Right guys,

Ok, my system Specs are below. I just bought a Radeon 9800 pro (128MB). But now I have a problem.

I just checked my power supply, and it's 250W. That's gonna kill me now, isn't it? So I have a query.

I was gonna get the 9800 Pro, then when I feel flush, get a new machine. However, if I'm getting a new graphics card, and power supply, shudn't I just get more upgrades? I know you all hate Dell, but the openable chassis is so user-friendly.

Wot u reckon? Do I need a new power supply? Shud I continue to upgrade later, or get a new machine?


Mark.




Dell Dimension 8200
Intel P4 1.9ghz
768 RDRAM
Geforce 3 Ti200 64MB
60G HDD (7200rpm)
19" P991 Trinitron

hmmm your PC is OK ...
getting a 9800PRO will make it a good gaming rig ... not the best ... but you do have some power
buying a totally new PC here ain't that effective ... you better just get a cheap PSU and kepp system or you for a very good one planing to take it into the new system, too

like the OCZ Powerstream

so long as you don't have lots of hard drives / fans etc you should be okay. though you can get a good 400w PSU really cheap now.

I will NEVER ever ever, buy a pre-built system from the likes of dell, gateway etc. When you build to spec, from a site such as http://www.overclockers.co.uk. For example they are going to put this system together for me (accept the water cooling):

AMD Athlon FX53 (Socket 939) - Retail (CP-089-AM)
WaterChill KT12A-L30 Antarctica CPU/VGA/Chipset Power Cooling Kit
Gigabyte GA-K8NSNXP-939 nForce3 Ultra (Socket 939) Motherboard (MB-018-GI)
OCZ PowerStream 520w Power Supply (CA-011-OC)
OCZ 1GB (2x512MB) PC3700 Dual Channel Platinum Edition EB-DDR CAS3 (MY-041-OC)
HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X800 XT ICEQ II 256MB DDR3 VIVO TV-Out/DVI - Retail (GX-000-HT)
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy ZS Platinum Pro 7.1 - Retail (SC-018-CL)
Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM SATA 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-015-WD) X 2
Plextor PX-116A 16x48x DVD-ROM (Black) - OEM (CD-020-PL)
Plextor PX-712A 12x4x DVDRW (Black) - Retail (CD-015-PL)
Plextor PlexWriter Premium 52x/32x/52x CD-ReWriter (Black) - Retail (CD-017-PL)
OcUK Value Floppy Drive - Black (HD-001-OK)
Hyundai ImageQuest Q17+ 17" TFT Monitor - Silver (MO-017-HY)
Logitech Z-680 THX® Certified 5.1 Speakers - 450 Watts (SP-006-LG)
Logitech Internet Navigator™ Keyboard Special Edition - Black (KB-006-LG)
Logitech MX-900 Bluetooth® Optical Mouse (KB-017-LG)
Everglide Giganta Optical - Smoke (GS-003-EV)
Datasafe CD-R 52x 80min Silver Premium (25 Cellawrap) (ME-000-DS) X 2
Verbatim 4.7GB 8x Speed Branded DVD-R 10Pk Jewel Case (ME-003-VB) X 5
Datawrite DVD+RW 4x Branded (10 Tub) (ME-010-DW) X 5
OcUK 120 CD/DVD Carry Case (ME-000-OK)
Akasa Rounded Ultra ATA133/100/66 IDE UV DAY-GLO Cable (0.45m) - Blue (CB-058-GE)
Akasa Serial ATA 45cm DAYGLO Blue Data Cable (CB-001-AK) X 2
Akasa Rounded Floppy UV DAY-GLO Cable (0.45m) - Blue (CB-066-GE)
Investigate
Vantec Cable Sleeving Kit - Blue (CA-002-VA)
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g) (AC-000-AC)
Symantec Norton Internet Security Suite 2004 - OEM (SW-011-NO)
Microsoft Office XP Professional - OEM (SW-000-MS)
Microsoft Windows XP Professional - OEM (OS-002-MS
Akasa AK-178-UV 12" Cold Cathode - Ultra-Violet (CM-011-GE)
CoolerMaster Stacker STC-T01 - (No PSU) (CA-054-CM) + Coolermaster Cross Flow Fan (FG-007-CM)




Cheers

hi mark, your in good shape, the one thing you might wanna check is to see if your mobo supports a faster cpu if your considering any future upgrades, you'd likely benefit from that, at least you got more than 512megs of RDRAM.

as for your powersupply, yes, get a new one, it wont hurt and it will be cheap.. one thing to check though, is make sure you get one that looks exactly like the one you have now, some after market powersupplys wont fit in OEM cases, either due to fan placements, or general deminsion differences, or some type of proprietary clip lock mechanisms.

i dont know where you live if your in the US i suggest
http://www.netwegg.com

try for a nice Enermax if you can.
i got a Fortron (aka Sparkle) for about 60 bucks with shipping and its great.
watch out for Antec's they cooked a board of mine and one hard drive
my friend also got a Vantec powersupply.. but it was rather pricey.

oh and wattage isnt everything, as long as you got good amps going across the rails you should be good to go.

also.. sharpshot.. build your own m8, you'll probably be able to do it cheaper, and use better parts, also, do you really need a dvdrom, and a cdrw.. when you'll have a DVD burner?

cheers

Thanks everyone.

Problem is, though Dell is user friendly as a rig (case opens so easily, good tech support etc), it is obviously an upgrade nightmare.

Max RAM - 2Gig (4x512) (I use Samsung at the mo).
Max CPU (without replacing mobo/chipset) - 2.6-2.8ghz (MAX 3.06ghz with new chipset), and will only really accept Dell brand Mobo (grr).
Power Supply - "Max-Average" is 250W (just Dell being annoying), and you HAVE to buy a Dell PSU or you'll have to cut a hole in the case, which I aint doin.

It's done me proud, but soon, it'll have to go.

But not yet, Doom 3 just came through the door, yay!


Mark.

Well if you want to upgrade a lot from time to time without changing the whole computer, dont buy dell, compaq, whatever. simple as that. such computers are for people who dont know anything about hardware and dont want to make anything for themselves. there are enough normal cases available which are even easier accessible for people who often open the case and change things.

It's true. I got this rig almost 3 years ago, when my knowledge was a fraction fo what it is now.

Next time around, I think I'm gonna start with the X-Blade case, and work my way in....


Mark.