8800gts and Dell Dimension 9100?

hypeMarked

Senior member
Apr 15, 2002
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Hi all, I wanted to get an 8800gts, but my current computer is a Dimension 9100 with a 375 watts power supply. Is it possible or should I look at other graphic cards? Thanks
 

40sTheme

Golden Member
Sep 24, 2006
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Well, I don't know about the actual computer itself, but you're definitely going to need a power supply upgrade. Look for 550W and up.
 

Stumps

Diamond Member
Jun 18, 2001
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magic 8 ball says......outlook not so good.



maybe a PSU upgrade might do the trick, what are the rest of the specs of the system?
 

hypeMarked

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Apr 15, 2002
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It has p4 prescott 3.0 ghz (not even dual core), 2.5 gh of DDR2 533, and the 375 watts power supply. I looked at Dell's power supply upgrade and it makes me want to kick my self to why I bought a Dell ($150 for a 470 watts power supply). My reason for wanting the 8800 gts is because I'm going to build a computer some time in summer or fall of 2007. Getting a 8800gts now to get by till then and get another 8800 gts to have it in SLI. Or should I get a x1950xt for ~250 and save the rest for the upgrade?

EDIT: By the way, I'm currently running an ATI x850xtpe
 

Stumps

Diamond Member
Jun 18, 2001
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Originally posted by: hypeMarked
It has p4 prescott 3.0 ghz (not even dual core), 2.5 gh of DDR2 533, and the 375 watts power supply. I looked at Dell's power supply upgrade and it makes me want to kick my self to why I bought a Dell ($150 for a 470 watts power supply). My reason for wanting the 8800 gts is because I'm going to build a computer some time in summer or fall of 2007. Getting a 8800gts now to get by till then and get another 8800 gts to have it in SLI. Or should I get a x1950xt for ~250 and save the rest for the upgrade?

EDIT: By the way, I'm currently running an ATI x850xtpe

I wouldn't even worry about upgrading to a 8800 with those specs.

just stick with your X850 until your upgrade the rest of your systems to something a bit better
 

hypeMarked

Senior member
Apr 15, 2002
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But the x850 is choking with Company of Heroes at 1920x1200, and the upgrade is so far away...so you (Stumps) don't think even the x1950xt can hold out for 6-8 months?
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
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Dell power supplies are real good. Check your 12v+ rail amps. If it's more than 22 your fine. Those recommendations are for systems with 3 or 4 hard drives and packed with Peripherals.

Edit: If I were you I'd just grab a 1950xt for 250.00$ like others had said
 

hypeMarked

Senior member
Apr 15, 2002
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Thanks for the advice, I'm currently leaning towards the x1950xt. Since I'm new at this next-gen graphic card information where you have to pay attention to the power supply, I'd like to ask for some information.

I checked and here's what it said:

+12VA = 18 amp
+12VB = 18 amp

Combined +12VA + +12VB = 30 amp

Does that means that it's not good enough for the 8800gts?
 

videopho

Diamond Member
Apr 8, 2005
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Most Dell systems psu's are somewhat underated.
The 8800GTS should work fine.


 

hypeMarked

Senior member
Apr 15, 2002
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Thanks videopho,

So, if there's any power supply guru out there can verify for me the 12V amp math and that my dell system can handle it, then it's 8800gts, otherwise, I'm going for the 1950xt.
 

vois2

Banned
Jan 5, 2006
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It's not the PSU itself, nor the graphics card power draw, which will get you. It's the Dell motherboard.

And I know from experience. I have the Dimension 8400, it's the same as the 9100 except came with the 350W PSU and a higher default RAM speed.

I put the 550W OCZ PowerStream into my 8400, and it made the CPU fan run at 100% speed 100% of the time. Funny thing is, I was warned this exactly would happen by a Dell oldtimer before I put in the new PSU.

It wasn't long before more odd things started happening. I went back to my Dell stock 350W PSU with a new 8400 motherboard and never looked back.

Moral of the story: Don't throw a $100-$125 power PSU with a $450 graphics card at a cheap Dell motherboard which costs $29 to replace.

Or if you do, get the backup 9100 motherboard replacement in advance just in case it goes haywire. The Dell oldtimer told me that Dell motherboards have had this issue for years. He speculates that the Dell motherboard designers rate limit the amount of power through the board so that one cannot get too much of an upgrade path from their Dell purchase. Job security.

 

hypeMarked

Senior member
Apr 15, 2002
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I'm not putting in a new power supply, i'm just trying to see what the current power supply can support.
 

bamacre

Lifer
Jul 1, 2004
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It will work fine.

I have an MSI 8800 GTS working perfectly in a Precision 390, and I think it's the same PSU, I know it's the same spec's. 375W and 18A on each of two 12V rails.

BTW, even further proof, this is the same power supply in the Dimension 9200 (XPS 410) as well. And Dell allows the XPS 410 to be config'd with a 7950 GX2, which actually uses a hair more power than the 8800 GTS.
 

calebb

Junior Member
Jan 21, 2003
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I know this is an older thread but I just wanted to confirm that the 8800GTS works fine in a Dimension 9100.

I'm running the stock PSU (very underrated - 375W yet 18A @ 12v x 2):
Pentium 4 840 (dual core 3.2GHz) (latest processor the 9100 motherboard supports)
2x512MB & 2x1GB 667MHz DDR2
2x320GB WD 7200RPM SATA HDD's
EVGA 8800GTS

I've been running this setup since December-ish. The voltages stay very close to 3.3/5/12 and the system is very stable.