A friend of mine has a Dell Inspiron 530 Desktop Computer (Intel Pentium Dual Core E5200, 500GB HDD, 2GB) and wants to put a SAPPHIRE 100245L Radeon HD 4850 card in it. This would require us to put a different power supply in the system to support the card. I know we need two SATA connectors to get his hard drive and DVD powered, a 6 pin PCI express to power the card, and of course your standard 24pin connector. I noticed there was a 3.3v live that was a 4 pin that plugged into the board in a second place I do not know what that is. It is labeled as P2. what do I need to know guys? what can I do to help my friend get a reliable 450w with everything he needs?
Welcome to HWF The P2 outlet is a 2nd power connector (I thought for the CPU) with 4 pins. This is very common in power supplies these days. Now to choose a good power supply, take a look at the Power Supply Sticky. However, Dell usually has its own form factor. So if you're going to buy a new Power Supply, make sure that you can return it to the store if it woulnd't fit in the case. Good Luck!
Depending on the Dell, it may accept a regular ATX PSU, but if not, PC Power & Cooling does have Dell compatible PSU's on their website.
