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Recommendations for power supply upgrade for Dell Optiplex 745 Mini Tower
Hello Experts,
Recently purchased a Dell Optiplex 745 Mini Tower (refurb) with Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 500GB hard drive. I'd like to add an upgraded video card but wanted to check out available options for upgrading the PSU first. This seems backwards (looking for the PSU before selecting the video card), but it seems like there's some hesitation out there about putting in any ATX style power supply into these things. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Recently purchased a Dell Optiplex 745 Mini Tower (refurb) with Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 500GB hard drive. I'd like to add an upgraded video card but wanted to check out available options for upgrading the PSU first. This seems backwards (looking for the PSU before selecting the video card), but it seems like there's some hesitation out there about putting in any ATX style power supply into these things. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Crolack
What video slot does that machine use? PCI, PCIe or AGP?
ASKER
PCI and PCIe
By the time the Optiplex range got beyond the 280's the PSU's were nearly industry standard!
The one thing you'll still need to look out for on the 745 is Dell's 6-pin "Add on" plug which is uniquely Dell but you can get SATA adaptors for this.
On a lot of more modern Optiplexes the add on plug isn't used anymore anyway!
This site is excellent as a resource to see what you could use (but recommend you then look around for best price) They include details of the SATA > 6pin adapter also.
http://www.power-on.com/de
They show three upgrade paths to 350 (not worth considering) 460 or 550W.
The one thing you'll still need to look out for on the 745 is Dell's 6-pin "Add on" plug which is uniquely Dell but you can get SATA adaptors for this.
On a lot of more modern Optiplexes the add on plug isn't used anymore anyway!
This site is excellent as a resource to see what you could use (but recommend you then look around for best price) They include details of the SATA > 6pin adapter also.
http://www.power-on.com/de
They show three upgrade paths to 350 (not worth considering) 460 or 550W.
ASKER
Masqueraid,
Thanks for your comment. I was actually on that page and read the info on the 6pin adapter. Looked inside the case and didn't see anything resembling the adapter so maybe it's not an issue for me. So, in theory, I could use any ATX power supply and the only issue might be the mounting holes not lining up? I really liked the Dell-Compatible Silencer 500 by OCZ (http://www.pcpower.com/products/description/Silencer_500_Dell/index.html) but they're hard to find (discontinued). Also, I'm new to the video card market. I need one with at least 256MB memory to run some home design software (I'd like maybe 500MB). I'm not a "gamer"...just someone who wants some decent rendering of this type of software. Any suggestions?
Thanks for your comment. I was actually on that page and read the info on the 6pin adapter. Looked inside the case and didn't see anything resembling the adapter so maybe it's not an issue for me. So, in theory, I could use any ATX power supply and the only issue might be the mounting holes not lining up? I really liked the Dell-Compatible Silencer 500 by OCZ (http://www.pcpower.com/products/description/Silencer_500_Dell/index.html) but they're hard to find (discontinued). Also, I'm new to the video card market. I need one with at least 256MB memory to run some home design software (I'd like maybe 500MB). I'm not a "gamer"...just someone who wants some decent rendering of this type of software. Any suggestions?
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I should have checked here earlier: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/Op745/en/UG_en/mt_pwrsp.htm#wp1109155
No special plugs involved :)
No special plugs involved :)
ASKER
That's great...found a Silencer 500w psu for $75 so I'll probably get that. Checked into the nVidia cards you mentioned. Quite a price difference between the gaming and CAD cards. Software manufacturer recommends a 512MB card but can't afford the $300 price tag of the CAD cards. Can you recommend a fairly stable 512MB gaming card?
What budget?
ASKER
Not more than $150
If it will fit your case a 9600GT would be a good Graphics/Watt for around $70 or a 9850 at $120
ASKER
I'm looking at the 9600. Why is there such a price difference between manufacturers? Is one (e.g. EVGA) more reliable than another (e.g. ASUS)? Does the mobo have any influence on my decision other than the fact that I have an open PCIe 16X slot. BTW, I have the mini tower case so space should not be an issue.
ASKER
Masqueraid,
Thanks for all the great info. Did some more research and decided to go with PC Power & Cooling Silencer 500 for Dell PSU (found one on a custom build site for $90). As far as the video card, I chose the ATI FireGL 7700 (512MB GDDR4 PCIe2x16) workstation graphics card. Looked at the nVidia FX line and only had two board choices...HP (which invalidates the warranty if installed on a non-HP machine) and PNY (which is crap according to quite a few reviews). Got the ATI card from Tiger for $200 ($670 off the original price) so I'm happy about that. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.
Thanks for all the great info. Did some more research and decided to go with PC Power & Cooling Silencer 500 for Dell PSU (found one on a custom build site for $90). As far as the video card, I chose the ATI FireGL 7700 (512MB GDDR4 PCIe2x16) workstation graphics card. Looked at the nVidia FX line and only had two board choices...HP (which invalidates the warranty if installed on a non-HP machine) and PNY (which is crap according to quite a few reviews). Got the ATI card from Tiger for $200 ($670 off the original price) so I'm happy about that. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.
No problem, thanks :)