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I am looking for a more powerful PS than the one that came with my Dell Dimmension 4700 (305W i believe) Because before i had a 7600GT and other upgrades and i didn't think to upgrade my PSU. So the 7600 broke and now im getting an 8600GT or somewhere close to that no higher though, and i need to upgrade. I was wondering if you could use a 20 pin or 20+4 pin on a 24 pin main connector for mobo, or would that fry or not boot. There arent many 24 pins to choose from that are ATX and in my price range, I just need to know if it would work or do i have to have 24 pin. Thank You.

Edit: Also is my computer only ATX or could i use ATX12v or any other option, thank you again.

Most power supplies come with a 24 pin ATX connector that you can snap a 4 pin section off of, to fit in the older 20 pin ATX connector... A good quality 420 watt would work for you

To avoid problems, you may want to look at a supplier that sells Dell upgrade components, like;

http://www.pcpower.com/power-supply/...-470-dell.html

So a 20 can or cannot fit in my 24 pin, and i can also use a 20+4 pin to plug into my regular 24 pin, want to make sure i hear you right.

My system would be:

Pentium 4 3.2GHz

1.5 Gigs of RAM

X-fi X-treme Gamer sound card (creative)

8600GT

one hard drive 320 gigs

one or no CD drives

that can all run smooth on 420 thank you.

Could this run on my computer, newegg . com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817709009.

Your 305W supply puts out a total current of 22A on the +12V rail, enough for a system with an HD 3850. A system with an 8600GT needs at maximum 18A from the +12V rail, so you will be just fine and don't need to upgrade.

And yes, it will run all the rest of your hardware fine too.

"Your 305W supply puts out a total current of 22A on the +12V rail, enough for a system with an HD 3850"...

This is correct if the older supply still performs as when it was new. JohnnyDollar would be better off replacing the original supply. Dell hasn't used proprietary supplies in their desktops in quite a while. If the motherboard is a 24 pin ATX, a 20 pin ATX supply may work, but all newer quality ATX supplies are 24 pin to start with

Actual Dell Dimension 4700 305 watt psu specs here:

http://support.dell.com/support/edoc....htm#wp1053452

You are right there Tmagic650, but capacitor aging will reduce the total power output by around 20-25%, which would still leave enough power for an 8600GT, assuming the PSU was used 24/7 for one year.

But if the OP wants to replace the PSU, I recommend going with an OCZ StealthXStream 500W PSU. It's available for pretty cheap on Newegg and is a decent PSU.

Would this work/be a good one to buy. I have a strange budget it's hard to explain exactly but i cant go over 25 bucks including tax and shipping so i saw the only ATX and 24 pin within this price range and wondered if this would work Sunbeam RGPS-450W 450Watts ATX Power Supply from new egg. I'm pretty sure it would work in the computer but is it anygood as far as quality (i.e. not frying or burning up)

or this one Sunbeam PSU-BKS580-US 580W ATX Power Supply

or this one LOGISYS Computer PS480D2 480W ATX12V Power Supply would an ATX12V 24pin work for me?

so my only real questions now are can 20+4 fit 24 which i believe someone said it sometimes can depends, and my other question is can an ATX12V fit in an ATX and what is the difference