Part compatibility with my dell

Soldato
Joined
5 Aug 2006
Posts
4,261
Hi there, excuse my complete ignorance I have been out of the loop for years now.

I have a Dell Inspiron 580,

2 questions regarding compatibility.

Firstly so far as I can make out this computer only supports SATA II, anyone able to confirm if this is correct. If so is it worth investing in a SSD as the SATA II crucial drives don't seem to have great reviews.

And secondly I want to upgrade the graphics, as this is an investment I will not be making again for many years to come I was thinking about going the whole hog and purchasing;

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-276-AS

However I have no idea weather it will actually work with my system, as its a lot of money to spend for a paperweight I want to be sure it's going to work.

Also is there anyone who knows if it will fit physically as the card looks massive and this is not the biggest PC going.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Kind Regards

Alec
 
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/insp580/en/cs/cs_en.pdf

There's the general specifics of the Insp 580

The 300w PSU will be far too weak for a 7970, a 7770 would be pushing chance a bit too far imo. IIRC these Dells have a somewhat non-standard PSU. I could be wrong though

Edit: The 7970 you linked has a quoted power draw of "<300w" :D

Edit 2: The specs don't mention SATA version, it will almost certainly be SATA 2, so you won't be seeing quoted speeds on the faster SSDs. An SSD would still be a worth while upgrade for programs
 
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If it were me i would get your self a cheep gaming case PSU and then drop a card of your choice in. the Dell PSU's are a waste of space for any half decent gaming, you will still see a great boost from an SSD and if you get a sata3 one it will stand in good stead for when you upgrade the rest.
 
Dell PSUs have been fairly standard for a number of years. The only difference tends to be the cable lengths that are tailored to the system.

If you want to replace the PSU in a Dell Google is your friend. It's almost guaranteed someone has already been there and done that.

From a quick look at a Google picture of the motherboard it appears to be a fairly standard mATX. Even the front panel connectors look to be standard pitch. There's a fair chance that if necessary the entire system could be transplanted into a new case. Whether it'd be worth it is a different matter.
 
Hi there,

Completely forgot to consider the PSU. Good shout. Will have to put it all on the back burner for now then :( Thanks for all your help.

kind Regards

Alec
 
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