Upgrading Dell Inspiron 580

jc4517

Hi everyone, I'm quite new to this so please, bare with me, thanks in advance! So i want to upgrade the graphics card in my dell inspiron 580 so games will run better as currently i'm trying to run them on integrated intel hd graphics (not pretty). I'm not big into gaming, very casual and would be used for games such as portal 2, the witcher/the witcher 2, half life, the sims, guild wars 2 etc. for 2-3 hours a week. I'm on a very tight budget, 100 euro at most really and therefore have been looking at this psu

http://www.adverts.ie/power-supply-units/500w-atx-power-supply-unit/2266807

and this graphics card.

http://www.adverts.ie/other-peripherals/amd-ati-radeon-4650-graphics-cards-1gb/2170953

Does anyone have any experience with these components and if so have you had a good or bad experience with them. Also anyone with experience in pc building and upgrading can you tell me if I'm heading in the right direction here as I need a bit of guidance? Thanks a million in advance and also here are the specs for the dell inspiron 580

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/insp580/en/cs/cs_en.pdf

Monotype

I'd say not to bother with the PSU at all and just get a 7750. It's very likely that this is within the power capabilities of Dell's PSU. Just check that it'll fit (i.e., if it's one of those small form factor PCs) and that you have a free PCI-E slot.

Post up the specs on the side of the PSU if you want to be sure.

Dubba

I've a 6870 in my Inspiron 580 Mini Tower that just about fits. I needed to upgrade my PSU tho. AFAIK the 7750 (which is much smaller) doesn't require power directly from the PSU so you'd be fine with the stock 300w.

jc4517

Monotype wrote: »

I'd say not to bother with the PSU at all and just get a 7750. It's very likely that this is within the power capabilities of Dell's PSU. Just check that it'll fit (i.e., if it's one of those small form factor PCs) and that you have a free PCI-E slot.

Post up the specs on the side of the PSU if you want to be sure.

I don't have the exact specs of the stock dell psu but I know its only 300w and it says on the 7750 requirements page it need 400w minimum

http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/7000/7750/Pages/radeon-7750.aspx#3

Does anyone think the psu I'm looking at looks a bit dodgy considering its not really a well known brand (HighPower)? Might I be cheaping out a bit here?

Monotype

Specs on graphics cards often overestimate the needs to compensate for bad quality PSUs.

The 7750 is extremely frugal. Less than 50W.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/HD_7750/24.html

An overclocked system on it's own is usually well under 200W. Without knowing your specs, it's quite likely that even with the 7750, consumption would be under 200W, even under load.

Dell usually use Delta PSUs. Not really the most awesome PSUs on the block, but they'll usually deliver what they say and are fairly stable. Dell don't want people knocking on their doors with destroyed components (at the same time, they want people to buy higher grade systems instead of upgrading).

jc4517

Now thinking of going with a radeon hd 6670 as i've done a bit of research and apparently the results with the 6670 are better than with the 4650 and the power requirements are the same. Also decided to scrap the new psu and stick with the stock dell 300w one in my computer currently as advised by the many google searches I have done. What do you guys think? Bad move or no..?