Question on Video card for 250W power supply Dell Stuio Slim

[Ryman526]

Hi there,

My cousin purchased a Dell Studio slim PC, and wants to upgrade to a graphics card that has 2 DVI inputs for dual monitor functionability. I checked the stats of the Studio slim and I see it only has a 250W power supply. He mainly uses the computer for playing poker and other older games, so he doesn't need anything great for gaming.

I was curious if either of these cards would work since they require 300-350W power supplies?

Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P3-N944-LR GeForce 9400 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards


Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P3-N954-TR GeForce 9500 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Any help or other video card suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks


Ryan

 

[Yami]

Almost definitely not, especially so if it's a Dell PC, so the power supply will be really rubbish. If it was a good 250W, then maybe at a stretch.

 

[Ryman526]

i c, any suggestions on a video card that would work with that PC that could do what he wants it to?

 

[Yami]

Sorry, don't think so - maybe there's an ATI one that will, I'm not very well-versed in ATIs though so you'll have to ask someone else.

 

[Ryman526]

I want to avoid replacing the psu if at all possible. I would think this would be an attainable goal since the computer is pretty new and all he wants to do is have dual monitors.

 

[Trotter]

Both of those card are full height cards. And no, they require more power than he has.

This one should work:
Newegg.com - JATON VIDEO-PX7200GS-LP GeForce 7200GS 128MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Low Profile Video Card with L-P Bracket - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
It has a DVI and a VGA instead of two DVI, but so do all the other cards weak enough to work with his power supply.

You can use one of these to use a DVI cable with the VGA port:
Newegg.com - Rosewill RCW-701 /DVI-A ( 24+5 ) Female to VGA HD15 Male Adapter /Black - Adapters & Gender Changers

 

[Ryman526]

Okay, sounds good. Thank you. Will that support dual monitor display if I use the adapter?

Also, what if he has the option with the upgraded graphics offered by Dell instead of the onboard card (which is I believe ATI Radeon HD 3450 256MB supporting HDMI from the site description) wouldn't a 128MB card be a downgrade?

I guess what im wondering is does any card that has a VGA and a DVI input support the ability to display on dual monitors? I just need to get that adapter...or does the card itself have to support that function? Thanks!

 

[Yami]

I guess what im wondering is does any card that has a VGA and a DVI input support the ability to display on dual monitors? I just need to get that adapter...or does the card itself have to support that function? Thanks!

You just need to get an adaptor like Trotter said.
You have one monitor plugged into the DVI, and one monitor plugged into the VGA via a DVI adaptor.

Also, please don't double-post

 

[Trotter]

Merged the posts.

If he goes for the 3450, it will have a power supply that will support it. it should also come with dual outputs on the card. All of them on Newegg have a DVI and a VGA port.

Any card with dual outputs will support two monitors.

 

[Ryman526]

Alright. Thanks so much. Sorry for the double post!