Can I do this?

[neilsar]

I need to add a graphics card to a poor starting situation. The existing computer is a slimline (Inspiron 531S)so in need a low profile card. The existing CPU has an anemic 250 Watts and replacing it is really not an option (too many problems with the space and confounding proprietary motherboard connections-I think). I found a card that has and auxillary 6 pin molex connection to its face and I can snake in a connection from a seperate outside PSU. The existing PSU is 250 watts total. The outside supplement has 600. The card has a max peak draw of 100. My usage is exclusively to conduit video and audio content from the internet or my hard drive to a home entertainment system. I need to add the card for HDMI output.

Will this work?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks All

 

[Wolfshadw]

No, it won't work. The auxiliary power supply needs to be tied into the rest of the system. What you want is just a low end, low-profile graphics card. It won't require a PSU connection and won't require a new power supply.

Newegg has a couple cards that will meet your needs for as little as $35 ($10 after rebate).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127454
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500161

-Wolf sends

 

[Psychoteddy]

Yes, you can.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/5637/cpa-167/Lian_Li_Dual_Power_Supply_Adapter_Cable.html

DO NOT use the default PSU to power this GPU. These PSUs are designed to run the hardware that's in the machine and nothing more. Dell Slimlines are notorious for blowing components after upgrades. Very smart on your part to consider a PSU upgrade.

 

[neilsar]

Yes, you can.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/5637/cpa-167/Lian_Li_Dual_Power_Supply_Adapter_Cable.html

DO NOT use the default PSU to power this GPU. These PSUs are designed to run the hardware that's in the machine and nothing more. Dell Slimlines are notorious for blowing components after upgrades. Very smart on your part to consider a PSU upgrade.

Thank You for your help. But I don't know how to stop the on board PSU from supplying power to the PCI Express slot. The slot appears to be powered directly from the motherboard. There is no obvious cable powering the PCI slots. So my intention was to put the card in the slot and then plug in the card with the seperate auxilary power 6 pin on its face. Any idea as to how I can eliminate the default PSU? Or is it ok to run it in the described configuration?


Thanks once again

 

[JDFan]

Thank You for your help. But I don't know how to stop the on board PSU from supplying power to the PCI Express slot. The slot appears to be powered directly from the motherboard. There is no obvious cable powering the PCI slots. So my intention was to put the card in the slot and then plug in the card with the seperate auxilary power 6 pin on its face. Any idea as to how I can eliminate the default PSU? Or is it ok to run it in the described configuration?


Thanks once again

The Linked adapter cable is to enable running two seperate PSUs -- the connector with many wires would go to your existing PSU MOBO connector and the 2 wire one goes to the 2nd PSU -- otherwise it will not sense that it is connected to a MOBO and the PSU will not run.

For connections you would use the PCI-e cables from the second PSU to run your video card - The PCI-e slot will be powered by the 24 pin MOBO connector from the old PSU attached to the MOBO but that only supplies 75 W so will not be a problem since the rest of the power will be pulled from the second PSU through the PCI-e 6 pin cable from the second PSU.

 

[Psychoteddy]

The Linked adapter cable is to enable running two seperate PSUs -- the connector with many wires would go to your existing PSU MOBO connector and the 2 wire one goes to the 2nd PSU -- otherwise it will not sense that it is connected to a MOBO and the PSU will not run.

For connections you would use the PCI-e cables from the second PSU to run your video card - The PCI-e slot will be powered by the 24 pin MOBO connector from the old PSU attached to the MOBO but that only supplies 75 W so will not be a problem since the rest of the power will be pulled from the second PSU through the PCI-e 6 pin cable from the second PSU.

Exactly. The second PSU is dedicated to powering the graphics card. Just plug in the 6 pin PCI-e connector to the GPU and you'll be golden

The power coming from the mobo is very low anyways. This won't hurt anything.

 

[neilsar]

Love it Thank you very much

 

[neilsar]

Exactly. The second PSU is dedicated to powering the graphics card. Just plug in the 6 pin PCI-e connector to the GPU and you'll be golden

The power coming from the mobo is very low anyways. This won't hurt anything.

Sorry to keep coming back but it looks like the Dual Power supply cable is too short and the head too large to snake out of the cabinet to the external power supply. The computer I'm connecting this to is pretty much always on. Can I just run the aux power in seperatly and manually switch the power of and on when I need to?

 

[jyjjy]

Why don't you just buy a cheap card that suits your needs rather than trying to do this crazy jury rigging stuff? It may be theoretically possible but it certainly is not a good idea.

 

[Psychoteddy]

Sorry to keep coming back but it looks like the Dual Power supply cable is too short and the head too large to snake out of the cabinet to the external power supply. The computer I'm connecting this to is pretty much always on. Can I just run the aux power in seperatly and manually switch the power of and on when I need to?

Well... Yes... But it's not very... How do I put it...

Erm...

We'll go with "pretty".

You have to engage the PSU by short circuiting the green and black wires you see connecting the two PSUs together. It does not damage the PSU, but it's a P.I.T.A. to do every time you turn on your computer.

If you choose to go this route, make sure the aux PSU is on BEFORE the main PSU. Normally, these would engage at the exact same time with the adapter but this is not the case. You want to ensure that the GPU has adequate power before it has to do any work.

 

[JDFan]

Why don't you just buy a cheap card that suits your needs rather than trying to do this crazy jury rigging stuff? It may be theoretically possible but it certainly is not a good idea.

+1 -- OR buy a new case that will allow you to use the new 600W PSU as the main PSU and at the same time will allow the use of a regular GPU instead of having to get a low profile card !! -- This would also get much better airflow going inside the case keeping the heat down which will probably be the next problem you run into with putting a more powerful GPU into that slimline case !!

 

[g00fysmiley]

"Why don't you just buy a cheap card that suits your needs rather than trying to do this crazy jury rigging stuff? It may be theoretically possible but it certainly is not a good idea."

fo fun?

but srsly good advice if you're not just playign with stuff to see if it'll work

and +1 to just scraping slimline build... unless you really need the small form factor , at a certain point (especially with dell and thier Btx crap nobody else uses) it is a better idea to new case, new mobo (possibly keep cpu depending on what you have) keep ram if its ddr3 then bam regular paerts and you cna upgrade as you wish

 

[neilsar]

The points regarding the crazy jury rigging are well taken But a few things are at work here. With respect to a new case- I've never done it and the dis-assembly and re-assembly and rewiring seems pretty daunting especially in view of all the propietary crap Dell seems to have. If I screw this up I'm pretty well screwed. The only low powered cards I've found that are low profile have low profile "cards"- (they fit in the case) but oddly the ports for the VGA/HMDI and DMI are oddly physically larger than the available space so I'd have to literally take a hatchet to the cabinet to make them fit

examples
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127454
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814500161

That brought me to some higher powered cards that actually fit but were out of the question due to the anemic power supply of the dumb Dell. But having gone down that path I did find certain cards did have auxillary power and led me to my querry here. If anyone has a product idea for a lower powered card that perhaps has only HDMI + DVI only or HDMI + VGA only so that the card would actually fit ports included, I'd be greatful

 

[jyjjy]

I think you are confused. Most low profile video cards come with both a full size bracket and a low profile bracket so they can be used in any case. It sounds like you were trying to fit a low profile card with the normal bracket still attached into your case which will not work. You would need to swap out the brackets first. Occasionally a low profile card will be sold without the low profile bracket but this is quite rare.
Here is the first card you linked above(or tried to);

The card includes two low profile brackets which I have circled in red. One for the card and the other is optional for the slot above/below the card so that you can still use the VGA port if you want to.

 

[JDFan]

As jyjjy point out to use the low profile you have to remove the regular bracket that comes on the card and install the low profile bracket -- As far as swapping out the case it isn't that difficult and if you can swap out a Powersupply you can easily handle the case change. (all of the wiring is keyed so that they only plug into where they are supposed to and will only fit in the proper direction so it is really a fairly easy process.)