Of Power Supplies & Video Cards

bentdesigns

I'm looking to upgrade the video card on my desktop, and while I've done this in the past with prior computers I always just kinda "winged it" and lucked out. I did a bit of researching and was wondering if any of you hardware buffs might be able to confirm my findings, or steer me in the wrong direction if I'm wrong.

I should say that I'm not a PC gamer, nor do I want to be; my goal is simply to upgrade from my onboard ATI Radeon HD 4200 to something that has dual DVI outputs. My onboard video card supports my dual monitor setup, but only by having one plugged in via DVI and the other plugged in via VGA.

My desktop is an HP p6531p (link), with what looks like a 250W power supply. I'm finding most video cards, such as the EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti (link) require 400-500W power supplies, which means I'll have to upgrade that as well.

Knowing nothing about power supplies, I did find a forum post online (link) of someone with my same desktop who did upgrade his power supply to a OCZ ModXStream-Pro 500W power supply (link), so I'll probably just go with this since I know it works.

So here are my questions:

1) Is there any reason the OCZ ModXStream-Pro 500W power supply might not be the right choice? They offer 600W and 700W versions as well; is there any real reason for me to spend the extra for one of these?

2) The EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti looks like it's what I think they consider a "dual slot" video card, meaning it will take up the room of two cards in the case, even though there is just the one slot plugging into the motherboard. Right?

3) Does anyone have any recommendations for a non-dual slot video card that will support dual DVI outputs, just in case for some reason I discover my case doesn't have the room for a dual slot video card?

4) Anything else I should know or plan for?

Hahnsoo1

bentdesigns wrote:

3) Does anyone have any recommendations for a non-dual slot video card that will support dual DVI outputs, just in case for some reason I discover my case doesn't have the room for a dual slot video card?

A 500W power supply should be fine. As far as non-dual slot video cards, I was in a similar situation (my case and mobo did not support a dual slot, because of its cramped configuration). Fortunately, there are quite a few GTS 450s that have 2 DVIs and also fit a single slot, like this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187131

Should be more than enough firepower for most games. I've been very pleased with it. I would have gone with a 550 Ti, if I had the room, but the GTS 450 is decent. I will warn you that internal cooling is a problem with most single slot video cards (the reason they go dual slot is to accomodate a huge honkin' fan), so consider getting some supplemental fans for it, if you need a single slot card.

RadicalTurnip

You're getting way too much graphics card if you aren't planning on being a PC gamer. If that's fine to you, then great! If not, you can get this Video card for a lot cheaper
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500226
or this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130609
To answer your questions:
1) That'll be fine
2) Correct, just 1 slot, but takes twice as much room
3) Many video cards are dual slot, but Hahnsoo's reccomendation is good, I believe the two I linked are also, though I've never payed much attention to the space requirements.
4) Just *having* dedicated video card compared to an onboard video card, you will likely notice a performance boost on anything graphics-related.

krapst78

If you don't mind getting an HDMI to DVI adapter, you can save even more money and use less power. You should not see any degradation in visual quality as DVI is basically HDMI minus the audio information.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102933 for $45
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102882 for $20 after the rebate.

and here is a link to one of the HDMI - DVI cables.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812270113 $8

bentdesigns

Thank you for the feedback everyone. I ended up ordering the OCZ ModXStream-Pro 500W power supply I had found, and the GeForce GT 430 video card RadicalTurnip recommended (so I don't have to worry about a dual-width card not fitting in my case).

krapst78: My present video card has 1 HDMI, 1 DVI, and 1 VGA output, and I am using two monitors. The adapter wouldn't help because it looks like the card can only handle one digital signal (HDMI or DVI) at a time, meaning I have to use VGA for the second monitor.

bentdesigns

So, my install went as smooth as silk, but I have one additional question...

My OCZ ModXStream-Pro 500W power supply came with a ton of connector cables. I had to attach the main power cable to the motherboard, the fan power cable to the motherboard, and a SATA cable to my hard drive and DVD drive. Since there was basically no instructions with my new power supply, I eyeballed how my existing power supply was connected and duplicated it with the new power supply once it was installed, and everything seems fine.

Or is it? On my old power supply it looks like a single SATA cable was came from the power supply and was then split between the hard drive and the DVD drive.

Should I route dedicated SATA cables to these two pieces of hardware (my new power supply came with multiple cables), or is it fine for them to share a SATA cable?

BlindZenDriver

bentdesigns wrote:

Should I route dedicated SATA cables to these two pieces of hardware (my new power supply came with multiple cables), or is it fine for them to share a SATA cable?

Sharing is fine.

Note. If all the connector cables that came with you're new power supply are permanently attached to the power supply then make sure they don't end up blocking air flow in your case.