Dell vostro 230 - want to add a PCI-E vid card

[cheap5.0]

I have a set of 7 workstations, all vostro 230's and they come with a 300 watt psu. I participate in F@H, and am already running the standard clients on them but would like to do some GPU folding.

The vostros were offered with a PCI-E card as a factory option, and i have verified these have an empty PCI-E slot in them but i dont think the 300 watt PSU will be able to handle a 8800 GT or similar card. Anyone know if these psu's can be easily swapped out with a standard ATX supply? I know the dells used too (around 1996-2000) have a different voltage psu, but they changed to a standard voltage after 2001. Any other quirks, like odd connectors i need to worry about?

 

[Meghan54]

I know the dells used too (around 1996-2000) have a different voltage psu, but they changed to a standard voltage after 2001.

What in the heck does that mean?

 

[bamacre]

Why not use a 9800 GT "green" like this one...?
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...tCode=10012357

 

[cheap5.0]

What in the heck does that mean?

Exactly that.

A quote that was confirmed by a dell rep when i asked them about it.

There was a period when Dell used non-industry standard voltages on their ATX power supplies (1996-2000) the pin-outs matched the standard ATX plug-ins but their voltages were different. Thus if you used a different motherboard with those power supplies or a non Dell power supply with a Dell motherboard... Zap

Ive been waiting for a day or so to get a response about larger wattage psu's from dell, and i dont think im going to get one. Thats why i came here.

 

[cheap5.0]

Why not use a 9800 GT "green" like this one...?
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...tCode=10012357

I have thought of that, but have been told by a few people that maintain dells that the psu supplied with them is just barely enough to run the system as is. Even "greenie" like that one will add another 60 watts minimum.

Maybe someone can confirm.

The system runs a 300 watt psu as is with this hardware:

LGA 775 E7500
2 sticks of DDR3 1066 (2 gigs)
1 sata HD
1 sata cd drive

Thats what, 200 watts at startup?

 

[Meghan54]

Dell used non-standard pinouts on their connectors, but their motherboards used dead stock cpus, memory, hard drives, etc., so they certainly couldn't be using anything other than standard voltages in their computers. Dell certainly didn't have "special" cpus or memory or whatever using weird voltages. And Dell's motherboards were almost exclusively Intel-chipped and mostly Intel derived boards.

 

[cheap5.0]

Dell used non-standard pinouts on their connectors, but their motherboards used dead stock cpus, memory, hard drives, etc., so they certainly couldn't be using anything other than standard voltages in their computers. Dell certainly didn't have "special" cpus or memory or whatever using weird voltages. And Dell's motherboards were almost exclusively Intel-chipped and mostly Intel derived boards.

I thought it was impossible as well, but what else would the rep mean by this?

I could have got a first day rep as well.....

 

[bamacre]

LGA 775 E7500
2 sticks of DDR3 1066 (2 gigs)
1 sata HD
1 sata cd drive

Thats what, 200 watts at startup?

Nah, not even close to 200w.

Regardless, I wouldn't mind seeing a confirmation. I just think it's hard to swallow having to spend another $50 or so on a new PSU to run a $100 video card. Especially if it isn't necessary. Not to mention, replacing the PSU would take a lot more time than just replacing the video card.

My Dell XPS 410 has a 375W PSU, and it's running a Q6600, 6GB DDR2, 2 SATA hard drives, 2 SATA optical drives, and a (slightly neutered) GTX 260.

 

[cheap5.0]

Ill give it a go, when i scratch up enough money for a low power 98xx. Whats the worst that can happen? lol....

 

[Fayd]

if you're concerned about it, i believe pc power and cooling can make a PSU with a dell proprietary pinout.

 

[cheap5.0]

if you're concerned about it, i believe pc power and cooling can make a PSU with a dell proprietary pinout.

Thanks, ill keep this in mind should it crap out.