# need help with upgrade



## DocJay35 (Oct 2, 2008)

hi every one i have a 

Dell inspiron 531 
AMD Athlon 64 *2 Dual-core 5600+
2GB dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM AT 667MHZ @ DIMMs
NVIDIA GFORCE 8600gt 256MB-DDR3
300 watt power supply 
windows vista 32 bit

Would like to upgrade all this stuff or some 

 cpu to a AMD 6000 OR 6400
Video Card to 8800 GT 512 OR higher  if i can 
power supply 

Dell rep told me i could not upgrade at all 

any suggestion   please help me


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## ShiBDiB (Oct 2, 2008)

upgradeing will void ur warranty with dell. And have u been able to remove the parts u want to upgrade? dell might have gone all nazi and made it so they are very difficult to remove to prevent upgrades. *problly not, the rep problly said that as he would rather have u buy a new more expensive overpriced peice of crap from dell*

I personally say u make that into an internet browsing pc and build ur own and get the safety of being able to RMA ur parts.


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## BarbaricSoul (Oct 2, 2008)

you can upgrade your dell, worse that will happen is you'll void your warranty.


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## DocJay35 (Oct 2, 2008)

OK  warranty is up dose not matter  any suggestion on any parts that mite help me cuss as of right i have no video card it went out on just as soon as the  warranty i called them about it but thay told me no  warranty we cant do any thing for you so i want to do what i can to get it back up and running. asap. i have a 300 watt power supply in it. please help me . i have a need to kill some one in bf2 project reality. thanks


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## BarbaricSoul (Oct 2, 2008)

a inexpensive nvidia 9600gt or ATI 4850 will handle BF2 with no problems.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130393

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261027

The ATI card is the stronger of the 2

Also, I suggest you get a stronger PSU for either of those cards, atleast 400 watts and I highly recommend Corsair. My recommendation is this-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003

Very good inexpensive PSU that won't have a problem with the 9600gt or 4850 plus whatever else you might have hooked up drawing power.


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## Shempy (Oct 2, 2008)

firstly i would change the PSU to a 500 watter. 300 is hardly enough juice for the system your running atm.  a ATi 4850 is a great card for its price. it can run BF 2 on high with no problems at all.


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## BarbaricSoul (Oct 2, 2008)

When it comes to the CPU, I recommend getting a new motherboard at the same time. The reason being that Dell motherboard bios are locked, no or very little OC'ing is possible. A new motherboard would have new bio's that would allow you to OC your CPU thus giving you better performance.


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## AsRock (Oct 2, 2008)

Shempy said:


> firstly i would change the PSU to a 500 watter. 300 is hardly enough juice for the system your running atm.  a ATi 4850 is a great card for its price. it can run BF 2 on high with no problems at all.



Yeah check PC & Power for one
http://www.pcpower.com/products/power_supplies/dell/


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## DocJay35 (Oct 3, 2008)

what is the maximum  video card length that i can put in the inspiron tower


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## Homeless (Oct 3, 2008)

You'd have to measure how much space is actually in the case as there's no way we can know that amount.  Also as others have suggested, I HIGHLY recommend upgrading that psu if you intend to do upgrades to your system


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## DocJay35 (Oct 3, 2008)

plan on that. just want to know cuss the 8800GT 512 i want to get is 4.37-by-9 inches (HxL). this is the card i want to get EVGA 512-P3-N802-AR e-GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB DDR3 Superclocked Edition PCI-Express Graphics Card


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## ChromeDome (Oct 3, 2008)

you're in luck because i upgraded a friend of mines ispiron 530 not too far back. i know the damn thing top to bottom side to front and back again. plus by chance you have the same processor as i do. so i can help you out just fine

upgrading the machine is easy and straight forward. very simple.  the ispiron case is a small mid tower, however. its very tight. but anything will fit inside you like. with some limitations

first off upgrading the power supply is a must. it simply doesn't have enough connectors to accommodate a 6 pin pci graphics card. i mean it can, but until i upgraded said ispiron it had to have one drive disconnected and had to make use of sata to molex adapters to get the job done. not the most stable set up

i would like to  recommend THIS psu to you. it is already $10 off and you get an additional $15 until 10/6. free shipping. that is most likely the best $65 psu you will find anywhere. its most likely all you will ever need for the ispiron. and it has 6 sata connectors. which are great to have for future upgrades because the dell uses sata for everything. this is a top quality psu for $65. which is pretty amazing even for a 500 watter. and the cables are nice and sleeved. which could be important because you may have lots of loose wires to deal with in a tight case. so the neater the better

the important thing to remember here is if you want to do this upgrade you WILL be changing your psu FIRST. so that is why i am taking my time here. 

i put THIS in my friends ispiron. thats a good psu at a good price right now with plenty of cables and connections. if you want something stronger. its cables aren't sleeved, so you will have to tie them up neatly and tuck them away. i had some problem in this regard with the upgrade. it just took more time and i found myself struggling to find places for all the cables. so sleeves would be nice. but its a small inconvenience for a pretty good psu.

so something like that is sort of the "budget power" choice. Antec had a nice neopower 650w on sale a day or two ago for the same price. its "modular." which means the cables unplug so you only have to use what you need. which is good for tight cases. but its back up to $119. so i'm not going to recommend any modular psu's unless you say you want to spend a little more for a good one. or one goes on sale that isn't the somewhat poorly reviewed Antec neopower 500w

anyway, 500w should be all you'll ever need for your set up and a higher end video card. you can't overclock on the mobo so that isn't an issue. and you are limited to two HD's and two dvd drives. and the 5600+ will only take you so far with vid cards, anyway. if you feel you might need more get some thing like the 650w Earthwatts. i can also recommend a whole slew of 600w psu's.

but again for your system that 500w PC Power & Cooling Silencer is a perfect deal for your set up. you can pay a bit less for something else if you want. just let us know here. lots of choices. but those are some good solid examples

often times Antec drops the price of the Earthwatts EA500 500w to around $50 or $60, too. thats my psu. its a steal at that price and i'd recommend it on sale. thats when i bought mine

ok on to the next thing

you can put whatever vid card you want in the case so long as you don't have the slot below it taken. its the piceX1 slot. so if thats empty you can put a dual slot card. if its taken you have to go single slot. but once you have a power supply in ANY card will fit

however, if you have two hard drives the one on the bottom may be in the way of a long card with a dual slot cooler. so you'll want to check that. otherwise a long single slot card fits fine with two hard drive in. its tight, but it fits

also, you may have to order longer sata cables. for the connections from the dvd drives to the mobo. the bigger video card sort of crosses in the path of these cables, and they have to sort of be rerouted around the card. i'm not sure if the cables my friend had were original, but they barely made it

forget about changing your processor. the 6000+ or 6400+ will show you little ot no advantage over the 5600+. the 6000+ is 5%  faster, the 6400+ 6% more. so...its just not worth the cost or risk to your Dell

you will be AMAZED at the change from doing the vid card alone. get some more RAM maybe, and a better case fan because the Dell fan blows like crap. 

you'll be in business 

but you're not doing ANYTHING until you change the psu. period. unless you want to rig it like my friend had it. i wouldn't advise it, but it was working


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## Urbklr (Oct 3, 2008)

As for the videocard length, you can buy 4850's that are shorter than 9"...they are non-reference. Look for the Sapphire one, it is cheap, and much shorter.


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## ChromeDome (Oct 3, 2008)

yup this is really a simple psu, vid card, ram upgrade. will make a BIG difference. the case is tight, however. and not really upgrade friendly so far as space. but it all will fit


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## Urbklr (Oct 3, 2008)

ChromeDome said:


> yup this is really a simple psu, vid card, ram upgrade. will make a BIG difference. the case is tight, however. and not really upgrade friendly so far as space. but it all will fit



You should have seen the case I threw an HD4850 in a little while ago, this one should be fine


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## ChromeDome (Oct 3, 2008)

Urbklr said:


> You should have seen the case I threw an HD4850 in a little while ago, this one should be fine


lol yeah where there is a will there is a way 

which brings to mind the thing about the sata cables

for TS, if the card is _especially_ long (longer then a standard 8800GT) or perhaps even deep with a dual slot cooler, the sata cables which connect your dvd drive(s) to the mobo WILL be an issue.  

i would have to ask my friend if they are all original because one was longer then the other. but i know he replaced a drive. anyway basically the longer card runs across the cables. so the cables have one of two choices. they can go under the card or around it. and they can't go under it because they will prevent the card from seating properly. so they have to go around it

if the card is too long (or the cables too short) they won't be able to make it around to plug into the mobo. so that is a problem, as you kind of need your dvd drives

so that i remember. the length of the cables barely make it around an 8800GT. but cables are kinda cheap so maybe you can get some longer ones just in case


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## DocJay35 (Oct 3, 2008)

OK just ordered the 500 watt power supply you  suggested from NewEgg. any suggestion on a memory 4 G package deal? thanks for the info helped me alot.


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## Urbklr (Oct 4, 2008)

DocJay35 said:


> OK just ordered the 500 watt power supply you  suggested from NewEgg. any suggestion on a memory 4 G package deal? thanks for the info helped me alot.



I would recommend some G-Skill Pi's or, for less money, some of the more "plain" G-Skill kits.


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## ChromeDome (Oct 4, 2008)

DocJay35 said:


> OK just ordered the 500 watt power supply you  suggested from NewEgg. any suggestion on a memory 4 G package deal? thanks for the info helped me alot.



well for ram i wouldn't do anything fancy. again, your dell is a good unit. but you won't be overclocking or anything. also i believe it comes with ddr2@667mhz. we'll bump it up to the more standard 800mhz if you are replacing all four. this is a good deal and should be compatible:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148160

 back in stock on the 7th

however, i must say in your system an entire RAM "upgrade" really isn't necessary. and yes you can mix RAM brands. so long as compatible. i've been doing it for some time

the 800MHZ RAM will basically show you negligible performance increase in your Dell. so if you don't want to swap them all out (and assuming you have only 2 sticks using just two of the four RAM slots) you can simply dump two more gigs of compatible RAM in. this is guaranteed compatible with what you are already using:

http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=E0E3C4B8A5CA7304

buy 2 of those and you'd be great.  buy 4 and you'd sort of be wasting your money. i would give the newegg link, but they are charging $3 more + shipping. so if you can order direct from crucial, great. if not, look for it on newegg

but that is really all you need. its good quality and for your purposes will work as well as any "gamer" RAM or w/e. lets put it this way, you'll never slap yourself on the forehead and say 'man i should have gotten that fancy RAM with yellow heat spreaders that cost twice as much!'

it just won't happen. you're good to go with the above. the BIG improvement, the one you want to see, will come from the video card

good job picking up that psu, however. if you need any help or have any questions about installing it or w/e come back and ask. i post everyday here, basically. might take several hours sometimes between posts. but i will check in. we also have a pm system here you can use to ask people stuff


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## ChromeDome (Oct 4, 2008)

before i go to bed i would also like to point out this:



AsRock said:


> Yeah check PC & Power for one
> http://www.pcpower.com/products/power_supplies/dell/




if you see that or someone mentions it elsewhere, think nothing of it. its just marketing for nubs. its the EXACT SAME unit as the one you ordered. exact same tech specs, connectors, and power ratings. if their is a difference its in the size by a very small margin. and that is why some Dell owners have said its "too small" or "doesn't fit right" in some cases. so it fits right in some other oddball Dell cases

Dell used to use "proprietary" stuff in its builds. not so much now. the power supply coming out of your 531 is nothing special. its a 300w OEM you can find in any pile for $30. the fact PC Power and Cooling  sells a specific "Dell" model otherwise like the one you are getting is mostly hype to make sales. and if in fact its a little smaller to fit some Dell set ups better 

but its nearly $40 more and the exact same thing. your mobo was made by Asus. nothing special about it. its a non descript generic OEM mobo. regular connections and power needs, power management, etc. this is the power supply Dell puts in your computer (made by Bestec)

http://www.censuspc.com/Bestec-300W-ATX-Power-Supply-Bulk-SKU-ATX-300D5WB-pr-7482.html

nothing special about it. nothing at all. and the one you're getting is much better. so go forward with your upgrade with confidence


also, since we're talking power, the cheapo way of doing this would be to use these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812263002

you can read the reviews and see how people are using them with Dell's. i can't recommend that to you, but it does work. the problem is you lose the ability to add an additional dvd and hard drive. or lose the use of two if you already have two of each . so your unit can only ever use one dvd drive and one hard drive. + if you want to upgrade again, forget it.  8800GT kind of cards are the psu's limit.  you'd be putting yourself in another upgrade situation, basically. so its a definite case of "sooner or later." and its usually sooner

but more so the unit i upgraded had the same set up. it ran fine apparently, but when i checked it out the psu was very warm at idle and under load it made the outer top edge of the case hot. and i mean HOT. which means the psu was hot

now they do get warm. and some things inside them will get hot. but they shouldn't be able to make any part of your case feel like a warm clothes iron. they are supposed to help keep things cool with their fan

so yeah it works, but i could never say 'hey just do this!'


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## DocJay35 (Oct 4, 2008)

Hey thanks for all the help. my friend has this video card and he wants to send it to me. but i just don't know if it will work as far as. the length and the with of it. here's a link of the card please get back to me on this. and thanks    


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127288


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## DocJay35 (Oct 4, 2008)

just wondering if i need to think about cases fans cooling or memory cooling  or cpu cooling. any suggestions. just trying to get all the info i can. just worried about over heating. thats all.


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## ChromeDome (Oct 4, 2008)

well i want to help you the best i can so i had the dude who's upgrade i did send me some quick pics. i circled important parts as necessary. these are really BIG so i'm linking them. so this is YOUR  DELL exactly. save these for future reference

the first one shows two circled  areas to the right



pay attention to the red and orange FLAT cables in the blue circle. ignore the others. those are the cables i'm talking about that are in the way of the video card. so they must be routed around


circled in red in this next pic shows the cards length. as you can see ANY length card will fit so long as those SATA cables are long enough to go around it




ok i wanted to make sure of the dual slot issue specifically. and you may run into some trouble here. which means it may be trouble for the card you want. look at the red line in this next pic. its  drawn on top of a pci card. right above the pci card you can see a flat silver box to the left. that is another pcieX1 card taking up a slot. you just can't tell from the pic. and this is where YOUR dual slot card would find room if YOUR slot is empty. above that you can see the single slot 8800GT



now if you look to the right of the photo where the red line ends you will see some flat blue and red cables. THIS is the problem area

in the next photo clrcled in yellow, that is the BOTTOM of the installed vid card. or the top, however you prefer to see it. its the heatsink and cover, since vid cards hang upside down. anyway, you can see its reflecting stuff from the flash, so that is the 8800GT. the encircled blue is where the dual slot cooler would fit....encircled in red....is the trouble 



the red and orange cables you see in the circle are SATA cables from the dvd drives. the blue is the HD cable. as you can see, a dual slot cooler would impose on these cables somewhat. now, the card doesn't seat all the way down on the mobo, though. i thought it seated lower, but there is space between the card and the mobo

so, in my opinion, the only way to get that 8800 Ultra in this unit (or any other dual slot card with a large heatsink) would be to replace these cables with longer ones, plug them in BEFORE you install the card, and install the card on top of them, as you position them to stay out of the way. so the SATA cables would have to be long enough to flex, bend, and comply so as no to interfere with the dual slot cover and vice versa. in this instance they would run UNDER the card rather then around

however, look at the pic again. this unit has two dvd drives, and it looks like he has taken out an HD since i worked on it. so it has just one HD. look at the pic again. you see the red and blue cables? one is an HD and one is a dvd drive. if you have just one HD and one dvd drive you can run them both from these plugs on the mobo, leaving the two up top empty. this way yes, the heatsink of the 8800 Ultra _should_ fit without doubt. because nothing would be in the way. just run the SATA cables around the card like normal. and as said, the pics don't show that the vid card clears these plugs on the mobo. its raised above them. if just barely

so imo a single slot solution is most convenient. but a dual slot is not out of the question with some effort. also, not all dual slot cards have full covers/heatsinks. as you know some just have large dual slot fans with no cover. so those would also be an option. but anything like the 8800 Ultra will offer you some extra challenges 



this next one is just FYI




see the wire circled in orange. thats just from that case fan. i'd recommend you do this. case fans are cheap, try to get a quiet one because the Dell's is quiet. so if you want to keep your computer quiet get something you can live with. however the Dell fan is quiet because its hooked to the mobo and doesn't move enough air imo. its maximum rpm is something like 1200. the one on this case moves at 2400rpm constant. so you just take one out and put another in and plug the other right into the psu, not the mobo. so make sure it has a molex connector or an adapter. so far as memory cooling or cpu cooling, nah, you're ok. but if you want to make changes....one thing at a time. but no. especially on the memory side

oh, and that stuff circled in blue is the HD and the area below is where another would go in your case. which may or may not be hindered to fit by a dual slot cooler. but i would doubt it

hope the pics helped. anymore questions feel free to ask


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## ChromeDome (Oct 4, 2008)

you may find this deal interesting if looking for a vid card right now. this is just a link to a post with a link lol. i was suggesting the deal to someone else. its  a good match for your set up so long as you game on a 22in monitor or below

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpost.php?p=1003109&postcount=12


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## Urbklr (Oct 4, 2008)

DocJay35 said:


> Hey thanks for all the help. my friend has this video card and he wants to send it to me. but i just don't know if it will work as far as. the length and the with of it. here's a link of the card please get back to me on this. and thanks
> 
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127288



That card is I think 10.5" long, so...it would be a tight fit. If you have open space in front of the mobo, like, 2 inches of open space, you will have room.


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## DocJay35 (Oct 6, 2008)

Thanks for helping me all the info you gave me relly helped me. i have hope now that it will work.


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## ChromeDome (Oct 6, 2008)

yeah just check back in if you need anymore help. i'll do what i can to help you with w/e you might need or questions you have. and let us know how it did if it does work out. always good to see a successful upgrade

i think it will work. i know the psu will. so you're good to go with a good upgrade even if the ultra doesn't fit.  something else most certainly will. 

with the ultra because its so long you will need to plug the card into the power supply before you even attempt to get it in the case. because its too long to do it afterward. so you'll plug it in then turn it this way and that to get it in and in place

most important thing is to be careful to not knock anything loose on your mobo while you do this. just pay attention. and try not to touch any components in your case with you hands / fingers. i mean it will happen, but try to avoid it best you can. make sure you ground yourself as much as you feel comfortable by touching the inside of your case while working, and wear shoes with rubber soles and don't stand on carpet while you do this. static electricity can kill components. you don't need an "anti static"  wristband as some use. just be careful

the power supply goes in easy. the main difficulty will come when unplugging the old one from the primary mobo socket. the 24 pin power connector. it has a little latch, so press on that and wriggle it until it loosens and comes out. it may take a bit of effort, so be patient. then just plug the new one in and make sure its a tight and secure connection. plug the rest of your components in and power up. that simple

good luck to you 


EDIT: also if you move the SATA connectors for your drives into different plugs on the mobo to help the card fit, you may have to get into set up / bios to "activate" those respective plugs / terminals. otherwise the mobo won't "see" the drives. and they won't work. but that is very easy to do. a few simple key strokes at start up and you're at the set up menu. a little navigation and more keystrokes and you'll be good to go. need any help with it, again ask here.


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## DocJay35 (Oct 9, 2008)

what kind of cables and how long. I'm thinking you mean hard drive and DVD drive right


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## ChromeDome (Oct 9, 2008)

yeah. they are called SATA cables. they run from the back of your dvd /cd drives to the mobo. and from your hard drive. the hard drive cable in this first photo is blue, the orange and red ones run UP to the dvd/cd drives. the HD cable shouldn't be a problem because of its lower position in the case. the others run DOWN and around the vid card. or under it if room allows. so they may need to be longer then the ones Dell provided to work with them better. or the ones you have might be fine? it depends on the card selected. 

the first photo shows a close up of where they plug into the mobo. in the second photo to the right of the red line is where they plug into the mobo. you can see them right below the long card. you can't see the orange cable in the second photo because its above the others:


http://i38.tinypic.com/f3hqv8.jpg





things like this is what you would buy from newegg if replacements were needed:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812123186

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812608188

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812104056

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812106201

just some examples. 18 to 20 inch should be plenty long. although you may want to order a longer one too. just in case. if you go to newegg and search "Sata Cables" all sorts of cables and lengths come up. and "SATA II" are also compatible, i believe. although you may want to check on that


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## AsRock (Oct 9, 2008)

ChromeDome said:


> before i go to bed i would also like to point out this:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Well with my old DELL (2002) it had a custom power connector which required you to use either a adapter or some thing i posted.  I could say for is but checking the dell forums he would find out for sure.

And the one i posted should be a HIGH quality PSU.


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## ChromeDome (Oct 9, 2008)

oh i'm well sure. the Dell Ispiron i upgraded last year has a regular 'ol 24 pin connector. no adapter needed. it was the 530 but i checked at the time and the Ispiron 531 (which is thread starters unit) is the same. just a regular 24 pin connector. i plopped an Antec EA650 in just fine

and the PSU you linked is fine. high quality to be sure. but its EXACTLY the same as the regular unit. it might have slightly smaller physical dimensions, however. which means it wouldn't fit quite right in the Ispiron case, which uses regular ATX

i think its funny PC Power And Cooling should sell "Dell Specific" PSU's that are apparently comaptible with every known Dell ever made, although those Dells all use different mobo's and platforms. they make it sound as if they have cornered the market on Dell PSU's or something. which they haven't. may have been a little true before, but the newer Dell's, and Ispirons for sure, just use regular spec PSU's. the "DELL" 500w PC Power And Cooling Silencer is spec'd EXACTLY as the "regular model." older Dells used to use different voltages, etc. not true any more. they realized people want to upgrade. so its the same thing and is priced about $20 more under normal pricing. with the regular model being on sale it was $40 more. which is just a waste of money


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## ChromeDome (Oct 9, 2008)

a couple of custom set ups found in the Dell forums:

*Inspiron 530*
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.33GHz
16X DVD+/-RW Drive
4GB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz (3.25GB showing)
320GB HDD
EVGA GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB
*Thermaltake Purepower PSU 500W*
Vista Home Premium 

*Ispiron 531*
AMD 5000+ Windsor
4GB Corsair@800mhz
Evga 8800GT SC 710/1780/1980
500 Gig Western Digital HD
*Corsair HX520 PSU*

just to reassure threadstarter


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## AsRock (Oct 9, 2008)

ChromeDome said:


> oh i'm well sure. the Dell Ispiron i upgraded last year has a regular 'ol 24 pin connector. no adapter needed. it was the 530 but i checked at the time and the Ispiron 531 (which is thread starters unit) is the same. just a regular 24 pin connector. i plopped an Antec EA650 in just fine
> 
> and the PSU you linked is fine. high quality to be sure. but its EXACTLY the same as the regular unit. it might have slightly smaller physical dimensions, however. which means it wouldn't fit quite right in the Ispiron case, which uses regular ATX
> 
> i think its funny PC Power And Cooling should sell "Dell Specific" PSU's that are apparently comaptible with every known Dell ever made, although those Dells all use different mobo's and platforms. they make it sound as if they have cornered the market on Dell PSU's or something. which they haven't. may have been a little true before, but the newer Dell's, and Ispirons for sure, just use regular spec PSU's. the "DELL" 500w PC Power And Cooling Silencer is spec'd EXACTLY as the "regular model." older Dells used to use different voltages, etc. not true any more. they realized people want to upgrade. so its the same thing and is priced about $20 more under normal pricing. with the regular model being on sale it was $40 more. which is just a waste of money



Well thats good o hear there just using standard 20\24 pin connectors now . And in that case sure you can use just about any as you have said.  Just best to make sure before you plug it in.  Just don't use a cheap one.

I was on the understanding with them that they do them with the custom connectors to as i was after one for my own but yeah if he just need a standard 24 pin one and DELL have not swapped a few of the wires around just any good one will do.


I've known 2 other people with the same model(4550) i used, and all 3 of them were pretty different in side. Topically cheaper the later you got one.


Funny caps blow on my DELL about a month ago been thinking of replacing them but just not got around in trying and is prolly dead anyways ha.


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## ChromeDome (Oct 9, 2008)

AsRock said:


> Well thats good o hear there just using standard 20\24 pin connectors now . And in that case sure you can use just about any as you have said.  Just best to make sure before you plug it in.  Just don't use a cheap one.
> 
> I was on the understanding with them that they do them with the custom connectors to as i was after one for my own but yeah if he just need a standard 24 pin one and DELL have not swapped a few of the wires around just any good one will do.
> 
> ...


lol most likely yup, dead as door nails....

so far as Dell and the upgrades, yeah its good they leave some room for that now. i think threadsarter wants to turn his into a budget gaming rig, basically. and he can now. they used to switch the wires around like you say. all that crappy stuff. but it wasn't too popular i don't think. customers were complaining so they made upgrading a little easier. 

i think MOST people who buy box maker units may never do it themselves. thats why they buy boxes. but if they want to they can. so thats a good thing. at least the potential for something more is there now. even if the case is damn TIGHT for room


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## DocJay35 (Oct 10, 2008)

hey thanks to all of you that have gave me vary good info on my upgrades for my dell. every thing works good  power supply was eazy to put in and the video card was not that bad. and thanks again for all the good info.    rockout:


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## DocJay35 (Oct 10, 2008)

OK now I'm thinking of buying 2 good case fans. iv been looking at a few but just don't know. i want something that move the air out fast but i also want quiet fans. any suggestions on good case fans.


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## ChromeDome (Oct 10, 2008)

well the thing with fans is the more air they move the noisier they are. because its really the sound of the air that is moving making the noise. some fans are designed with fins that keep them very quiet. but you will pay a premium. yet others have fan speed control. but sometimes you need an available slot behind your pc to put the speed control unit, or you have to run the unit from inside your case to outside somehow.like just bring it out and close the side of the case on the wire which connects it. put the speed control unit on top of your case or something

anyway a case fan is a case fan is a case fan imo. i doubt you need two, the Dell has no where to put two. its not a good idea to just randomly throw fans in without a proper intake/exhaust set up. so the one case fan at the rear of your Dell should be fine to replace. unless you want to mod your case a little

its a 92mm fan. yours hooks up to the mobo but Dell really regulates the speed tightly from the mobo, so i suggest hooking the new one up directly to the PSU by a molex connector. if the fan has a 3 pin connector on it get an adapter (3 pin to molex) and hook it to the PSU. some fans come with these adapters, yet others are molex compatible. and if not an adapter is a couple bucks

i like fans that are capable of moving at least 40CFM of air. (cubic feet per minute). or close to it.  these fans will have an average rpm of 2200 to 2400. the Dell fan you have moves at a maximum 1200rpm and usually keeps steady at around 1000rpm. so thats a pretty good difference 

ball bearing fans are more reliable and quieter, so they say. as opposed to sleeve fans. so get a ball bearing. something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835216006

thats a nice fan but is out of stock atm. adjustable speed, and quiet at the lowest speed. fairly quiet at its highest. but you will here an audible whoosh of air being moved at its highest. thats 30 decibels. i can't tell how it adjusts or if it has a molex adapter

here is the adapter if you want to order one or have a store nearby where you can buy one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812189119

Best Buy usually has some fans around, too. 

this seems the same product as the first fan but claims to move a lot more air 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835216002

another "out of stock" but you can still order and they will ship when it comes in. this one has no speed control, moves a decent amount of air, and is fairly quiet:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186007

if you don't mind noise this moves 120CFM. it also makes a 65 decibel whoosh. thats like a small jet engine 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999613

if you want _quiet_ without the hassle of fan control and the advantage of moving a decent amount of air, its gonna cost a bit more:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835191010

this is my favorite i've thought of ordering it myself:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835220001

it has speed control as you can see. but you will have to be a little creative where you put the control. if you have an empty drive bay in front of your Dell it might go there. or as said before run it outside your case and put it on top or something. i like this one because its "low setting" is 1800 rpm which is pretty good for 22 decibels. and it can go up to a big 3800rpm and move 64CFM of air. of course it will be LOUD at that speed, but you can easily set it where you want it at any time depending on what you're doing. looks like it comes with a molex connector. so you won't need an adapter. or so it seems


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## DocJay35 (Oct 11, 2008)

Thanks for the info i just orderd a case fan. and it this one SILVERSTONE RL-FM91 92mm Case Fan   http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835220001


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## ChromeDome (Oct 11, 2008)

thats a nice fan. i think you'll be happy with it. now even at its lowest speed it will not be as quiet as your Dell case fan. like i said, if it moves more air it makes more noise. especially these smaller case fans. some of the bigger (120mm and up) move the air more effortlessly, so they have lower noise. however before i changed my fan (92mm also) i would say my computer was nearly _silent_. now it makes a bit of a whoosh sound at fan speed 2400rpm moving 46CFM of air. and i can live with that. sure i can hear it when ambient noise is very quiet here, but its not a big deal 

i think the Silverstone is a good choice for quiet or "performance" when you want it


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## ChromeDome (Oct 11, 2008)

DocJay35 said:


> Thanks for the info i just orderd a case fan. and it this one SILVERSTONE RL-FM91 92mm Case Fan   http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835220001


well dude i was inspired by you to keep my computer quiet so i picked up this:








don't pay attention to the other junk that was for another thread lol

so no i'm runnin' cool _and_ quiet. whichever i want when i want with the adjustable fan speed 

hope things are going well with your upgrades


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## DocJay35 (Oct 13, 2008)

OK ordered that case fan. should be here wed. now all i need to get is the 4 G of memory and that will will be it for me all i can do to my computer. but i'm going to buy a gaming head set after all that and then i will be good for a while. my computer runs better. the card works vary good as well as the power supply. thanks once again for all your help. 

How the case fan working out for you 

I will never buy another dell in my life time.



Dell inspiron 531 
AMD Athlon 64 *2 Dual-core 5600+
4GB dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM AT 800MHZ @ DIMMs
MSI 8800 ultra 768MB 
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 500 Watt  
windows vista 32 bit


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## DocJay35 (Oct 13, 2008)

will this memory work.  http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3276480&CatId=3412 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3404049&CatId=3412


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## ChromeDome (Oct 13, 2008)

hmm....well in the first link one reviewer says that memory is meant for 64bit systems. kind of funny i never heard of that but that is some fancy RAM so idk. the second one says this in the "product description":

_Only motherboards equipped with the custom-designed BIOS, such as those designed for NVIDIA nForce SLI MCPs, can detect the optimized SPD profiles and ensure the memory functions under the best possible conditions._

so i really don't know if that would benefit you. imo RAM is RAM is RAM unless you are overclocking it. which you won't be on your Dell. and i've read the heat spreaders on those OCZ's make for a tight fit

just a couple of suggestions. if you are using the memory that came "standard" with your pc (and i have a feeling you are as Dell used to charge an arm and a leg for an "upgrade") this RAM is guaranteed to work with what you already have installed:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146526

its $30 for two gigs. just pop it in. thats if you already have two 2 gig sticks. so two more make 4 gigs. it is 667mhz rather then 800mhz.  but that makes so little difference you will hardly know it. and you are running 667mhz as it is

this would also work:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231108

also know this: since you are using Vista 32bit the computer won't "see" more then 3 or 3.5gigs of RAM. and it won't use it. even if you have four gigs installed. which is why i have 3 gigs installed myself. if you want to save money and pretty much get all the RAM your computer can use anyway, you can get these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146524

just pop them in and it'll give you 3 gigs total. and it will run in dual channel mode because the sticks are evenly matched 2X1 gig and 2X512mb

if you want to upgrade ALL your RAM to 800mhz i think this is good:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134582

or this if you want all your RAM to "brand match" and don't mind 667mhz

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145195

any of the above are good configs and have the same tech specs as the RAM you already have. takes the guess work out of things. for the money and compatibility i like the Kingston. in fact that is the RAM i use myself.

but again, i like the idea of just popping in more RAM with what you already have. its your call, though.

if you want to know EXACTLY what your computer has in it already and its tech specs for compatibilty use Internet Explorer (for active x) and go here:

http://www.crucial.com/

have it scan your system and it will let you know what is what. but yes, 667mhz or 800mhz is fine. just make sure they all match up the same speed or it will run at the lower speed if mixed. your Dell really doesn't need "performance" RAM or anything. the mobo isn't really set up to take advantage of it. and even if so, its benefits are somewhat....marginal at best

lol so far as my case fan working out? well its quieter set on low, so thats nice. but now i can hear my vid card fan over it. so thats sort of irritating. and on "medium" where i would like to have it set all the time it makes the most annoying whine i have ever heard. and on "high" its fine but not quiet anymore. it sounds like my old fan.  i only use high speed when playing a game, too. so....the search continues for the perfect case fan :'(

so far as never buying another Dell again? yeah i can understand that. even with "upgrades" expansion is still a bit difficult and limited. you are limited to 640gigs of usable HD space, for instance. the number of drives you can install and the number of fans you can put in. and some other things

but with the experience you are getting upgrading you can see for yourself how simple and easy it can be to build your own if its possible for you financially. just stick around the forums a little and your next computer can be anything you want it to be. a good "budget" build or anything in between. BUT, expandable and upgradable however you like. and thats important once you have the know how. and you're getting it

hell, i've only been at this just over a year and i started out upgrading an HP or two before that. i still have to learn more about overclocking the proc and some stuff on the software end....but i'm getting there!

anyway my advice is keep the RAM simple and affordable. if you ever build your own, get the fancy stuff. for now, just get what you know will work with the Dell


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## DocJay35 (Oct 17, 2008)

ChromeDome thanks for all your helpful info on upgrading my dell. now all i have to get is two g of  memory. and that's it for my dell as far as i can go with my dell. my video card temp is 60 c is that a good temp for msi 8800 ultra. got that case fan its not that loud something i can deal with.


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## ChromeDome (Oct 17, 2008)

yeah 60c is a decent temp for the ultra with stock cooling. falls within "average" so i'd say you're good there

the RAM upgrade is going to have a noticeable affect on your computers performance. going from 2 to 4 gigs can have a pretty big impact on performance in some applications and in general. look at this stuff i posted elsewhere on the board today:

http://promotions.newegg.com/corsai..._mmc=EMC-IGNEFL101608-_-MECH-_-EB4D-_-CORSAIR

and from a link on the same page

http://corsair.com/_appnotes/AN804_Gaming_Performance_Analysis.pdf

that last one uses Adobe Reader to open. but anyway as you see from the first link the difference can be dramatic. the second link explains it in depth

and don't worry about 667mhz or 800mhz. the 800mhz just gives some users (servers, professionals, etc) more "headroom," so to speak. and over clockers as well. which is why its preferred  for overclocking. but its headroom you'd never use in a million years so won't ever miss it, and you won't be overclocking so you don't need it. there really isn't a "real world" speed difference. someone could come in the middle of the night and switch your RAM from 800mhz to 667mhz and you'd never know it or believe it. there is just NO difference. so if you're running 667mhz you can stick with it

its the INCREASE that will make the big difference here


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