Upgrading Power Supply on Dimension 4550 . How and do I ne..

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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I bought a refurbished Dell Dimension 4550 about a year ago. Current
specs (after some upgrades) are: P4 2.5 Ghz,DVD-ROM, DVD-RW, 60 GB HD,
Verto GeForce FX5700 128 MB Ultra (has its own fan and draws power
from the PS directly, not only via AGP slot) and ATI TV card.

I plan to add a second hard drive and a sound card in the future. I am
worried that the power supply (rated at 250W per Dell manual) is not
enough. SO I went and bought a 350W Antec power supply.
My 2 questions are:

1) Do I need a bigger powersupply? my main worry is when I am burning
a DVD that the Dell PS may not supply enough juice

2)Is a standard ATX power supply compatible with Dimension 4550 or do
I need to look for some other specs?

Thanks. Please reply to newsgroup.

Tony

 

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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Tony Makhlouf" <tonymakhlouf@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:b60f5cbe.0408031423.36151f9c@posting.google.com...
>I bought a refurbished Dell Dimension 4550 about a year ago. Current
> specs (after some upgrades) are: P4 2.5 Ghz,DVD-ROM, DVD-RW, 60 GB HD,
> Verto GeForce FX5700 128 MB Ultra (has its own fan and draws power
> from the PS directly, not only via AGP slot) and ATI TV card.
>
> I plan to add a second hard drive and a sound card in the future. I am
> worried that the power supply (rated at 250W per Dell manual) is not
> enough. SO I went and bought a 350W Antec power supply.
> My 2 questions are:
>
> 1) Do I need a bigger powersupply?

<snip>

Apparently you think you do....in any event, a little late to ask now.

>
> 2)Is a standard ATX power supply compatible with Dimension 4550 or do
> I need to look for some other specs?

Yes. The Dell mb is standard ATX. Your problems may arise with the external
dimensions of the Antec supply and in fitting that to the Dell case,
particularly if the PS has an external switch on back (read: you might have
to cut away metal from the case.)

>
> Thanks. Please reply to newsgroup.
>
> Tony

Good luck.

Stew

 

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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

My 4550 has the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card, two hard drives (100GB and
250GB), DVD Burner, CD-RW Burner and an ATI Radeon Pro 9800 video card. Oh,
and the Hauppauge 250 TV card. It also drives three external USB drives
(powered) and two external USB hard drives (powered from the USB port).
Oops, keep forgetting -- and a Gigabit card.

Can't fill it up much more than that.

Runs fine on the 250W power supply. Dell is notorious for underrating their
power supplies. Runs 24/7 (never powered off) as it acts as my TiVO. Been
running for close to two years non-stop.

Tom
"Tony Makhlouf" <tonymakhlouf@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:b60f5cbe.0408031423.36151f9c@posting.google.com...
> I bought a refurbished Dell Dimension 4550 about a year ago. Current
> specs (after some upgrades) are: P4 2.5 Ghz,DVD-ROM, DVD-RW, 60 GB HD,
> Verto GeForce FX5700 128 MB Ultra (has its own fan and draws power
> from the PS directly, not only via AGP slot) and ATI TV card.
>
> I plan to add a second hard drive and a sound card in the future. I am
> worried that the power supply (rated at 250W per Dell manual) is not
> enough. SO I went and bought a 350W Antec power supply.
> My 2 questions are:
>
> 1) Do I need a bigger powersupply? my main worry is when I am burning
> a DVD that the Dell PS may not supply enough juice
>
> 2)Is a standard ATX power supply compatible with Dimension 4550 or do
> I need to look for some other specs?
>
> Thanks. Please reply to newsgroup.
>
> Tony

 

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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Tom Scales" <tomtoo@softhome.net> wrote in message news:<r7idnYfkX40mxo3cRVn-sA@comcast.com>...
> My 4550 has the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card, two hard drives (100GB and
> 250GB), DVD Burner, CD-RW Burner and an ATI Radeon Pro 9800 video card. Oh,
> and the Hauppauge 250 TV card. It also drives three external USB drives
> (powered) and two external USB hard drives (powered from the USB port).
> Oops, keep forgetting -- and a Gigabit card.
> > Runs fine on the 250W power supply.>
> Tom

Tom,
thanks for the info. I guess your Radeon would consume about as much
as my GeForce card. I don't intend to get a high end Sound card, so
I'll be fine. I have already added the second hard drive and it is
doing fine with the dell PS. The PS fan (or is it the processor fan?)
is not always on, which I take as a good sign.

I think I will return the Antec Power Supply to Best Buy.

Tony

 

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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Tony Makhlouf" <tonymakhlouf@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:b60f5cbe.0408050359.33ac0d41@posting.google.com...
> "Tom Scales" <tomtoo@softhome.net> wrote in message
news:<r7idnYfkX40mxo3cRVn-sA@comcast.com>...
> > My 4550 has the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card, two hard drives (100GB and
> > 250GB), DVD Burner, CD-RW Burner and an ATI Radeon Pro 9800 video card.
Oh,
> > and the Hauppauge 250 TV card. It also drives three external USB drives
> > (powered) and two external USB hard drives (powered from the USB port).
> > Oops, keep forgetting -- and a Gigabit card.
> > > Runs fine on the 250W power supply.>
> > Tom
>
> Tom,
> thanks for the info. I guess your Radeon would consume about as much
> as my GeForce card. I don't intend to get a high end Sound card, so
> I'll be fine. I have already added the second hard drive and it is
> doing fine with the dell PS. The PS fan (or is it the processor fan?)
> is not always on, which I take as a good sign.
>
> I think I will return the Antec Power Supply to Best Buy.
>
> Tony

I think that's a good call. The 4550 is a rock solid machine.