Dell T1650 - Chop up two PSU units?

[Eegore]

Hello I have a Dell Precision T1560 that I would like to upgrade the video card on. I'm not sure what's best, I am still researching what PCI slots are and how to tell which cards go where. As far as I can tell I will need more than 230w PSU for any decent card.

I know Dell has a 600w PSU which might be enough power but its huge and may not fit. ( I currently run ARMA 2 and Skyrim just fine but ramping up to GTA V is too much, I just need enough boost to play on Med settings )

My question is can a standard power supply bought off Newegg etc. go into this machine? I know Dell has a ton of proprietary PSU units and it was suggested that I cut the wires and test the voltage of the Dell PSU then test the Newegg PSU and splice wires accordingly. I really, really do not want to chop up two PSU's to pull 600w of power.

Any advice here would be appreciated. Thank you.

A full image and review of the Dell is here:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6119/dell-precision-t1650-workstation-review-entry-level-catches-up-to-the-pack/4

Specs:
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1
Intel Core i5 3470 @ 3.20GHz
( Ivy Bridge 22nm Technology )
8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard = Dell Inc. 0X9M3X (CPU 1) PCI - E slots
1024MB ATI AMD Radeon HD 7000 series (Dell)

 

[GhislainG]

Why not use a DVM to check what voltage is provided on each pin? To me it looks like a standard ATX power supply where the +12V wires are white instead of yellow: http://corbietech.co.uk/?p=45 Check that all black wires (ground) are on the same pins and then check the rest of them.

 

[Eegore]

Why not use a DVM to check what voltage is provided on each pin? To me it looks like a standard ATX power supply where the +12V wires are white instead of yellow: http://corbietech.co.uk/?p=45 Check that all black wires (ground) are on the same pins and then check the rest of them.

Yeah I'm no expert on this stuff so I didn't even think of that. Would be handy if Dell just had a list available but that would be too easy on me.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[GhislainG]

Using a DVM is pretty basic; the black lead is connected to a ground pin or the PSU case and the red lead is connected to a pin. The range should be 0-20V DC.