Upgrading a dell PSU???

[edgedemon]

Hi Guys
I have a Dell Optiplex GX620 that I want to turn into a gaming Rig. It has a decent spec - dual Xeon, 4G Ram but the power supply is only 305W!!! (model N305P-03 ) I want to put a Radeon RX2900 Pro graphics card in, but I dont think I have enough power to drive it. I have two questions which I hope some of you techies out there can answer for me?

I have read some postings that say that any dell machine made after 1998 has custom ATX connectors and a normal PSU will fry the motherboard - is this still true, if I buy a non dell PSU do I need to buy a converter and where can I get one from?

The PSU looks like a special custom size, the fixing screw holes look pretty standard, can I use a non dell PSU in a dell machine??



Any help will be gratefully appreciated as my ability to play unreal tournament 2007 depends on getting this rig upgraded!!!



Thanks



Martin

 

[rtatts]

I believe the problems you will have with the PSU is the normall computers use a ATX where as dell being a pain use BTX PSU and motherboard so if i am correct you may need to purchase a BTX PSU and a 305 W powersupply would not run a RX2900

 

[edgedemon]

Thanks for that - I would not have picked up on it being BTX which leads to my next question - are most decent ATX PSU's compatable with BTX mobo's. The reason I ask is digging around on the web, it seems the difference is a 4 pin connector. I cant see that many dedicated BTX PSU's above 350W so I am presuming that is because ATX PSU's can now be used??
I am getting confused because I have seen several ATX PSU's that claim in the title to support ATX/BTX but make no other mention of it in the product specs. What particular bit of info or voltage should I be looking for?
If anyone can point me in the direction of a PSU I can use I would be very grateful.

Thx again

Martin

 

[edgedemon]

Further confusion

Having looked around I think that I wont find a BTX PSU powerful enough as the most powerful I can find outputs 26Amp.
Is the only difference between ATX and BTX the connector - can I use an ATX power supply as long as it has the 24pin connector???
a lot of the ATX PSU's come with a 24 pin connector, can I use these instead?

Any help welcome!!!

M

 

[Nullvoid]

As far as I'm aware there isn't a BTX specification for power supplies, it only applies to motherboards/cases. So your thinking about getting a normal atx supply with a 24-pin connector is correct.

A quote from ye olde wiki to back that up:

The BTX form factor is largely incompatible with the ATX form factor. The only area where this doesn't fully apply is in power supply support. ATX power supplies can be used with regular or full-sized BTX motherboards. Neither the power connectors nor the direction of airflow from the power supply fan has been changed.

Before buying one, check what space is available in your case and get a rough idea of how long the cables will need to be (just so you don't go buying one you can't use).