# Solved: Adding HDMI Video to a Dell Dimension 5150/e510



## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

Someone (my boss) has asked me if I can add a video controller card with an HDMI output to their Dell 5100/e510 desktop PC. They bought an HDTV for Christmas and it has an HDMI input. They want to now be able to connect it to the PC. The PC only has on board video out of a VGA connector.

There is one PCIe 1x slot and one PCIe 16x slot on the motherboard. I have barely become familiar with AGP. PCIe is foreign to me. Some of the cards that I have found on line that may work have all kinds of features like multiple analog and digital video outputs and video inputs. Some of the cards also seem to need a separate PSU connection. One of my concerns is that I have all ready added two more hard drives to the PC a while ago and the power supply is rated at 305 watts output. I would like to pick a card for him that will give him a good picture without dropped frames or artifacts but will not overload the power supply.

Any suggestions for a suitable video card that should work with the existing hardware? Should I tell him that he will probably need need a new PSU with more output power? He says he does not need any other outputs than HDMI and he does not need any video inputs. I suppose it would be nice if the card supported HDCP for future use.


----------



## cmw2010 (Dec 3, 2006)

What you need is a video card with DVI output, then you get a HDMI to DVI cable to attach to your HDTV. I have a couple year old Gateway PC with an Nvidia Geforce TI 4200 hooked up to a 52" DLP HDTV. Works real well.


----------



## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

cmw2010 said:


> ... then you get a HDMI to DVI cable to attach to your HDTV ...


Thank you for that suggestion. I 'll have to ask him if needs/wants a digital audio feed into the HDTV. If not, then I'll start pricing cards with a DVI connector.

How are you feeding the audio to your HDTV?


----------



## cmw2010 (Dec 3, 2006)

I have a 3.5 mm to 2 RCA jack audio cable hooked from my sound card to the composite audio in connections on the back of the TV. Sounds great!


----------



## Compiler (Oct 11, 2006)

Or buy a video card with HDMI, which many ATI cards support:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...=&Description=ATI+HDMI&Submit=ENE&N=0&Ntk=all

But not that many GeForce cards:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...scription=GeForce+HDMI&Submit=ENE&N=0&Ntk=all

But AT THIS TIME, I would recommend the GeForce cards as they have better performance... These are not top gaming cards, but fine for video and many games (7600GT)... if no games, the 7300gs ($85)


----------



## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

Compiler said:


> These are not top gaming cards, but fine for video and many games (7600GT)... if no games, the 7300gs ($85)


Thank you very much. That was exactly the kind of suggestion I was looking for. I'll let my boss know about the MSI NX7300GS-MD256EH. He can decide if he wants to buy from Newegg or try to find it locally at a retail store.

I' will mark this one solved. :up:


----------



## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

UPDATE:

I just talked it over with the owner of the PC. He wants to go with the deluxe video upgrade that will also support gaming. I'll check to see if he can get the MSI NX7600GT Diamond Plus GeForce card locally at a good price (Newegg shows out of stock).

I also came across a listing somewhere for 500 Watt replacement for the current 305 Watt PSU in the computer. I'll probably have him get it as well just to be safe.


----------



## Compiler (Oct 11, 2006)

I have an update... Upon some advice to another user adding hardware to a simular Dell - which these white dells are NEW for 2006. (Finally retired the black ugly systems that have been around for 5+ years) I learned some facts about these Dells, so that I would be familer when asked by clients or other people about them.

While these are generally better looking and a bit more expandable over the older gen-dells, there are some upgrade issues.... especially with the e510/e52x series.

1 - The cooling system is BTX style... which was designed for HOT P4s - not the cooler AMD or C2D CPUs... So from what I can tell, Dell is the ONLY PC company to actually use BTX form-factor... which only Intel makes (On Newegg, there are 185 ATX vs 3 Intels BTX boards for Intel CPUs. 170+ AMD ATX boards, no BTX)
Its design in these entry Dells are cramp... The 7600GT may barely fit inside, so he needs to buy locally and see what the return policy is... or if a friend has a 7600GT that can be tested with the power off/unplugged.

2 - the PSU (power supply) on these Dells are 305 watts... With a C2D/AMD - you maybe able to squeak by with 305watts... But not with a P4 class CPU. An off the shelf 350~380watt PSU, especially with Active PFC will be required - Antec Earthwatts is recommened
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817371005

The 7300 should fit for sure (Dell offers 7300s, but nothing larger on their site) as well as a faster 7600gs... There are no 7600gs with HDMI output.

The 7600gs will fit and NOT tax the weak PSU (Hpaq systems are typically 350watts)
Then use either a $5 DVI > HDMI adaptor $10~20 cable adaptor.

PS: IF YOU can... please take a picture of a 7600gs installed on the system (if he gets it) so we can see how much space it uses up.


----------



## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

Compiler said:


> The 7300 should fit for sure (Dell offers 7300s, but nothing larger on their site) as well as a faster 7600*gs*... There are no 7600gs with HDMI output.


In your earlier post, you mention a 7600*GT* and that is what I was planning on having him get. What is the difference between the 7600GS and 7600GT?

I am getting the feeling that he may want to make this PC and new Sony HDTV a centerpiece in the family room that he can show off to his friends including playing games. What would you suggest as the latest and hottest controller I can install for him?

Do you think the standard 305 Watt PSU will handle the two additional hard drives that are all ready in the unit plus any kind of gaming rated video card.

I'll ask him to bring it in to work next week. I can take some pictures of the available space and post them if it will help any.


----------



## Compiler (Oct 11, 2006)

1 &#8211; the 7600gs has different memory and Mhz speed than the GT version, its about half the performance. There are no GS cards with HDMI built in.

HDMI built in would be required to HD-DVD and BlueRay output&#8230; otherwise normal DVDs should work fine with a DVI>HDMI adaptor.

2 &#8211; The 305watt PSU is below spec for a 7600gs/gt (350watts) &#8211; if it was a Active PFC power supply, then there would be a bigger chance. They may work on a 350 with 2 HDs installed, but either the system will not power up OR something may blow up.

3 &#8211; I measured my 7600GT, the card itself is 7&#8221; long. I enlarged the tiny junky pic from Dell for the e5xx series systems and found that there is 10&#8221; of space after all! But only for a SINGLE-slot sucking card (My GT requires 2 slots) The design of the Dell e5xx doesn&#8217;t NOT allow double-slotted cards to fit, period. The 7900gs would be the current fastest card that would fit&#8230; only the 7600GT is the fastest current card with HDMI built-in. Don&#8217;t get the ASUS version that is $10 more, it has a standard noisy fan.

4 &#8211; if the DVI>HDMI adaptor ($5~20) will work, then perhaps a 7900gs or 7600GT heatpipe from ASUS will work. Please take a photo from front to back with the cover off, to see how much room is available between the cards and the side of the case.

5 &#8211; He should get an Active PFC, they run cooler and quieter and save about $10~50 a year on electrical bills. $60 = Antec 380watter which would handle a GF7900 class card. Or the 430watt version for a bit of future proofing if a GF8600 comes out in a single-slot design.
Look at Antec&#8217;s EarthWatts or NeoPower supplies (The neo version has modular connectors, so only plug in the cables needed)



PS: I looked up some other cards. ATI 19xx XTX and 8800GTS = 8.75&#8221; and the 8800GTX is 10.5&#8221; (don&#8217;t know if there are JUST the PCBs are include the out-put connectors)


----------



## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

Here are a couple if interior shots of the room I have to work with. Based on *Compiler's* recommendations, I will be looking for a single height PCIe Card. The clearance between the longest part of the CPU cooling duct and the rear of the expansion panel is about 6-1/2 inches

I will also be looking at getting a 500 Watt (or so) Antec or NeoPower PSU to replace the current 305 watt PSU.

FWiW, I also found out that the PC is not going to be a direct connection to the HDTV monitor. The connection is going to be going through some type of A/V Receiver that has switched HDMI inputs.

Am I safe to assume that if the video controller card for the PC has an HDMI output, that it will also feed digital audio out of that same HDMI connector?

EDIT: Added one more picture with ruler showing distance between duct and rear panel.


----------



## Compiler (Oct 11, 2006)

Unless the video card has an audio input connector (most do not) - there will be NO AUDIO comeing from the computer thru HDMI.

Get the NeoPower 430watt, that is enough. Bigger cards that require more power will not fit because of the cooling cover (black plastic) in the way.


----------



## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

Compiler said:


> Unless the video card has an audio input connector (most do not) - there will be NO AUDIO comeing from the computer thru HDMI.
> 
> Get the NeoPower 430watt, that is enough. Bigger cards that require more power will not fit because of the cooling cover (black plastic) in the way.


The MSI NX7600GT Diamond Plus has an SPDIF input and an HDMI output. Comparing the product photos to the layout of the 5150/E510's interior, it looks like the fan on the card will not interfere with the CPU cooling duct.

Now I need to find a sound card with a coaxial SPDIF output (preferably with an internal SPDIF output connector). That should give him a multi-channel "all digital" signal path if he does not want the analog two channel method suggested earlier by* cmw2010*. It looks like the DVD drive may have digital audio out.

Thank you for the 430 Watt NeoPower recommendation, I will suggest it to him as the PSU upgrade.


----------



## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

Well, he ended getting the MSI NX7600GT Diamond Plus video card and the Antec Neo HE430 PSU.

The video card fit with plenty of clearance by the CPU cooling duct and did not interfere with any components on the mobo.

The HE430 is a little thinner and a little bit longer than the DELL OEM PSU. It also does not have the two hanger slots to match the tabs in the top of the DELL chassis The mounting hole patterns match perfectly. However, the power inlet connector extends beyond the rear face of the enclosure.

The Dell sheet metal was thin enough to bend a bit around the inlet connector when I tightened the four mounting screws. The differences in dimensions and lack of mounting slots means that the other end of the PSU is just supported by the four screws.

The SATA hard drives mount crosswise in the DELL chassis and there is not a whole lot of clearance between the connector ends of the drives and the removable cover. The OEM PSU had both connectors built with the wires entering the housings at 90 degrees to the pin. The modular Antek cable had the wires on the end connector enter the housing parallel to the pins. I could feel the wires pressing against the cover panel as I closed up the chassis.

Everything powered up OK and I installed the drivers for the new card. I had no way of testing the digital outputs. This set-up is eerily quite. Just sitting there with the DVD drive not spinning, the noisiest thing is the fan on the video card.


----------



## Compiler (Oct 11, 2006)

1 - 4 scews will hold it just fine... Just to play jump-roap with the PC or other stressful movements. Its gonna take a lot... Odd about the mounting holes, thanks for including a photos. You could say they are both slightly out-of spec. On my main PC - its not a problem (I have the same PSU) - but the Thermaltake in my other case wouldn't have had such an issue on the DELL. Not too big of a deal.

2 - ah.. Dell is still using SLOTS to attach their PSU<>Cases. So the tabs are slightly pushing the PSU down (again, not a big deal).

3 - Yeah, basic GF7600 cards have rather noisy fans... Also, thanks again for the pics - there isn't much clearence between the video card and the cooling unit.

With a bit of work - an aftermarket HSF unit may resolve the noise issue. The one I installed on my ATI9800 is SILENT - because it has a huge fan - but it sucks up an entire slot area (not an option for you).


----------



## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

2 - Yep, the front end of the HE430 is pushed down by about an 1/8 inch by the two tabs in the chassis. I could not get a decent picture to show it though. The rear sheet metal in the chassis has enough give to snug up all four screws OK.

The Dell PSU also had a small square hole in the bottom. A cable management clip for the drive cables snapped into it. I had considered cutting the mounting barb off the clip and attaching it to the HE430 with some double sided tape. I ended up just leaving it off.

3 - The cooling fan on the video card is not all that noisy. It was a lot quieter than the DVD drive when I installed the video drivers. If the owner does complain about the fan noise, I might consider adding some kind of super quiet fan over the existing fan on the video card and disconnecting the card's fan.

My next project may be to see if there is any way to get the setup to run in dual monitor mode, with the motherboard's video being the main Windows interface and the digital HDTV being used for movies and games. The motherboard video got shut down as soon as the new card was detected.

Thank you again for your help and suggestions.


----------



## Compiler (Oct 11, 2006)

er.....

1 - The internal video will no longer work with the video card installed. That video card already supports dual display output - you wouldn't want that junky onboard intel graphics anyways. Its not as crisp nor as fast for desktop much less 3D or games. Just plug in the VGA cable into the card and tell the Display properties to turn it on and what you want it to do.

2 - Disconnecting the fan on the video card will most likely cause heat damage. If you want it to be quiet - you'll have to REPLACE the entire cooling unit. There is ENOUGH room for a cooling fan - a slong as it doesn't go towards the front of the case and hit that cooling cover for the CPU. I think there won't be much problem with this... hopefully the noise factor won't be there and is nothing to be bothered with.


----------

