New PSU

[Combatjack]

Hello
I was looking at the 8800 GTS 320 mb but i read somewhere it recommends a 400 W PSU

Right now i have a Dell XPS 400
Pentium D 820
2 HD Maxtor something
Western Digital 280 gb
(BOth SATA)
1 DVDBurner Sony (un clear on model)
Sound Blaster x-fi platnium
tv tuner

Would anyone know what would happen if i were to throw in that 8800 gts would i bescrewed

and right now i have a dell btx forfactor what should i do

 

[Grafficks]

You left out crucial information, such as the name of your motherboard and your current PSU. Google doesn't tell much about the Dell XPS-400 - there's either conflicting information or no information at all.
I take it your current PSU is under 400Watts, or else you wouldn't be worrying about the 8800GTS's 400W requirement?


Download CPU-Z and/or Belarc Advisor.

They can tell you the name of your motherboard, as well as other hardware related information. I'm pretty sure your motherboard supports PCI-E, but must be certain.


Secondly, tell us your current power supply specs. If you don't already know this, then the information can be found on the label on the side of your PSU, which requires opening up your case. It would also help (but is not mandatory) if you tell us how much amps you have on the +12V rail of your PSU, which can be found on a chart at the side of the PSU.

A BTX formfactor should not be a significant problem, but might get a little cramped. It would be best before you go out and buy the 8800GTS if you open up your computer to see how much room you actually have.


Finally, if you want to have an estimate of how much wattage you need when you are shopping for a PSU, here's a link to a great power supply calculator:
http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp


Good luck.

 

[Combatjack]

Your right. Right now i have a dell mobo which i have heard with is a stipped down foxcon mobo witha dell bios. The Psu is currently 375 watts. For being a dell case i have been able to squeeze sometings in there like a 2nd hd and a couple of pci cards but my prob is that i cant find ouy how much wattage i have because when putting on a new heat sink on my old vid card i let someone else do it and they crushed the pcb.

also i have 1.5 gb of ram ddr2 512x2, 256x2

 

[Tedster]

dells tend to use proprietary hardware. before you toss in a PSU ensure you can use it. Also ensure your psu can handle any graphics cards you add

to calculate watts use a wattage calculator. there are several free ones on the net.

 

[LinkedKube]

wow, I used the wattage calculator, and with my things coming in the mail I need at least 750 watts, god dang

 

[Combatjack]

lol i used a wattage caluclator i understand it is calculating peak wattage but if that ever happens i think i might want to start wearing some kevlar so the shrapnal from the psu dosent kill me

 

[LinkedKube]

lol I'm gonna sli some 8800 gtx, which is bad cuz hear vista doesnt support it yet, but oh well, lll wait for the verdict, also have a coolit thermoelectric cooler, 3 cd/dvd rw drives, and many other devices. Just got a quad core from comp usa for 660,( i think they made a mistake in discounting this item) and i have many other devicess. Gonna post a pic soon. I think I need more than 1k watts to run this thing, but hey, that's how it is in the pc world right?