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2008
November 5th, 2025 16:21
Tower ECT1250, internal power supply
I recently purchased a Tower ECT1250 and unfortunately sorted by price and did not look at the power supply so have ended up with a 180w power supply.
I am after upgrading this such that I can use my existing graphics cards etc and am after options.
- Can I get a power supply update from DELL? Have asked tech support and they just said go look at the part/supplies page but I cannot see one there. Have come across this page, https://www.dell.com/en-uk/search/power%20supply?sb=pricing.saleprice,asc&p=1, are any on the compatible?
- Are there other power supplies for other DELL machines that are compatible? There are a lot on eBay etc. for inspiron/vostro etc so are these compatible?
- Can a standard ATX power supply be used. I see that the motherboard has an 8-pin connector and ATX is 24-pin, but have been pointed towards adapters that claim to support DELL inspiron etc. Would one of these work?
If none of these work has anyone got a fairly modern, and OK, graphics card recommendation I could use for casual gaming?
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redxps630
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November 5th, 2025 17:41
ECT1250 chassis has same dimension as Inspiron 3020/3030
so this is essentially an "Inspiron 3040"
Dell validated psu are 180w and 360w
PSU can be upgraded to Inspiron 3020/3910 Dell validated up to 460w
Inspiron 3030/3020 460W PSU =
4H6F4 Acbel
5W40K Huntkey
VTG94 Chicony
(credit: Dell Chris M2 formerly Dell Chris M)
and user validated psu up to 500W, and a notable example is Dell TPX56.
No you can not use standard 24/4 ATX psu. no validated use reported. experiment on your own runs high risk of damaging motherboard.
PS
Dell intentionally renamed the new desktop in my opinion a highly coded cryptic scheme. but we will unravel it to help user understand.
3020
324.30 mm (12.77 in.)
154 mm (6.06 in.)
292.80 mm (11.53 in.)
ECT1250 aka "Inspiron 3040"
324.3 mm (12.76 in.)
154 mm (6.06 in.)
293 mm (11.53 in.)
(edited)
jazzy7
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February 10th, 2026 15:50
@DELL-ChrisM2 UPDATE! Called Parts and was able to order the fan! Thanks again for your help!
aflowers001
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335 Posts
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February 26th, 2026 08:49
Well, got it upgraded. Purchased a 460w HU460EBS-00 PSU via Dell, popped it in and it just worked, so now have my graphics card running smoothly.
Thanks.
aflowers001
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November 7th, 2025 16:22
Thanks for the response, much appreciated.
Does anyone know where I can purchase any of these upgraded power supplies. Searching the DELL site for the 3 mentioned above does not turn up anything, so is it eBay or similar?
redxps630
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November 7th, 2025 17:32
chat w Dell sales online for pricing and stock. Dell on line store is user unfriendly. eBay is another place but check seller feedback and make sure you have free return protection.
aflowers001
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November 12th, 2025 07:36
Thanks. Dell sales came back with an quote for "PWR SPLY,460W,BRZ,D13.5,SFP,HK (CPL-5W40K)"
Unfortunately there are no pictures or further details so does anyone know if this is definitely compatible with an ECT1250, and anyone know what connections it has etc? (a picture perhaps ??)
Ta,
redxps630
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November 12th, 2025 17:43
you can chat w Dell sales and ask for email of a stock pic of psu.
wado66
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November 29th, 2025 12:58
@aflowers001 did you end up purchasing an upgrade for your power supply? If so, what size did you get? Was the install ok?
aflowers001
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December 1st, 2025 07:26
@wado66 Chatted with dell parts sales a bit further and got told the power supply quoted was not right and they quoted for a different one and to cut a long story short, after a lot of questions turns out that the 360w power supply they quoted for did not come with the necessary connectors to power a graphics card and they could provide no way to get one outside of trawling eBay so to date not purchased an upgraded PSU as of yet - one for the new year
Squatchy_J
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December 3rd, 2025 02:27
I did find a cable on ebay that they SAY is the correct cable for the SATA_PWR on the 1250, that has 2 SATA power connections. I'm going to consult with DELL tomorrow before purchasing, but likely going to give it a shot. Trying to add an additional SSD and HHD drive to my pc. PCIe card should be easy enough for the connection....just need power! cable is 3030 SFF
redxps630
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December 3rd, 2025 02:38
YJW72 from QCT1250 part list is likely the ECT1250 sata power cable w a Y split for HDD n DVD.
ASSY,CBL,Y,HDD_ODD,PWR,MT,D14
to properly install 2.5 ssd or hdd, a Dell HDD tray is also needed.
wado66
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December 3rd, 2025 02:52
@redxps630 I appreciate all of the useful/helpful posts you do.
Good luck on you search @aflowers001 and @squatchy_J.
It would be so nice to have Dell have a website that you input your model into a query and replacement/upgrade options would pop up.
Appliance parts websites do this all the time.
I looked high and low on Dell's site for a power supply upgrade for the ECT1250 I was planning on buying. (500w to 750w). Found some power supplies with part numbers but no way of knowing if they would fit.
Ended up ditching the ECT1250 and went with Alienware Aurora. Maybe this a way for me to subconsciously upgrade my purchase. Well played Dell, well played. :)
Sorry for the thread hi-jack.
redxps630
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December 3rd, 2025 22:58
Re: Dell have a website that you input your model into a query and replacement/upgrade options would pop up.
agree. Only they have not done it for decades. We as end users and non Dell employee have no access to their internal parts data base and have to resort to search engine of third party to mine these oem data
tigertiger729650
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December 16th, 2025 04:14
Any updates?
@aflowers001
Rkbe
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December 25th, 2025 05:36
I ordered 360w psu, but got POST error 2000-0511. Called/chatted with dell tech 3 times. No real solid solution. Just found that dell PSU is such a difficult/smart thing.