I have a Dell Dimension 5150 with 305W PSU and i think that the power is not enought to run a GeForce 8800GT..Dell says that if i change the PSU it will void my warranty so im pretty stuck..i did think of a idea of powering the card with an external PSU so i dont have to change the current one but the problem is are there gonna be problems with me syncing the CPU on and the external PSU on? Will it damage the card or something? Coz im not sure if theres gonna be probs if i on the CPU first and then only on the PSU for the graphics card...i can pull the wires from the enternal PSU into the CPU by removing the brackets for a pci card slot, looks like thats the only option..if u guys have any other ideas how i can power up the GC without removing my existing PSU i would really appreciate it !

Just add another psu lor... or one of these

http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Power/P...w0099/w0099.asp

i think the external PSU is ur only option, and u just power on both at the same time is ok already ..... (slow 1 sec will not do any difference i think)

coz of dell, u cannot change PSU coz it will void ur warranty and IF u wanna change it, u cant, too bad, dell has a proprietary PSU, meaning all 3rd party PSU is not compatible (and rearranging pins will NOT help) .... thats wat i know ....

hope other forumers can help u ....

cheers

Thanks Christopher and Sniper..appreciate i t..i think i have to add an external PSU..btw how many W does the 8800gt require to run? is it enought if i get a cheap 250W PSU to run it?? Those are pretty cheap right..i just need to be sure nothing will go wrong if i switch the GC PSU first and then only on my computer. Can anyone verify this? Thanks !

This post has been edited by devanbrat: Nov 12 2007, 04:39 PM

i whonder how to void leh ! u just out that one den u replace la wat will void unless there got a sticker sticking there

I can replace the PSu with a 450W one but them i dont want my warranty to be void as well..so if i use the 2nd PSu outside will this be ok for the card to run? Has anyone tried this method before to power a GC? Anyone with experience please tell me how u did it. THanks.

you replace the psu la, if something fark up then change back the dell psu and call them claim warranty mah, so easy. there is no warranty void sticker stick on the psu and the casing.

One last question is how much power minimum willl the 8800Gt take to run? Will the 250W provided by this unit here be enough? As suggested by sniper on the roof. It is being sold for rm 190.

http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Power/P...w0099/w0099.asp

http://www.pcpower.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=S47D

I wonder if we can buy these here?

Yes, dell uses a proprietary PSU wiring, but its easy to mod a normal PSU to match it (though you will void the 3rd party PSU's warranty by doing so).

450-500W would be most suitable. Had to get anything cheaper anyway, but be careful not to buy a PSU which says 450-500W but cannot live up to its promises. For more help on selecting a PSU refer to the topic below, though its meant for overclockers you can also get plenty of good advice there.

http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/450882/

This is probably the best suggestion, but you will probably have to mod the new PSU first.

Thanks for the links Loh.. appreciate it..maybe wana put 7900GS first..the thermaltake 250W supply is a damn good option if u dowan to change ur current PSU to put a GC !


http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Power/P...w0099/w0099.asp

I have this exact system LOL and this same problem. What i plan to do is add the second PSU to the motherboard PSU connector and the small 4pin connector on the mother board...den jump the dell PSU mother board connector and leave the drive bays to the original 305W PSU...this way i only need to shut off/on the separate power for the drives...

EDIT : Cant do dat...lol...Dell PSU motherboard connector is 24 pins while i bought a 20 pin one!!! OKay but i managed to get my PC running now with the 305W PSU taking the lion share and 450W pluged into the 4pin motherboard connector(it powers the CPU i think) so now they both share the load...

EDIT : Just got a HD3850 and i see no side effects...its running well...btw this 5150 is using a Pentium D which sucks a lot of power...if you can divert that than it helps a lot...so now i have the 8 pin PCIe cable and that 4 pin CPU power cable connected to the added PSU...

This post has been edited by frags: Nov 22 2007, 11:50 PM