZ
SINGLE 768MB NVIDIA GEFORCE 8800 GTX
425 WATT PSU (Assumed on some research)
WINDOWS VISTA HOME PREMIUM 32bit

Thoughts are to upgrade to 4-6GB RAM (should I replace all the RAM?), Sapphire RADEON HD 5850 (price point £216 and DirX11 seem to indicate a solid upgrade), and Windows 7 64bit (to maximise on the RAM).

Research I have done suggests that HD5850 is actually less power hungry than the 8800GTX (Maximum board power: 151 Watts vs 155 Watts)but is this the reality? Sorry I don't know what motherboard it has but is it likely I will have problems with that?

Any other thoughts on a doing the upgrade in a better way or indeed would it better to hold off and buy something in 12-18 months?

Any thoughts appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
M.

 

[shadow187]

It would seem that the 8800GTX is indeed quite power-hungry. I would still want to replace that PSU for a good $50 dollar model though. Corsair or OCZ will do you good.

3GB in dual channel? You must have 2x1GB + 2x512MB. Just replace the 2x512 with 2x2GB for a total of 6GB of ram. Then yes, Windows 7.

Another reason to buy a PSU is that your CPU will hurt the performance of your HD5850, unless OC'd. OC'd CPU's rely on more power.

 

[Mark M]

Thanks for the reply - I read it's a pain changing the PSU in Dell XPS (I'm not a techie) overall is the upgrade worthwhile and am I buying myself another couple of years of gaming?

 

[jyjjy]

He would also likely need to replace his motherboard to OC on a Dell.
8800GTX uses the same power as an HD5870 so an HD5850 should be fine.

 

[jyjjy]

Thanks for the reply - I read it's a pain changing the PSU in Dell XPS (I'm not a techie) overall is the upgrade worthwhile and am I buying myself another couple of years of gaming?

The HD5850 should be nearly twice as powerful. It may be held back some by the cpu, depending on the game being played.

 

[shadow187]

If it's an nForce MOBO, OC'ing is extremely easy.
If not, PLL chip + SetFSB = GOGOGO.

 

[Mark M]

Thanks Gents - new mother board is a scary step to far. Not having to change the PSU to upgrade to a HD5850 is good news thanks for that.

M.