Video Card and Power Rig Ideas

[BozE]

I'm currently trying to figure out if I can feasibly run games like Oblivion on my Dimension E310 (no, I can't afford a real gaming system) by upgrading the video card. Current problems include only having a PCI and PCI x1 slot open and a power constraint. My specs sit at:

1. Motherboard - Intel Pentium 4 640
2. Graphic interface - Integrated Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset
3. Memory - 1024 MB DDR2
4. CPU - 3.2 GHz
5. Internal Power Supply - 230W (yes, the problem)

The interesting thing here is that I have a spare ATX Switching Power Supply rated at 400W, (+12V at 12A listed), but I can't simply replace my current supply with it because it doesn't have some of the necessary connections for the motherboard.

Question is, can I use the extra power supply I have to power either a new graphics card or enough of the auxiliary components like drives to run a 2nd tier card like a GeForce 7600? Obviously I could replace the factory supply, but I'm trying to see if this would work first.

 

[raybay]

Finding a power supply which is the correct size, that also fits the Dell E310 case in a way that allows full access to the power plug and the ON-OFF switch is sometimes tricky. Then the E310 is not well cooled, so you need to look at airflow with a supplemental case fan.
Take a look at the video graphics card reviews at Tomshardware.com. They have very complete reviews of all the new cards each month.... If you go back a few months, you will find the ideal card for you.