PSU upgrading for Inspiron?

[ghost521]

So I've recently been given a Dell Inspiron 580 as a birthday present. It came with a 300 watt ATX PSU, and therefore it's impossible for me to switch to a new graphics card [The GeForce 310 sucks so bad]
I've contacted the Dell Support System, and asked if it's possible to switch the current PSU to another one, and they said "400 watt is the limit replacement for the Dell Inspiron 580", although it's unclear whether that "limit" came from the Dell upgrading policy, or it's true that the Inspiron 580 can only handle up to 400 watt PSUs [which sounds strange to me]
So can anybody tell me if it's OK to get a stronger PSU than the "400 watt limit" from Dell? And if it's so, which PSU would you recommend?
Thanks really much.

 

[WR2]

Might be that Dell's top replacement PSU is 400w?
Otherwise your system won't care if you have a 400w or 800w PSU. It will still only take the necessary amount of power it needs. You will have to worry slightly about the size of the PSU.

What do you need to provide power for?

 

[ghost521]

So that I can switch to a new graphics card.
Screw GeForce and its rebranded 310 [boo]
[what kind of card that can't handle AC2 on all lowest settings?]

But yeah, my 9600GT has been under the dust for a while now, and I also wanna change to better cards.

 

[WR2]

9600GT will be a nice upgrade from a Geforce 310.

Here is a good deal on a PSU that has plenty of power: Corsair 400cx $30 after rebate

 

[WR2]

@ Hardware Secrets: Corsair CX400W Power Supply Review

 

[ghost521]

Actually I'm thinking of the OCZ ModXStream Pro PSU [if it fits of course], wanna see if there are more choices for cards.
Wanna change to something new, apart from Nvidia, probably an ATI.
Possible?
I have an i3 Proc.@ 2.9GHz [4CPUs] with 8gb RAM.

 

[WR2]

and I also wanna change to better cards.

Have you got your eye on any specific future upgrade card?
If you're thinking GTX 460 we probably want to go for something in the 500watt range.

 

[ghost521]

Have you got your eye on any specific future upgrade card?
If you're thinking GTX 460 we probably want to go for something in the 500watt range.

Probably some in the ATI Radeon HD 5xxx line.
I was recommended the 5670 and the 5770.

 

[WR2]

A couple of the OCZ Modstreams and 1 OCZ Fatal1ty 550W
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600 W Power Supply Review

 

[WR2]

A HD 5670 is too close in performance to a 9600 GT to be much of an upgrade.
What size / resolution monitor are you using?

 

[ghost521]

1440x900
I'm switching to a larger one though.

 

[WR2]

Here is a comparison of different gaming benchmarks that show the HD 5670 and 9600GT

And a similar set of gaming benchmarks for HD 5770 $150 and GTX 460 $220 (ok, so there are a few other cards shown too)

 

[themuffinmanm]

A Geforce 260 core 16 would be nice.

 

[ghost521]

Ok, so that's all set.
now we only have to check if it fits the darn case.

 

[WR2]

Check the length of your current PSU and estimate how much room is left between the PSU cables and the DVD drive cables.

 

[WR2]

Your Dell PSU is probably 5.5" long. The OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W is 6.3" long and both OCZ ModXStream Pro are 6.5" long.

 

[ghost521]

Hurray, so them OCZ babies won't work.
Then it's down to the Corsair PSU then. How long can it be?

 

[WR2]

Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W $60 is 5.9" long. I think that should fit.
It also has a +12v 40amp rating which is excellent.

 

[ghost521]

Ohgod, thanks for all these tips guys.
My uncle is a techie, but he's really not that.....how can I say.....he just WON'T let me build stuff.


"Buying this is all you need."

 

[WR2]

I just saw an interior shot of an Inspiron desktop and it looks like a 6.5" PSU should fit. There was a fair amount of space between the PSU cables and DVD burner cables, maybe as much as 3" inches.

 

[ghost521]

I just saw an interior shot of an Inspiron desktop and it looks like a 6.5" PSU should fit. There was a fair amount of space between the PSU cables and DVD burner cables, maybe as much as 3" inches.

So I guess the OCZ dream is still at hand?

 

[WR2]

I think so..... I can't find out how long a Corsair HX620 actually is but its got to be close to the 6.5" of the modular OCZ Modstreams.
I think you have a green light to choose anything mentioned so far.

 

[ghost521]

I think so..... I can't find out how long a Corsair HX620 actually is but its got to be close to the 6.5" of the modular OCZ Modstreams.
I think you have a green light to choose anything mentioned so far.

Dimension: 5.9"(W) x 3.4"(H) X 5.9"(L)
150mm(W) x 86mm(H) x 150mm(L)

 

[WR2]

I just found that myself. 5.9" and 6.5" - not much difference.
Have you taken a peek inside your Dell Inspiron 580 to check and see if they're doing anything different in there, and that you still have about 3" free space?

 

[ghost521]

I just found that myself. 5.9" and 6.5" - not much difference.
Have you taken a peek inside your Dell Inspiron 580 to check and see if they're doing anything different in there, and that you still have about 3" free space?

I have to check back on Monday.
I'm currently a 6-hour drive away from my desktop.