Upgrading Dell Dimension 4600 with 6800GT?

[Mark2582]

Well I was about build a new computer with a G70 in it as soon as it was released, but I have decided I will wait for the R520 and see how that performs. I also think I will wait for a 32 pipe card so I may have the 6800GT for a while.

I was wondering if the PSU in the 4600 would be sufficient to run this card. I currently have a 9800NP and BF2 just doesn't run as well as I would like. This system is also running a P4 @ 2.8 and has 768MBs of RAM. I was thinking of upgrading the RAM to 1gig, but I don't know if I would really see a performance boost. 768MBs gets chewed up pretty easily in memory intensive games.

Thanks for any input.

 

[Mark2582]

Forgot to mention, I would upgrade the PSU if necessary, but IIRC Dell uses some kind of PSU that does not conform to the "normal" ATX standard, correct?

 

[Accord99]

It probably would work. Here's a thread talking about working video cards with the Dell 400SC, which uses the same 250W PSU. There's a report of a successful 6800Ultra and a successfull 6800GT with 3 HDs.

http://www.aaltonen.us/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1252&start=120

The 4600 uses an ATX compatible PSU.

 

[Mark2582]

Ahh so this 4600 is ATX compatible. So this PSU should work, correct? I will probably pick up one of these, a 6800GT, and a gig of Corsair Value Select then.

 

[dheffer]

Pretty sure even though its ATX, it uses a different standard. That power supply should be fine, really. I'm almost positive that you can't upgrade the power supply with a regular power supply anyway.

 

[Mark2582]

That's what I was afraid of. Guess I will just have to try my luck with the stock PSU then. Is anyone really sure of what kind of PSU this will take? Or should I just stick with the stock one? Thanks in advance.
Edit: The results that the people had in the link posted by Accord are looking good. Perhaps the stock PSU is more powerful than I had anticipated.

 

[Accord99]

No, the 4600 PSU is ATX. Also, unlike the 400SC and 8300/8400, the 4600 case is an open back, which means it can support just about any ATX PSU. Here's are a few thread about successful PSU upgrades for the 4600.

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums...ghw&message.id=58293&query.id=0#M58293
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums...ghw&message.id=49540&query.id=0#M49540
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums...o&message.id=108869&query.id=0#M108869

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: Accord99
No, the 4600 PSU is ATX. Also, unlike the 400SC and 8300/8400, the 4600 case is an open back, which means it can support just about any ATX PSU. Here's are a few thread about successful PSU upgrades for the 4600.

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums...ghw&message.id=58293&query.id=0#M58293
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums...ghw&message.id=49540&query.id=0#M49540
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums...o&message.id=108869&query.id=0#M108869

Good to know, if I ever have to service a Dell 4600 I'll remember that