Need help choosing a new power supply...

shadow1515 · 05-28-2007, 06:49 AM

First, I have a Dell Dimension E521, so I guess it's entirely possible that very few will be compatible with my system. The 305W that came with my PC is (barely) adequate for now since I'm not doing any heavy gaming (at least not with recent titles), but I'm not 30% over my requirements and I do want to upgrade in the future.

By this time next year I will have 4 DDR2 RAM sticks, will be shopping for a Radeon HD video card (but probably will hold off on buying one for even a few months after that unless I come across and unexpected financial boon), and may also be dropping an Athlon X2 6000+ in there if I find that my mobo will support it.

I assume this means I want to grab a 700W PSU, so could you recommend a good one that will fit in my PC? Also, while I've installed a power supply in a computer that I've built from scratch, I've never swapped one for an existing PSU. If I just plug it into everywhere that the old one is currently plugged in I really can't go wrong, right?

Tumbleweed36 · 05-28-2007, 07:10 AM

Start by reading THIS

When done, post back with questions.

Note: Swapping a power supply is a piece of cake.

05-28-2007, 06:49 AM	#1 (permalink)
shadow1515 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 53 OS: Windows Vista Home Premium	Need help choosing a new power supply... First, I have a Dell Dimension E521, so I guess it's entirely possible that very few will be compatible with my system. The 305W that came with my PC is (barely) adequate for now since I'm not doing any heavy gaming (at least not with recent titles), but I'm not 30% over my requirements and I do want to upgrade in the future. By this time next year I will have 4 DDR2 RAM sticks, will be shopping for a Radeon HD video card (but probably will hold off on buying one for even a few months after that unless I come across and unexpected financial boon), and may also be dropping an Athlon X2 6000+ in there if I find that my mobo will support it. I assume this means I want to grab a 700W PSU, so could you recommend a good one that will fit in my PC? Also, while I've installed a power supply in a computer that I've built from scratch, I've never swapped one for an existing PSU. If I just plug it into everywhere that the old one is currently plugged in I really can't go wrong, right?

05-28-2007, 07:10 AM	#2 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 13,588 OS: XP Professional	Re: Need help choosing a new power supply... Start by reading THIS When done, post back with questions. Note: Swapping a power supply is a piece of cake. __________________ ---------- Last edited by Tumbleweed36 : 05-28-2007 at 07:20 AM.