How do I find out if I have this....

[Ferrari308guy]

Oh boy....

What wattage would you recommend? 500W wasn't big enough, so do you think I should go 700W?

[eno]

Go as high as you can afford.... then you're future proofed.

You will find that any psu over 500w will need a bigger case. Your case is only just bigger than my old dimension 4700 case.

[Ferrari308guy]

Ok, so are you saying that I could get a 500W PSU and still keep my current case...

I would imagine moving everything over would be a major pain...

[eno]

Some light reading.....

http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2 ... 1214239941

Yours should be easier as it is more like a standard ATX form.

As for 500watts ....... I'd spring for the hassle and cost of a new case along with the PSU and avoid overheating the GPU and therefore having to replace the graphics card.

[Slotback]

It's not only about watts, but about amperage & quality too. For example, I have a PSU that is rated at 350 watts yet has 36 amps on the +12v rails... I could run cards needing '450 watts' no problems... it's not that I suggest you doing this but it serves a point - some '700 watt' Power supplies are terrible, some weaker ones are fantastic.

Looking into PC Power and cooling, and, Corsair power supplies. Make sure they have a 8 pin & a 6 pin connector and atleast 30 amps on the +12. You can get SLI certified for future proofing... and unless you're running a great deal of perpetuals or overclocking, I wouldn't bother looking at wattage.

Regarding dells.... my old 8400 was standard 24 pin, my bros 8300 was also... However, with the 8300 we had to butcher the case to make the PSU fit... with my 8400 we had to cut a hole in the back of the case so the PSU on / off switch could pock through.

[Ferrari308guy]

All right, thanks for the help guys.

[Ferrari308guy]

Ok, another question...

I am looking at this video card:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=2306

It says it needs 580W power supply with 12V current rating of 40A....

I can't find anything with a 12V current rating of 40A...am I looking at this the wrong way?

I was going to buy this power supply:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=1483

But like I said, it doesn't have that 40A rating...

Any help?  :-/

Thanks, Ferrari