Post by Stanislaus StewartI have a Dell Dimension 8300 with Windows XP OS with SP3. Also, it has
a 250 watt power supply.
I would like to know if I can install a GE Force 6200, with 512 mb
memory, and requires a PSU of
300 watts or more. I must add that I don't intend to play games on it.
Grateful for some advice.
Stan
If you want a definite yes-or-no you probably are not going to get
one. In the absence of that I'll simply say... probably. Those
figures are alwaysa rough guide to start with (so much depends on
what _else_ is in the system) and are usually on the conservative
side to allow for overoptimistic power supply ratings and machines
with a lot of equipment installed. Dell have a reputation for
half-decent PSUs and you can rely on that 250W rating being reasonably
honest - you may well find that it performs equivalently to a
no-name "350W" supply in terms of the amount of power it can usefully
supply.
This is obviously an older machine and getting to the point where
spending an lot of money on it probably isn't justified. If the
card is already to hand or dirt cheap I'd drop it in and see what
happens - I'd guesstimate odds of 90% everything will work fine.
If not and you absolutely must have that card fitted you can always
replace the PSU.
If this is the style of case I think it is getting a new PSU for
is slightly problematic - you either need to be very particular
about switch and connector placement when selecting the PSU or be
willing to cut out some of the excess "enclosing" on the back of
the case to fit something more standard - the case I'm thinking of
has a plate covering parts of the PSU rear frequently used by the
power switch and exhaust fan.
--
Andrew Smallshaw
***@sdf.lonestar.org