Dell Dimension 4600 Upgrading for Photo Editing

I'm getting "what can I help you with emails from Dell...hopefully from a monkey or at least a beast.

Found an Antec Solution Series SL350 Power supply - 350 Watt from an supplier named Code Micro for about forty dollars/no shipping/tax..net. Make sense?

Sounds good - 12V ATX

If you search Amazon.com for " Antec SL350 350W 12V ATX Power Supply " they have them.. says $77.99, but click on 'new and used' and there's a dealer there selling them new for $34.95 which is a good deal.. oh wait.. + $13.55 shipping. Of course.

Not a lot of room to spare in the 4600 case, but it gets in there, and switch/fan/plug are unobstructed. If you want to be safer, go for a 400W.. I already had the 350W one so that's what I used.. but it's the recommended minimum, so if you have the choice to go slightly higher wattage, might as well go for it..

here's one that's supposedly compatibe:
http://eboxdirect.com/400waatxposu1.html
brand new, $44.95, free shipping. Sure there's plenty of others - I think Antec have a 430W one..

Oh look! So much for Dell saying there's only the 250W for the Dimension4600.. here's a 400W one on their own website that fits 4600.. check it out ..$69.99 of course. LOL.

If you're looking for a good inexpensive ATX PSU, Antec's Earthwatts series and Corsair's CX400W are great choices.

Because of the Antec steady and rapid output, it will be a good choice, despite its lower power rating.

Thanks to both of you...PSU purchase leads.

Continuing Dell sage. After wasting a good couple of hours will Dell yesterday on the phone I wrote a not to their univ sales division with a 'polite' rant about wasting time and conflicting technical advice re upgrading.

My in box this am contained a one liner from a division rep bozo that must have a worse time reading than I have writing:

"So you have a Dim. 4600 and you want to upgrade the ram correct?"

So I reply:

If you are having a problem reading/understanding my text I'll
one line it for you/Dell:

#1. I wasted a bunch of time both yesterday and today because of
Dell. Complaint.

#2. Dell technicians either provided me conflicting advice at
best or bogus advice at the worst re upgrading my Dimension 4600
desktop (BIGGER COMPLAINT):

a) either the D4600's 250w PSU can or cannot run the Dell advised
X1300 GC upgrade (to run a high res monitor such as the 2407)
which is it? And,

b) either my D4600 can be upgraded to run a hi res monitor(Dell
tech 10 days back) or cannot be upgraded to support a high res
monitor (as the Dell yesterday tech told me yesterday.) Which is it?

Joey I don't have a clue as to how you surmised that I was only asking
about RAM ("So you have a Dim. 4600 and you want to upgrade the
ram correct?")

Respectfully, Ted

Again, what a waste of time for a guy headed for the boneyard at this rate.

By default, Dell support, and most support for most computer manufacturers cannot comment on the use of other devices than those supplied by their company. It is a mandate of their legal departments.

Received the new X1300 card. Removed the NVidia drivers first, then removed the old FX5200 and installed the new X1300, used the supplied CD to add the new drivers and the ATI Catalyst Control Center, then updated drivers and control center from the website, and everything is running fine. Installed last night and nothing has fried since. It's not a huge difference visually, but certainly some software I could not use previously is now working. YAY!

Only thing was the refresh rate defaulted to 60Hz, which lead to a few random thin lines on my display.. bumped it up to 75Hz and the display is clean and crisp.

When I first ran it, there was a very occasional stutter while running a graphic-intensive game, but that seems to have ironed itself out since. Not sure if was the CPU being underpowered as opposed to a GC issue, or whether the GC has self-adjusted or what, but it's moot now since the issue is gone.

Generally, you do not see immediate failures and errors... or a crash that devastates.
But sometime over the year, when you have forgotten you are living on the power margin, you may be running the video graphics, while burning a DVD, or multitasking in some other way that puts too great a tax on the power supply...
Then, if you see fluctuations or smell hot metal and plastic, shut down immediately.
Most users cannot predict or remember the failure point.
We have high hopes you experience no such troubles... but do not understand why you would want to live on the edge... risking the video graphics card and other components...
Good luck.

Hopefully you are still close by..I have a couple of windows open right now re the

1. Anetc SL 350 350W 12v ATX power supply ($50 bucks give or take a bit with shipping, etc) and the

2. Star Tech 400W ATX12V 201 Dell Replacement unit ($60 +~)

I'm guessing that I'd best go with a 400W or ...is the decision not a Watt issue but a Anetc vs Star Tech issue?

@Nereus, the Antec you have is an old SmartPower 350W model that uses Fuhjyyu capacitors. Be sure to keep the PSU cool, otherwise it will fail very fast. The Fuhjyyu caps don't take very kindly to high temps.

@TedB, yes that is the issue. I have never heard of Star Tech, so that PSU is guaranteed to be of rubbish quality. The SL350 needs to be kept cool, otherwise the caps in it will fail. I'd recommend buying an Earthwatts 380W, a Fortron ATX-300 series PSU or a Corsair 400CX instead of either of those two you've chosen.

Thanks RayBay and Rage_3K_Moiz, advice taken, and I'll be wary of it - I'm even unplugging most of the USB peripherals when I'm not using them for that very reason. If the PC lasts another year I'll be impressed anyway - didn't really expect this PC to last as long as it has without any major issues. The X1300 card was under $60, the PSU I can't even remember what I paid for that - less than the card anyway, so the risk vs reward is acceptable for me. I back up regularly on an external drive any important docs as well, and if it does melt down, it's a good excuse to upgrade. Been looking at the Dell XPS 630 or 730x for a while now..

The Antec SL350 has 2 cooling fans which helps, however the 400W may be the better option in light of what Raybay said (altho I don't know about the quality of that StarTech model), and also because for some reason your card had a higher recommended minimum wattage than mine most places I looked (mine recommended 300W, yours 350W minimum).. still unsure why that is, considering my one is 512MB and yours 256MB, when they're the same basic model. Maybe the built-in cooling system on the 512MB version is better? Apparently Antec also have a 430W compatible ATX PSU..

I'm getting confused re hunting down the PSU

If I type Corsair PSU/type in (Amazon) I get Corsair 400CX (@Rage_3K_Moiz) I get something that doesn't look quite right+way too large from the pic/almost an external unit??:

Corsair Power CMPSU-400CX 400w CX Series 12V ATX 80 Plus Certified Power Supply

I google Antec EarthWatts Buy.com shows a Antec EarthWatts EA 430 ATX12V Power Supply - EA430 (I'm assuming 430w is ok as well/will still fit in the D4600 case/switches where they should/need to be.

Does the Antec have the power socket and switch in the correct location? Most Antecs do not fit.

Star Tech is not a quality power supply.

Raybay..I don't have a clue re Antec's power socket/switch. Nerus #42 indicated a tight fit for the Anetec unit/switches apparently ok. Scratch the Star TechPSU (hmmm..on Dell's SmBus site though.)

Antec SL350 dimensions: L5.9" x W5.5" x H3.4"

Here's a [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Antec-SL350-350W-Power-Supply/dp/B00006GET4"]picture[/ame] of it :


I mounted mine with the 2nd fan facing downward, not upwards like in the photo though.

Hope the helps for comparison.

The dimensions are standard on all ATX PSUs. The Corsair however will not fit because the switch and socket will not line up properly with the back of the case. The EA430 will however, and should be your best choice.

Thanks guys. EA430 it will be...I'll get it ordered after lunch.

Hey. Wonder how your upgrade went? Just driving by..

I've have the occasional problem with startup after an overnight shut down - I'll get a 'clicking' kind of noise from the built in speakers on the monitor, and no picture. Effectively cycling the PC power a couple of times fixes it, and once it's up and running I've never had an issue. I'm guessing it's due to underpowered PSU? Drivers and everything are up to date.

Doesn't matter though - I just ordered a brand new Dell which should be delivered in a week or two.. can't wait!
XPS630 with a Q9550 (12MB, 2.83GHz, 1333FSB) quad, RAM 8GB DDR2 at 800MHz, NVidia GTX280 1024MB graphics card, and a 300GB Velociraptor 10Krpm hard drive. ..and those are just the stock values *grin* Finally will be able to play some of the graphic-intensive games!

You will like the Dell a lot. I would upgrade the memory to the maximum as soon as you receive it... while the memory is so very cheap. If they do not offer a disk set in the box, call them and request it.