Desktop PSU

[sted]

I was wondering if anyone knew a way to find what PSU a computer has, without having to open the case? You see, I would like to either replace the current HDD with an SSD of my quite old Desktop, or make an SSD the primary drive and use the HDD as a secondary, the problem is I don't know if the PSU would be good enough to do either.

I'm also not sure I should go through with it, due to the need to back-up current files, then put them back onto the computer, so for now it is just to be considered.

If there isn't any other way of finding out the PSU without opening the case, I suppose I'll just have to give in and do that.

 

[Karnor00]

It might say on the back of the PSU (i.e. the bit you can see from outside the case), but short of that I don't think there's any way of finding out - the PSU isn't a piece of hardware that is monitored by the bios or operating system - all they care about is that they get power.

Most cases are extremely easy to open - many don't even require you to unscrew anything. For others it will just be a couple of screws so that you can slide the cover or a panel off. What case do you have?

I'd also mention that neither an HDD nor an SSD use much power. It's very unlikely that adding one would require a PSU upgrade.

 

[sted]

Alright then, thanks. I have no idea what the case might be called, but if it helps the desktop is an Inspiron 530 (unless that is the name of the case, too?) +Rep for general helpfulness.

 

[sted]

Oh, a quick image search on google reveals the case, though I didn't see a name for it, but you'll know what it looks like at the least. I just typed Inspiron 530 in the search.

 

[Karnor00]

Google is wonderful

Assuming you have a standard case, there's a guide to opening it at http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Opening+Dell+Inspiron+530+Case/6999/1

Should be extremely easy to open. However, given that you have a Dell, it may not be quite so easy to upgrade. Dell sometimes use a number of proprietary components which means that some things can only be upgraded with (expensive) Dell specific components. I don't know if the HDD fall into this category.

 

[sted]

Hm. Well it may not be worth it if that is the case. Damn you Dell! xD it's not really a compulsory upgrade, but I did want the computer to run faster if possible as it has files on I'd like to keep on there such as itunes music amongst other things, rather than having them on my computer to be too and it happens to be running rather slow for my liking, and to be honest even though it is an archaic device now I'm not ready to give it the boot and abandon it just yet.

And I know it's easy to transfer songs and such, but I'd prefer to keep them to the one computer for as long as possible. Thanks for the help, yet again!

 

[Karnor00]

I did have a quick search, and it appears that the Dell Inspiron has standard HDD SATA II connections so it should be fairly easy to fit another HDD (or SSD) - http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/storage/f/3412/t/19244472.aspx

It should be fairly easy to fit, but the operating system and all of the device drivers for your Dell computer would be on your existing HDD. So you would need to be able to reinstall them onto the new SSD.
The alternative would be to fit the SSD as a secondary drive as you then wouldn't need to transfer the operating system. But you would lose all of the benefits of having nice fast boot times from the SSD.

 

[sted]

Yeah, I plan to do a clean install if I do go through with it.

 

[vanthus]

I've upgraded a few components on my dell dimension,GPU,RAM and hard drive,it wasn't a problem,even though it only has a 350W PSU if I remember rightly.Having said that the PSU does need to have sufficient power for your upgrades of course.
Not sure you would get the full benefit of an SSD as the motherboard is unlikely to be SATA revision 3.0 (SATA 6 Gbit/s) capable,not sure about that though.

 

[sted]

Oh yeah, I never thought of that, thanks for bringing it to my attention. I'd imagine though that I would still see some boost in speed if I were to install one though, right?

 

[vanthus]

Oh yeah, I never thought of that, thanks for bringing it to my attention. I'd imagine though that I would still see some boost in speed if I were to install one though, right?

Yes,I think you should still see a difference.

 

[sted]

Great, thanks!