Helping Cousin with Computer

[nfarnham2001]

Okay, I have an eager and noobish young cousin of mine, who is looking to upgrade his computer. I am helping him how I can, however he seeks all the answers and decisions from me, lol. So I am turning to you all. He owns a Dell Inspiron 531S Desktop, Slimline PC. It has a 160Watt PSU, so that has to go, and some integrated graphics that can run WoW average at best on lowest settings. He is looking to install his new game he got for his birthday, Dragon Age, as well as playing other games to the likes of Sims 2, and Sims 3. I told him I would help how and where I could. He already has 4 gigs of ram, but no idea on the processor.

My main concern is room he has to work with, as I have not seen the PC tower or taken it apart myself, it is all guesswork, but it is a Slimline tower, so I suppose Low Profile/Half Height would be best. He is a college kid on a budget, so cheap while effective, would be best.

Any help?

Thanks.

 

[wa1]

1. Your cousin only has SLIMLINE PC, so that PC only accept a low profile card (single slot).
2. That Pc only has 160W PSU, so ANY graphic card (even low profile) can't run with that PSU (just too low).

 

[nfarnham2001]

Yes I understand that, thus we are replacing the PSU. But I cannot find any online, except for a few that are around 200w or 300w. I also cannot find any specs on the computer online, well some, but they are different models of the 531s with more ram and a better PSU.

If anyone could help me find a 300w or 350w PSU that would work in his slimline computer, that would be great. It also has PCI-e x16 for the graphics media input.

 

[wa1]

i can't find anything about your Dell Inspiron 531S Desktop, what can i found is that desktop is a normal version and not slimline...

 

[nfarnham2001]

Yeah they have a 30/531 both came in an available slimline version. I have seen a few videos of them on youtube with graphic card installations, but I am guessing my cousins is one of the few different models. Saw a few on the dell website. Some have an AMD sempron proc, some have the AMD X2, or the AMD II, some with 1 gig of ram, some with 2, and my cousins with 4....so I'm kind of at a loss here as well...

My main thing is finding slimline power supplies to choose from, around 300 to 350 watts, and a selection of decent low profile ready cards....sigh.

 

[Randomacts]

Next time make sure he does not buy a slim computer... they are always a pain to deal with.

 

[nfarnham2001]

Yeah we are just going to scrap the idea of modding it and save for a new build

 

[deweycd]

That is probably the best idea you could have come up with