Okay, I am trying to be of help to my cousin. He is a college kid, working, and on a budget, and a bit computer noobish, as I am as well. He owns an Dell Inspiron 531S Slimline Computer. It has integrated graphics, and a very crappy 120 watt PSU. Our main problem is it is slimline. On newegg.com I have found very few PSU units that are above or at 300watts. He plays games like WoW. Sims 2, Sims 3, Dragon age, etc. Nothing more graphic intensive than Dragon age. Any help would be great. Right now, we are looking at these options. Video Card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...dia_9500gt_low_profile-_-14-150-392-_-Product PSU (one is discontinued) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151070 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817338042 Also I found this thread on someone with a similar problem. http://en.community.dell.com/dell-groups/gaming/f/3344/t/19258083.aspx Any and All help would be great. He doesnt have the money for a new PC, and all he is looking to replace is the PSU and the Video Card. I know he has 4 gigs of ram, and a sempron processor in it now.
Graphics card, despite being a low-profile PCB, is not low profile. You will need to unscrew the bracket and leave it with holes exposed for it to fit in the case. Athena PSUs are absolute trash, you want something much more reliable than that. Realistically, slimline PCs are not upgradeable, and you should always consider this when buying prebuilt PCs. However, the mistake being made here is assuming the PSU is replaceable. It probably isn't, most Dell PCs are proprietary, deliberately so they can't be upgrade. Buy a new PC. If it means saving up for one, so be it.
Yeah I was just going by what he said he wanted to do. He now says a friend of his is going to help him build his own. He has a very absolute ambition for buying alienware, and I'm trying to spend the summer, well now the coming summer as my previous attempt failed, to teach him more about comps, and building his own. I keep trying to stress future proofing to him, that he wont be satisfied for long. So, now that he has came across his new friend, this thread is null >.<
If the card really is low profile, then you can usually convert the bracket (or make a new one from scratch) easily using a dremel tool or even tinsnips in a pinch (pun intended).
