Does anyone have any thoughts on this...

Q. I was wondering, the video card I want to buy (ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB) says that it needs a 300 watt power supply. My Dimension 4600 has a 250 Watt power supply. Can I still hook up the video card to the computer's power supply even though it is 50 Watts short? Please let me know! Thanks in advance. Best regards,

A. Your Dell 250 watt PS is actually 350 watts. Dell rates their power supplies on median output and everyone else uses maximum. Your card will work fine.

My Q. Cheers Jokerswild, I was searching for an answer to the same problem. I bought a new XFX GeForceFX 5900 XT (so many Xs!) yesterday, the box said I required 300-350w, my Dimension 8300 spec says 250w. That's that problem solved then (?)

However, I have another. The card also requires an 'available hard disk drive power dongle. Smaller floppy disk drive connector is not sufficient.' In English please? I'm guessing it means something to connect to the 4 pin male horizontal plug on the back of the card? Is this what is required to run the rather large fan? On opening up my PC's case I do have a 4 pin female cable running from the hard drive. The cable is a little short but is this the one? It's the 'floppy' reference that throws me.

Any help would be much appreciated. Firstly because it's Sunday and all the tech support lines are shut, secondly because I'm about to throw the new card through a window in sheer frustration.

Rich.

Sorry, I should also say that the cable from the hard drive goes nowhere and is blanked off plus I do not have a floppy drive. Ta!

The first Q and A solved one of my problems but then as you can see I have another. I really would like to get this sorted because it's a cracking card. All posted on the Dell discussion boards BTW.

Rich,

I have a Radeon 9700 Pro, which also needs it's own power supply.

On the bunch of wires coming from your PSU there will be a few different types of connectors, hopefully with some spares.

Look at the one(s) that go to your hard disk, find a spare that's the same and use this to feed the Card.

Does that answer it ?

The card may well of come with some sort of "piggyback" adaptor, so if you only have 1 HDD supply, you can double up by using the adaptor...

The bit you say is blanked off - are you sure it's not just a removable cover? IIRC, Dell put a little green rubber cap on the unused connectors. Try removing it.

Edit for clarity (I hope ): The type of plug you're looking for is indeed the same as goes into a hard disk drive. There is also another type of four-pin power pleg about 2/3 the size which is for floppy disk drives. Ignore any of these.

Geoff,

Sort of, the spare cable I'm talking about comes from my hard drive.

What do you reckon this dongle and floppy drive connector reference is all about?

Theres 2 types of power connector on a PC powersupply.

theres the standard 4-pin molex type.. which items like cdrom drives and hard drives run off. and theres the small type which are only used to power floppy drives as they dont need much power.

in the early days of powerful gfx cards (9700pro) they only needed a floppy type "small" connector... and as gfx cards power requirements increase.. they moved up to the molex type... NOW however.. the latest bunch of graphics cards reccomend a 480w powersupply and use 2 MOLEX CONNECTORS thats just getting silly!

I may have just edited to answer that.....

In short, if it fits, it's fine

The bit you say is blanked off - are you sure it's not just a removable cover? IIRC, Dell put a little green rubber cap on the unused connectors. Try removing it.

Sorry that's what I meant by blanked off ie it's spare. But is it the right one? As the cable is quite short I'm guessing it's for a floppy drive but the cryptic reference on the box makes me think this isn't suitable.

:confused: :confused: :confused:

No, I guess it's just fine. If it physically fits then you're fine. Floppy is different size, won't fit. Try it.

The "Dongle" will be the adaptor i mentioned.

IIRC It plugs into your HDD, you plug the supply cable into it and a flying lead takes the supply to the graphics card.

Ignore the floppy connector reference, they're just telling you that a floppy connector is not suitable.

When i fitted mine i didnt bother with the "dongle", i just used a spare power connector to feed the card

Heres a example:

The big connector on the left is the molex one.. used for hdd and cddrives..

the plug on the right is the one that plugs into floppy drives and 9700pro type grapics cards..

From what the blurb says. the hard drive one (on the left in the pic) is what you are after

The "Dongle" will be the adaptor i mentioned.

IIRC It plugs into your HDD' date=' you plug the supply cable into it and a flying lead takes the supply to the graphics card.

Ignore the floppy connector reference, they're just telling you that a floppy connector is not suitable.

When i fitted mine i didnt bother with the "dongle", i just used a spare power connector to feed the card [/quote']

Yep, what he says. But if you're still unsure, do you have a digital camera? If so, post a pic

Edit: Damn you, colin with your digital pic This thread's moving too fast

To clarify yet further...

The cable from the hard drive is in fact four cables ending in one four pin male plug. It is rather short but I'm sure some sort of extension is available if it is in fact the right cable.

The socket on the back of the card is the female version of the above.

With regard to the wattage, does anyone think this will be a problem?

Rich....can you take a pic of the inside of your case & post it?

It would be interesting to see what spare connectors you have then we can say yay or nay

Edit: Damn you, colin with your digital pic This thread's moving too fast

LOL, Colin and his quick release PC case.

Sorry, no digital camera.

This molex thing seems to be what I'm talking about. Right then, off to Maplins for an extension and if it all goes bang I want your (real) names and addresses

... I want your (real) name...

:P

All good. Cheers all. (Geoff, I'll keep your number on speed dial for another day or two... )

Ahhh, all flying along nicely i take it?

Ahhh, all flying along nicely i take it?

If, by chance, the fan isn't working, how long do you reckon before the card melts all over the motherboard?

...and to top it all I've treated myself to a nice new Iiyama monitor. It would have been a shame not to for 95 quid. CRTs - buy 'em now while you can!

She's not home yet. Hide the box and hope she doesn't notice...