Upgrading Dell Optiplex 210L - Need compatibility advice.

[etranger]

First off, I know most of you would suggest to put my money towards a new PC, but I'm not quite ready to do that yet. So for now I just want to squeeze a little more performance out of what I got.

I want to upgrade the video card in my Dell Optiplex 210L. It's a PCI slot and what I'm looking at is the SPARKLE SP94GT512D2LHPP GeForce 9400 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card at Newegg.

What I'm worried about is the power supply, because I can't find any stats on how much juice this card needs. The Dell PSU is only 230w, and I have a feeling I'll need at least 300w. I don't want to blow my MB, it would sort of defeat the purpose, right? So I know Dell's are tough to replace PSU's on, especially outdated models like mine, and the only model I can find online is the H305P-00which is good for 305w. That's just bare minimum, really.

So my questions are:

1.) Does anyone know the power requirements for this video card?

2.) Does anyone see any compatibility problems so far with what I've stated or know more than I do about my rig and what will work best?

3.) Does anyone know about a more powerful replacement PSU for the 210L?

4.) Does anyone have experience ordering from www. newpowersupply.com or www.censuspc.com They are the only two sites I could find the H305P-00 on.


Thank you very much in advance for taking the time to read and answer this. I really appreciate it.

Best Regards,

Nathan

[Aaron_8015]

Hi and welcome.

A couple of things what is the purpose of this upgrade?

That is a very low end card and tbh that PSU would proberly be fine running it, but its not good to take chances.

Do you have the slim or the normal size tower. If normal then chances are you can replace the PSU with anything.

You would greatly benifit from a memory upgrade as 512mb is a little low for todays standards, the motherboard will support up to 2gb.

[etranger]

Hi and thanks for the welcome.

The purpose is to improve gaming performance, mostly for online FPS, maybe a little Call of Duty if I can.

I have the normal tower (they call it the mini tower, as opposed to the desktop). It's pretty spacious, and I can't imagine the PSU is much different in size than most replacements, but I don't see a lot of measurements out there in the product descriptions, and I'd like to avoid the hassle of multiple returns and exchanges. If I could go up to 500w I'd be much happier, and Newegg has some deals that are much cheaper than this 305w PSU I mentioned.

As for memory, the highest I've seen for PCI cards is 1gb. That is what you meant right? Not RAM... I just figured 1gb would need even more juice than the 512mb, so unless I find a better PSU I was going to play it safe with the 512mb. Either way, it will be a big improvement from the integrated graphics chip.

Do you think this would work in my box?

APEVIA ATX-CW500WP4 500W ATX Power Supply


Thanks a lot!

[Aaron_8015]

Okay I was refering to system ram you will definatly want to put that up atleast 1gb, 2gb would be better.

Is this COD WAW (the latest one)?

If so that card is not designed for gaming and doubt would be that much better than your on-board graphics. The whole memory on video card is a gimmick graphics card manufactures use to get people who dont know to buy them.Tbh that card wouldnt need anymore than 256mb no point in having memory if card dosnt use it. Ram does not tell you how good the card is.

Do you have a budget and I could look for a PSU and card that will work.

Edit:- Yes it would work but I wouldnt buy that particular PSU You would only need a good 400W (depending on card) from a good manufacture.

[etranger]

Ok, haha, you did mean ram. I have 1.5gb in there now.

Yes, CoDWaW. That card won't do it, huh? I don't know what else to do with a PCI interface, not much out there. But if you can think of something, I'm all ears. I'd like to keep it under $150, but I'm flexible.

[Aaron_8015]

okay $150 is do-able give us a few minutes will go looking for parts.

[Aaron_8015]

Okay as always you are very limited with cards on pci which is limited to low-end cards. best I can find is this 9500

Newegg.com - JATON VIDEO-498PCI-DLP GeForce 9500 GT 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Low Profile Ready Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

That is still a low performing card I doubt it will make CoD WaW playable (especialy with alot of players, and explosions of which there is alot of) I do highly advise against it as that $150 could be spent on a new system (yes I know but it had to be said ).

Newegg.com - Antec earthwatts EA380 380W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.0 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies

[etranger]

Ok, ok you're probably right. But thank you for looking into this for me.

So is Jaton just a better brand than Sparkle? Because I thought you said the video card memory was a gimmick and PCI cards probably wouldn't use more than 256mb, yet now you've suggested I bump it up to 1gb. Am I understanding you right?

Will I see a difference in these low end cards between 512mb and 1gb?

[Aaron_8015]

Notice this is a 9500 the one you picked a 9400. This the only one they have otherwise would have picked a different one.

Quote:

Will I see a difference in these low end cards between 512mb and 1gb?

No. Too put it bluntly. You wouldnt even notice a difference in mid range cards unless you using very high res or two monitors.

Im sure if the other members around they would also advise against it.

[etranger]

Yeah, I caught that just as I posted. Ok, well thanks for all the advice.

One last question though, about the PSU. Are they standard size? I mean, is there any way I can be sure it will fit before I order it? Or are you pretty sure it will?

Thanks again. I'll probably be hitting you up again soon about custom build recommendations, once I accept the fact that I'm better off just moving on.

BTW.. What is the noticeable difference between, for example, a GeForce 9500 GT on PCI and the same card running on PCIe 2.0 x16?