Legit Reviews

I'm looking to upgrade my Dell Dimension 9150 Power Supply, to something in the 600Watt range. I do 3d graphics using maya, and I believe my computer doesn't have enough power to power my Quadro FX 3450 Graphics Card. My computer currently has a 375Watt power supply. I've looked everywhere that I could think of and it looks like it's not possible to upgrade my power supply in this computer and was hoping maybe I could find someone somewhere who know how to do it and/or knows if it's possible to upgrade it. Here is a link to the specs: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/pcperipher ... 66p,00.htm

anything else you might need to know to answer this question feel free to ask. I have been trying to figure this out for about a month now.

I'm pretty sure that its relatively simple to replace the power supply in any mass produced PC.

Dell hasn't been using proprietary power connectors for quite some time.

Don't just check total power output, find out what you need in the way of current on each power rail. If you need 20 A on your +12V rails and the supply only has 15A, it doesn't matter how many watts the supply puts out: don't buy it. Make certain that you have ENOUGH rails, too: sometimes, you need more than just two +12V rails for your setup.

Thiswill be fine for your needs.

Dan

I can't get the link to work, maybe newegg is down?

Strange, it works for me.

Anyway, it was the "CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX ATX12V V2.2 550W Power Supply" @ $104.99

Dan

sounds like a good buy, might have to get my card out for that, thank you for your help, I appreciate it. I've signed up to 5 message boards and none gave me answers and everything I read said that dell wont allow upgrades to power supplies because of the size of the computer casing.

Hmm, is it a particularly small case?

Sorry, I must confess I didn't check the dimensions of the case first >_<

Dan

PS, fancy grabbing a tape measure and giving me an idea of the internal space available. Depth is standard, so that shouldn't be an issue. But How long id your current dell PSU and how much room do you have before the back of the DVD drives.

I've done some preliminary checking now on the case size, PSU size and using my DVD drive as an average length drive...

Your case is roughly 18" long
DVD drives are roughly 7" long
The PSU is 5.5" long (with cables additional)

But there is plenty of room to fit all that. So it looks like the other guys don't know what they are on about >_<

You should have no problems fitting it in, but if I were you I'd still have a quick check on how much room you have between your PSU and dvd drives to make sure I'm right

Dan

not having a tape measure readily available, your measurements look about right just judging by eye. Thanks again for your help I greatly appreciate it

You are welcome ^_^

Feel free to stick around the forums.

Dan

I definitely plan on that, it seems like there are actually people here that know what they're talking about and that actually reply. Thank god for google and random searches.

Just to point out, Dell will only support a computer in it's factory state. So if it's within warranty, don't tell them about any upgrades or they'll blame that as the source of all your problems.

I'd really measure your current PSU, it doesn't look like standard ATX size to me, but I can't find anything to back it up. Then again the picture just could be badly resized.

From the Dell™ Dimension™ 9150 Service Manual:

Height
46.48 cm (18.3 inches)

Width
18.54 cm (7.3 inches)

Depth
45.42 cm (17.88 inches)

Weight
15.4 kg (34 lb)

Nearly 18 inches is pretty ATX standard

So I guess they're deformed photo's?

Dan

PS. Here's some pretty solid proof that its all good

http://support2.jp.dell.com/docs/system ... #wp1053345

Dan don't make me ban you, you really have to stop coming in and making me look stupid

Well think of it as I'm raising the bar for the game. Best pray that I don't start reading up on PSU's eh?

Here is something that I didn't expect from Dell:

http://support2.jp.dell.com/docs/system ... #wp1060840

They tell you how to change every component on that page!

But, I did notice a random "release button" that locks the existing PSU back (additional to the screws, so isn't really essential), but with the new power supply, odds are that it will be a different size, so that will no longer work. But like I said, the screws will keep it in place. If that is the only additional method that Dell used to secure the PSU, they need shooting (normally there is a small metal rail underneath the PSU on the motherboard side that partly holds it up (additional to the screws)).

Dan