Should I replace Dell psu (300w) before I install new vid card?

[jalo2]

I'm receiving a Inspiron 620 with a i5-2400 cpu in a few days and am going to upgrade the 6450 vid card it comes with to a Radeon 6870.

can i try out the new card with the 300w psu for a few days of gaming or do i risk damaging the computer because of the 300w psu? i know nothing about this stuff.

i'm looking to upgrade the psu eventually but not sure if i need to do so right away.

 

[Termie]

300w is not sufficient to run a 6870. While the i5-2400 is very efficient, you could still easily hit 250w while gaming. I wouldn't take the chance running the PSU that close to capacity. It will be loud, hot, and could eventually fail.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if that PSU didn't have a single PCIe power cable, of which you need two to run a 6870. You could run a bunch of molex adapters, but that would be messy and I wouldn't want to rely on them to supply the power the card needs.

 

[jalo2]

thanks for the advice. i appreciate it.

 

[fffblackmage]

300W is barely enough, but I don't think I would take the chance with a Dell PSU. D:

 

[lehtv]

OP maybe you should contact dell and ask if they have a replacement PSU for the PC, something that'd power the 6870. I'm not sure if non-dell PSUs work in dell PCs

The 300W psu probably doesn't even have two pci-e connectors, and it shouldnt because it's not powerful enough

 

[ElFenix]

OP maybe you should contact dell and ask if they have a replacement PSU for the PC, something that'd power the 6870. I'm not sure if non-dell PSUs work in dell PCs

The 300W psu probably doesn't even have two pci-e connectors, and it shouldnt because it's not powerful enough

dell has used standard ATX power output for about a decade now. it'd work. fitment may be an issue but size is easier to address.

it was the pentium 2 and 3 models you had to watch out for.

 

[jalo2]

thanks guys. i went with a corsair 600w.