New PSU and Video Card.

[yo1mcool]

I did some research on Dell compatible PSU's and I found this guy:
Newegg.com - PC Power & Cooling Silencer PPCS500D 500W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies

Output:
:: +5V @ 24A
:: +12V @ 35A
:: -12V @ 0.8A
:: +3.3V @ 24A
:: +5VSB @ 2.5A
:: continuous = 500W
:: peak = 550W

Will this handle the 8800 and the 9600 GeForce cards?
Will this handle the 3870 and 4850 Radeon cards?

Now, I've always been more an NVIDIA fan, but I'd be willing to go ATI.

Which GeForce card and which Radeon card do you suggest for a $100-200 budget.

 

[Prototype]

First, PSU are not cards.

If you haven't gotten the PSU yet.

How about the
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

It is $5 cheaper and has 52A. This should be able to handle the build. For the GPU, the 4850 seems the best price/perfomance.

 

[yo1mcool]

First, PSU are not cards.

If you haven't gotten the PSU yet.

How about the
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

It is $5 cheaper and has 52A. This should be able to handle the build. For the GPU, the 4850 seems the best price/perfomance.

Yea... I didn't mean to say card.

I've read that Dell's come with PSU's that are different and that it requires you to get the right one if you want to upgrade.

This is a little bit more in depth:

Like many other pre-fabricated computer manufacturers, Dell has chosen to go with many proprietary computer components instead of using industry standard computer parts. When it is time for replacement or upgrade of these components, they have to be purchased from Dell. In Dell's case, one of the proprietary parts is one you might not expect: your Dell power supply may look like a standard ATX power supply, but in fact cannot be replaced with a standard ATX power supply. The reason you need a proprietary Dell power supply is because Dell has been using specially modified ATX motherboards with non-standard pinout of the motherboard power connectors. This Dell to ATX adapter converts between the non-standard pinout to the standard ATX pinout and turns a standard ATX power supply into the equivalent of a Dell power supply.

Which is why I chose the one I linked above.

I found the "Dell Compatible" PSU here:
Computer Power Supplies, ATX Power Supplies - PC Power & Cooling

 

[meat_helmet]

Yeh apparently dell do have propritary power supplies...ouch.

PC Power and Cooling are pretty much the best PSU brand out there, its just that they are normally a bit more expensive. That PSU will be great for you though. It will handle all of the cards you mentioned.

I would suggest this card:

Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100245L Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Or this with a better cooler:

Newegg.com - HIS Hightech H485F512P Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

If you HAVE to get nvidia, this is still good, but it is more expensive and not quite as powerful as the 4850:

Newegg.com - XFX PVT98WYDFH GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

 

[yo1mcool]

Thanks for the suggestions meat_helmet.

Anyone else have suggestions/ideas on what Video Card I should get?

Or any suggestions on a better Dell compatible PSU?

 

[yo1mcool]

Sorry for a double-post, but I thought this needed to be addressed.

I just had a chat that a Dell Support person...

10:09:37 PM Customer yo1mcool
If I were to put in a PSU with 500 Wats, it could potentially fry my motherboard?

10:10:08 PM Agent Saurabh_159266
I am afraid, Yes. The motherboard is designed and tested to work with 375 W power supply only.

Is it common that motherboards can only support a maximum amount of Wattage? Or was this guy just trying to make me "scared" so I would buy upgrades straight from Dell?

 

[meat_helmet]

I have never heard of that, i would guess he is trying to scare you away from 3rd party hardware. I dont trust people from dell on any level. I would trust PC Power and Cooling over them any day. I very much doubt they would make a PSU for dell equipment if it could potentially fry hardware. The PSU should only supply as much power as the motherboard needs.

 

[yo1mcool]

I have never heard of that, i would guess he is trying to scare you away from 3rd party hardware. I dont trust people from dell on any level. I would trust PC Power and Cooling over them any day. I very much doubt they would make a PSU for dell equipment if it could potentially fry hardware. The PSU should only supply as much power as the motherboard needs.

Thanks for the fast response. Hopefully you are correct, would hate to see my Mobo die.

 

[Peter.Cort]

i have actually seen a dell board get shot cause of a more powerful psu. don't know how it works, but i've seen it done. what model dell is it?

 

[yo1mcool]

i have actually seen a dell board get shot cause of a more powerful psu. don't know how it works, but i've seen it done. what model dell is it?

Dell XPS 410
- XPS/Dimension 410/9200