Is my 375 Watt power supply good enough for a 4870 GPU?

Hey guys, its my first time posting on the Gamespot forums, so consider me a noob...

I want to get a decent GPU, capable of playing Crysis in high settings, and the 4870 appears to be just within my price range. I've got a lame XPS 420 which my Dad got me, so I cant complain too much. I originally thought it was going to be awesome, but I've now discovered how badly I got ripped off. Im using a 2600 XT at the moment, and its absolutely atrocious. Its choppy in games like Medieval War even =(

Anyways, here are my specs: 3 Gigs RAM, 2.4 GHZ q6600 processor, and a Dell 375 Watt PSU.

The strange thing is, Ive heard from various different sources contrasting opinions on whether the 375 Watt PSU will handle that certain GPU, because Dell power supplies are supposedly "underrated" for some reason. So apparently, my 375 watt is equivalent to a 500 Watt supply apparently, though Im not going to keep my hopes up.

Sorry for my noobish behavior, and if you need any more info I'll check back soon. :roll:

Thanks,

Alex

Hey guys, its my first time posting on the Gamespot forums, so consider me a noob...

I want to get a decent GPU, capable of playing Crysis in high settings, and the 4870 appears to be just within my price range. I've got a lame XPS 420 which my Dad got me, so I cant complain too much. I originally thought it was going to be awesome, but I've now discovered how badly I got ripped off. Im using a 2600 XT at the moment, and its absolutely atrocious. Its choppy in games like Medieval War even =(

Anyways, here are my specs: 3 Gigs RAM, 2.4 GHZ q6600 processor, and a Dell 375 Watt PSU.

The strange thing is, Ive heard from various different sources contrasting opinions on whether the 375 Watt PSU will handle that certain GPU, because Dell power supplies are supposedly "underrated" for some reason. So apparently, my 375 watt is equivalent to a 500 Watt supply apparently, though Im not going to keep my hopes up.

Sorry for my noobish behavior, and if you need any more info I'll check back soon. :roll:

Thanks,

Alex

Deathwish123

You can only get away with skimping on Corsair PSUs.

Okay, so that sucks...a lot.

Do I have any other options, considering my friggin PSU is not capable of being changed easily? Are there any other graphics cards which would be up to the job?

Alex

Okay, so that sucks...a lot.

Do I have any other options, considering my friggin PSU is not capable of being changed easily? Are there any other graphics cards which would be up to the job?

Alex

Deathwish123

Dell and ungradeable PSUs. Where have I heard this before?

Anyway..does it have a PCI-e power connector? You could get a HD 4830.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I live in the UK, so a 50-60$ PSU in the states is £50-60 in the UK because everything is so darn expensive here. Also, I heard that Dell PSU's were unique to the Dell motherboards, so changing them is nearly impossible, because you cannot purchase Dell power supplies anywhere on the web. Thats what I read anyway. Is this incorrect?

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I live in the UK, so a 50-60$ PSU in the states is £50-60 in the UK because everything is so darn expensive here. Also, I heard that Dell PSU's were unique to the Dell motherboards, so changing them is nearly impossible, because you cannot purchase Dell power supplies anywhere on the web. Thats what I read anyway. Is this incorrect?

Deathwish123

That is the case with my friend's Dell PC.

http://www.pcpower.com/products/power_supplies/dell/ Find yourself one of those and you should be all set.DGFreak

As for the PCI-e connector (that would be the 6 pin thing presumably), I dont appear to have one. Dell grind my gears.

you could get a dedicated graphics powersupply, i intend to.

fits in a 5.25 drive slot and powers just ur graphicscard. it saves ur having to upgrade to an expensive psu....

quite hard to get hold of but u mentioned u live in the uk?

see here. 250w just for ur gfx card.....oh and it gets its power from the wall and is connected to ur main psu so its synchronised

erm no.

the good news is that psu's these days can run fairly cheap on the newegg daily deals if you keep your eyes peeled.

For a PSU that can run up to a GTX 295

For a PSU that can run up to a 4870

First one has two 6+2 pin PCI-E connectors, so you could potentially run up to a GTX 280,285, or 295.

Second has two 6 pin PCI-E connectors, so you could potentially run up to a GTX 260.

The 4870, like the GTX 260, uses two 6-pin connectors, so the first PSU would be for if you wanted to upgrade again in the future without buying a new PSU.

Once again, thanks guys for the help - but I really need a Power Supply from the UK. Newegg appears to be one of the only places where dell compatible psu's are sold, but is there anywhere else?

Will those PSU's from overclockers.co.uk work on my motherboard?

Also, I have no clue how to remove all my components from my case to put them in a new one, and I really cant be bothered to learn either, but is there anywhere I can find a PSU which will ship to the UK?

Thanks

try novatech.com, microdirect.com, amazon.co.uk, advancetec.co.uk etc

Newegg is only USA/Canada, I think they plan on expanding to the UK soon. In the meantime you can check out this site.Marfoo

I think Newegg it's available for China too lol.

Definitely not. Dell PSUs are very low quality. you want at least somewhere between 400-500w.DGFreak

Hey guys, its my first time posting on the Gamespot forums, so consider me a noob...

I want to get a decent GPU, capable of playing Crysis in high settings, and the 4870 appears to be just within my price range. I've got a lame XPS 420 which my Dad got me, so I cant complain too much. I originally thought it was going to be awesome, but I've now discovered how badly I got ripped off. Im using a 2600 XT at the moment, and its absolutely atrocious. Its choppy in games like Medieval War even =(

Anyways, here are my specs: 3 Gigs RAM, 2.4 GHZ q6600 processor, and a Dell 375 Watt PSU.

The strange thing is, Ive heard from various different sources contrasting opinions on whether the 375 Watt PSU will handle that certain GPU, because Dell power supplies are supposedly "underrated" for some reason. So apparently, my 375 watt is equivalent to a 500 Watt supply apparently, though Im not going to keep my hopes up.

Sorry for my noobish behavior, and if you need any more info I'll check back soon. :roll:

Thanks,

Alex

Deathwish123

This is what I bought, its expensive buts its worth it.

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4Q0T&CategorySelectedId=11259&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11259,50113

I upgraded my Dell XPS 410 with a Antec 650 Watt PSU and it was as smooth as can be. No problems and no proprietary nonsense that I kept hearing about all over the net. I thought at least I may have to modify the case to take the new PSU, but didnt even have to do that, it just slid right in.

I don't know if i needed to even upgrade the old PSU. It powered my PC fine and had no problems even though I was running a 9600GT OC, 750 gig external HD, and USB devices galore. But I feel much safer and future proof with a PSU that has wattage to spare and if I were to upgrade to a better video card.

Sorry its taken me so long to get back to you all.

I have been overwhelmed with all the conflicting evidence into whether the Dell XPS 420 PSU is proprietary or not, and I still dont have conclusive knowledge over which power supply I am capable of installing. If only my Dell technical support hadnt run out...

Anyways, can anyone give me concrete facts? I would REALLY appreciate it as I have been searching for the answer for months now, hoping to stumble across a thread like this but with conclusive results.

So can anyone link me to a power supply that will indefinitely work AND can be shipped to the UK? Also, I have been thinking about purchasing this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/BFG-9800GT-512MB-PCI-E-GRAPHICS/dp/B001DZWEVE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1234882417&sr=8-5

because "apparently" it should work with the 375 Watt PSU which would clearly be a lot easier. What do you guys think?

Thank you very much.

Ok, original poster, let me answer your questions quickly and effeciently, without all of the junk others have been saying

1.-Get this power supply http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-006-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1084

Then get the video card of your choice. Make sure to buy the power supply in a store, maybe then you can return it if it doesnt fit. Im 99% sure it will fit, as dell has moved away from the proprieratory lately.

UPDATE: After trawling for many days through forums etc, I finally decided to go ahead and take the plunge (I purchased the OCZ Stealthxstream PSU). I discovered that the Dell XPS 420 will work with any standard ATX power supply, so for anyone who stumbles across this thread (like I often did - but with no conclusion) I just wanted to letyou know that the power supply is not proprietary. At firist it appears as though the PSU won't fit, but trust me - it does (there will be a relatively small gap underneath however).

I have a Dell XPS 410 w/ the same 375 watt PSU. It has a Quad 6700, 2 HDDs, a 9800 GT overclocked a pretty cool deal, 2 cd/dvd drives, and an extra fan. I've had no problems with it, and if the 4870 has similar watt usage in comparison to the 9800 GT, you could be okay.

Hey guys, its my first time posting on the Gamespot forums, so consider me a noob...

I want to get a decent GPU, capable of playing Crysis in high settings, and the 4870 appears to be just within my price range. I've got a lame XPS 420 which my Dad got me, so I cant complain too much. I originally thought it was going to be awesome, but I've now discovered how badly I got ripped off. Im using a 2600 XT at the moment, and its absolutely atrocious. Its choppy in games like Medieval War even =(

Anyways, here are my specs: 3 Gigs RAM, 2.4 GHZ q6600 processor, and a Dell 375 Watt PSU.

The strange thing is, Ive heard from various different sources contrasting opinions on whether the 375 Watt PSU will handle that certain GPU, because Dell power supplies are supposedly "underrated" for some reason. So apparently, my 375 watt is equivalent to a 500 Watt supply apparently, though Im not going to keep my hopes up.

Sorry for my noobish behavior, and if you need any more info I'll check back soon. :roll:

Thanks,

Alex

Deathwish123

Since a lot of people aren't familiar with Dells, all I have to say is the XPS 420 requires 6 SATA power connectors.

Since a lot of people aren't familiar with Dells, all I have to say is the XPS 420 requires 6 SATA power connectors.

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