Upgrading Video Card on Dell 4600

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Hello to everyone reading. I am new to the particular forum and was hoping to for some input about my upgrade. The more I read on forums of this nature and websites has me more and more worried about upgrading my video card. Currently I only have factory integrated video. This is the video card I am hoping can be installed: XFX GeForce 6800 GT 256MB DDR3 AGP 8X VGA DVI TV Out. My current specs are as follows:

Dell Dimension 4600i
BIOS - A12, date 8/26/04
Windows XP Home Edition, Service Pack 2
Pentium 4HT 2.8 Ghz, 400MHz FSB, 512K L2
512MB DDR SDRAM PC3200
120GB Hard Drive
250W PSU

I would hate to spend $400 on this video card only to find out the when I recieve it that it won't be compatible in some way with my system. I have been reading that this card takes up alot of room. I have 3 PCI slots and an AGP8x slot but since I keep reading about the room it takes up it is a concern for me. Also is my power supply. I read that this card requires a connection to your PC's internal power supply in order to operate. I went to my local computer store and the guy said that 250 watts would be fine, also that the card should work fine. The posts in all the forums I have read seem to be back and forth on this issue. Any help anyone can provide me is very, very much appreciated. If for some reason someone thinks this card might not be right for me please tell one that would be, the best I can possibly get for my system. Thanks so much in advance.

Nick
 
I upgaded a dell 8200 video card and it worked fine I don't see why you should have any problem. But 250w sounds alittle on the down side. :bounce:
 
on second thought some agp slots can only handle so much voltage like my asrock p4s61 m/b can only handle 3.3v, but if I were you I would check your m/b. :hotbounce
 
Yea i dont know about your power supply it seems on the low end you mite have to upgrade your power supply cuz i think the minimum you need is 300W. These 6800s are power hungry and you may not get the performance if you have a weak power supply. The other thing is that the 6800 GT card is very long and you seem to have a dell stock case. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH ROOM. THis card is the longest card i have ever seen and it may interfere with your hard drive bay. :)
 
I mounted a vanilla 6800 in my Dell 4600 and it ran with no problem but I'm not sure that the PSU would handle a 6800GT. That is a 35 watt difference in power needs. Go to this site and plug in your specs to calculate your power requirements http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/Power_Supply_Calculator.php?cmd=INTEL I would guess that you would be over the 250 watts the Dell PSU delivers.
Replacing the PSU is relatively easy but I'm not sure what size unit the 4600i takes, probably not a standard ATX.

Maybe the 6600Gt would be a better fit for your system or just a vanilla 6800. Neither requires the 6 pin power connector, just a standard molex, use less power overall and performance is very well matched to your system specs. With the money you save on the card you can get another 512MB of RAM and really see some performance gains. 2.8 CPU, 1GB RAM and 6600GT or 6800 vanilla is a very well balanced machine that could play all the games out there at very respectable frame rates.
 
upgrade

a dell 250 watt PSU, i think, would not be the ideal PSU for that card. Would it work? it might, but to just keep things running smooth, i think it would be best to upgrade. But a more offical way of calcutlating this would to use the wattage calculator seen here
keep in mind that the number you get is the minimum you need.

Sean

BTW-thats a nice card!
 
I did the power calculator and came up at 315W and because of this my 6600GT causes the monitor to go onto standby all the time. I have to reboot pc to get the monitor back on.

BUY a new PSU. Just my advice.
 
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