Power supply and video card

[gmcfan]

Hello all


I recently did some upgrades to my Dell OptiPlex GX110, I maxed out the processor and RAM (1GHZ P3, 512 MB of RAM) and I have aquired a 3DFuzion GeForce MX4000 128 meg video card to finish it off. On the box it says it requires a power supply that is at least 250 Watts. The supply in my computer is only a 200 Watt. I've used a couple of those online wattage calculators which tell me that even when my hardware is being utilized at 100%, I'm only using 193 Watts. Now, I'm not taking these numbers to heart, I'd rather trust a few good techs than a program that was written by god knows who. So, do I really need a 250 watt power supply? I'd like to upgrade anyway, and found a stock Dell 250 Watt PS that would work in my computer, but I'd like to go a little above that if the vid card says it needs more than 250. I'd be more than happy with a 300 Watt supply, but I'm not sure what will fit in my chassis. Anyone have any suggestions? I don't like throwing caution to the wind especially with brand new hardware I just bought.

Thanks guys,

Jon

[GX1_Man]

Dell PSU's of that vintage were proprietary. Make sure what you get really is compatible. They are also not cheap.

http://www.pcpower.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=S36D

This is what I would recommend.  

[gmcfan]

Not too shabby, guess I'll start saving up my pennies lol


Thanks!

[soybean]

I think I'd go ahead and install that card and run it while your saving your pennies.  If your computer continues to run without any problems with the card installed, I believe you'd be safe in concluding you do not need to upgrade your PS.  

I just upgraded my PS from 250 Watts to 400 Watts but I used that 250Watt PS since Sept 2002, going through upgrades of processor, motherboard, RAM, video, and more.  My system's current configuration:

Athlon XP 2200
512MB PC2100
80GB IDE hard drive, 8MB cache
CD-RW
DVD-ROM
nVidia GeForce4 Ti4200 w/64MB in AGP slot
nVidia GeForce2 MX400 w/64MB in PCI slot (for second monitor)
2 - 17inch CRT monitors
Sound card, Chaintech AV512 (Cmedia 8738-6ch)
BOKA-1050 speakers (3 piece set)
Also have an external hard drive (HD in external enclosure)
1.44MB floppy drive

On 8/28/05, I used The Power Supply Calculator and it indicated my system needs 251 Watts.  But, as you said, this would be true only if all components were being tasked simultaneously, and that is not likely to occur.