Dell Dimension 4600 PSU (250W) and upgrading...

[LonestarHero]

My parents bought a Dell Dimension 4600 about four years ago, and I want to give them a cheap upgrade being fresh after building my first machine.

Here are the specs of the Dell:

http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/de...tium/4507-3118_7-30529709.html?tag=mncol;psum

First off my parents use the computer for web surfing, email and perhaps a little streaming video of TV shows. They are in no way gamers nor photo editing folk. There is no need for a real graphics card, as onboard will work fine.

Since the case isn't going to give me a lot of room, I would like to put in a micro-ATX AM2 or AM2+ motherboard. I think an Athalon x2 running in the neighborhood of 2.6 Ghz would be optimal with 4 GB of DDR2 1066/800 Mhz RAM. The OS will be the Windows XP Home Edition it came with.

Would an AM2+ mobo running the faster RAM put too much of a strain on the 250W powersupply? Would the power supply even be able to handle AM2? The only other components to power are the stock 80 GB hard drive and the stock CD-ROM drive.

Do I have the cheap $130-170 upgrade or do I need to throw a new PSU in to the mix?

 

[trents]

My experience with Dell's, HP's and other "box store" computers is that the PSU is barely potent enough to run what came OEM in the box. Even something small like one of those Canon LID USB bus powered usb scanners can overload them. It might do it but it would be very marginal and if it was borderline and causing instability you would be wondering if it was the PSU or some other new component you added to the mix that was causing the problem.

Here's one for cheap, even free shipping that would be fine for what you want to do:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817339012

 

[deadlysyn]

Also, technically the copy of XP is not supposed to be transferred to the new mobo. This can and will give you activation headaches. According to the MS EULA, that OEM lives and dies with that board. Just wanted to give you a little bit of a warning.

As far as a new PSU, for that rig, I would recommend the Corsair VX- 450 or the Antec EarthWatts 430. I think both of those should give you a little bit of headroom to add a video card in later if they so decide. Also, they are both very high quality units. That is the number one part you don't want to cheap out on, as a cheap PSU can kill the rest of your hardware when it dies.

 

[A15G]

If its 250W and a DELL PSU, its said to be 250W but you arent going to have an exact 250W to spare those components.

If you are quick enough, the E380W is on sale at neweggs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371005

 

[LonestarHero]

How do I know that those PSU's will fit in the Dell Dimension 4600 stock case?

 

[trents]

How do I know that those PSU's will fit in the Dell Dimension 4600 stock case?

On NewEgg the dimensions of the PSU is usually given in the "specificiations" tab When you click on the product listing.

 

[LonestarHero]

Also, technically the copy of XP is not supposed to be transferred to the new mobo. This can and will give you activation headaches. According to the MS EULA, that OEM lives and dies with that board. Just wanted to give you a little bit of a warning.

Assuming I don't care about the legal issues, would the install CD work on the new mobo? Would the service packs download?

Since XP is an old OS, would MS sell it for a reasonable price, say $30-40? It just seems like a lot of hassle on the part of Microsoft to hit upgraders.

 

[deadlysyn]

I can't say whether it will work or not, as I have never tried it. You will have problems with drivers for the Dell system though. It will instantly force you to activate, and will not activate because the drivers don't match the hardware. I also doubt that they will give XP away for that low of a price. I am an authorized MS dealer, and I can't even get it for that. Legit XP discs are getting scarce since the End Of Sales date was a few months ago, and the prices have only come down by a few dollars.

Edit: Because the version of XP that came on prebuilt systems was OEM, there are limited hardware upgrades you could do. If you had a retail box version there would be no issue. The reason they do this is because the support for the OS is up to Dell, instead of MS. Of course, Dell can not be held responsible for supporting hardware that isn't theirs. Your Dell install disc should have the drivers and third party apps like Norton already integrated into the install, which is where your issues will come from. The disc was built to be installed on a particular set of hardware, and if it is installed on something different, the drivers will not match the hardware. Also, you will most likely end up with a BSOD before you are even able to get to the logon screen. I have worked on systems with that issue in the past. It usually means you have to reformat and install with a new key with no integrated drivers, aside from the ones specific to the hardware.

 

[Technophobe]

Just make sure that whatever motherboard you buy will fit Ok into the Dell case. Some of the older ones used BTX style layout thats not compatible to ATX.