Dell XPS 8300 w/Radeon 5770...upgrade??

[Frodo_Lives]

Good evening gentlemen... I just got myself a Sandy Bridge Dell XPS 8300 (i7-2600 at 3.40 GHz). 8 GB RAM. Seemed a nice system (too lazy and time constrained to build this time...you can see where this is going...). Anyway, the video card is a Radeon HD 5770. Whaaa? Isn't that from late 2009?

Well, I knew what I was getting into in theory, and frankly had plans to slap a better vid card into this baby (at least a GTX 560i or maybe a 570). Imagine my surprise when I saw that the power supply is 460W. I saw a similar PC on Costco.com and it had a 700W power supply. Got this one at Best Buy and naturally they didn't list the power supply spec. I can of course take this system back if need be...(have already confirmed with Dell that this one was sent to BB post-recall fix).. but am wondering if I can easily get a decent card into this thing as is with this PSU, or as alternative, can the power supply be realistically swapped out to support a better card? Am willing to spend some dough on a more decent video card but have read a few posts out there re: possible inability to run a GTX 570 or similar card on a PSU of this wimpy spec. Have read something about some "older" Dell systems having "proprietary" connection for PSU to mobo, really irritating thought. Surely I can (A) put a bit better card in this system, or (B) grit teeth and swap out the power supply if need be to do A? I haven't yet scoped out the power supply connector but have read elsewhere that somebody needed a 6 pin connector for one of the better Geforce cards and this PSU didn't seem to have the right, or enough, connector(s)... sigh.

A number of issues/questions here but would be grateful for any ideas/info. Thanks!

 

[happy medium]

I think a 6870 would work fine for you with that psu. It would give you a real nice boost in games also. about 75%?

DO you have the 460 watt psu with 3, 12v rails rails at 18 amps, 16 amps and 8 amps?

Look on the power supply and tell us what it says.
It should say 12v+ A, 18 amps 12v+ B, 16 amps, 12v+ C, 8 amps or something like that.

Wecome to the forums Frodo.

edit , ok I think I found your psu's specs. 385 watts on the 12v rail is good for a stock i7 2600 and a 6870, just don't overclock the gpu.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
+12VA 18A
+12VB 16A
+12VC 8A
+3.3V 17A
+5V 25A
-12V 0.3A
+5V aux 2.0A

+5V and 3.3V SHALL NOT EXCEED 142W

+12VA, +12VB and +12VC SHALL NOT EXCEED 385W
----------------------------------------------------------------

edit 2, the 6870 need 2, 6 pin connectors, your psu has 1 but you can use the supplied 4 pin to 6 pin adapter that should come with the 6870..

A card like this is perfect. It will consume about 130 watts (11 amps) while gaming.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-357-_-Product

 

[Frodo_Lives]

Thanks!!!! I really appreciate your help. That looks like my best solution unless I'm really willing to truck this whole thing back there and start over. Three weeks from now they'll of course sell the same PC but with a 550w PSU :whiste:

.
edit 2, the 6870 need 2, 6 pin connectors, your psu has 1 but you can use the supplied 4 pin to 6 pin adapter that should come with the 6870..

A card like this is perfect. It will consume about 130 watts (11 amps) while gaming.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-357-_-Product

 

[Frodo_Lives]

Thanks a ton!!! I really appreciate your help.

That looks like my best solution unless I find myself trucking this thing back over there and starting over. Three weeks from now they'll sell it of course with a 550w PSU :whiste:

The only thing that really "scares" me now is prospect of getting 2-3 years down road and wanting to throw an even better card in and still being stuck with this 460w. But ya can't have everything! (at least, without more effort than I have heart/energy for at present).

Thanks again

 

[mnewsham]

Thanks a ton!!! I really appreciate your help.

That looks like my best solution unless I find myself trucking this thing back over there and starting over. Three weeks from now they'll sell it of course with a 550w PSU :whiste:

The only thing that really "scares" me now is prospect of getting 2-3 years down road and wanting to throw an even better card in and still being stuck with this 460w. But ya can't have everything! (at least, without more effort than I have heart/energy for at present).

Thanks again

in 2-3 years the same "level" of card will use about the same power with more performance

 

[happy medium]

Thanks a ton!!! I really appreciate your help.

That looks like my best solution unless I find myself trucking this thing back over there and starting over. Three weeks from now they'll sell it of course with a 550w PSU :whiste:

The only thing that really "scares" me now is prospect of getting 2-3 years down road and wanting to throw an even better card in and still being stuck with this 460w. But ya can't have everything! (at least, without more effort than I have heart/energy for at present).

Thanks again

You are very welcome,
Just make sure you come back and tell us how the upgrade went. .

 

[Arkadrel]

Yeah I think a 6870 is a good card if your worried about your PSU handleing to much.

6870 is around 470 level performance. (1920x res, about 4% differnce in performance avg. TPU)
6870 max load is like 160watts, 470 max load is like 230watts. (70watts differnce)

6870 you can find on newegg for like 180$, hard to even find a 470 on newegg, found one for 225$.
The 560 is abit faster yet, but its usually like 240$+.

So value wise, the 6870 is a decent buy too.
Also you ll save abit on electric bills down the line with the 6870.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Need to check what power connectors you have available. The 6870 requires two six pins and the Dell PSU only has one available. You'll need spare molex and SATA connectors so you can use an adapter to get a second six pin.

Or you can just upgrade the power supply. They don't use proprietary anymore, such that your system will blow up. Perhaps the size is slightly different. But just simply measure the height and width of your current one. The ATX standard is 150mm wide by 86mm tall. Or you can measure the mounting holes and see if the match the ATX standard, which is all that really matters: http://www.pcguide.com/ref/power/sup/z_pcpc_dim_atx.gif

 

[Frodo_Lives]

You are very welcome,
Just make sure you come back and tell us how the upgrade went. .

I punked out guys . . . but in a good way I guess. Had enough angst about spending $1200 including tax for a system with a 460w power supply (and, btw, sata 3gb HD instead of 6gb...and no USB 3.0... hmmph!) that after 24 hours' brooding, I ran (not walked) back to Best Buy and returned the Dell XPS 8300. Shame on Dell for putting that PSU in there, etc etc. Oh and I was also very nervous about the sandy bridge recall issue, the system was built in Jan 2011 and while Dell told me by phone that this one had been fixed...hmm... I didn't like how Best Buy had it on a lower shelf with no ads up yet, with most ppl in the store not thinking they had any new sandy bridges in stock yet.

I'm now gearing self up for my best steely eyed Clint Eastwood impression as I prepare to order and build my own PC (which I haven't done in about 7 years). I now submit a beggars' list for any creative recent builds any of you might have dreamed up!! Unfortunately they haven't yet come out with the latest mid-range and upper range buyer's guides on this site...and a certain person is desperate to get started. :| Really looking to spend about 1200-1400 tops if possible...a little less if defensible in terms of "pretty good" gaming graphics power.

I think I'll stick with the i7-2600 and go from there, unless the i5 with a good graphics card is pretty much just as good. Since this is the video card subforum, er... anybody think it's worth it to stick with the GTX 560 Ti or Radeon HD 5870 rather than shooting high for something like the GTX 580, in interest of saving funds?? I'm definitely in the graphics intense gaming crowd but not insanely in need of 80 fps all the time. Uh, one more bit of information, I may well use my Samsung LCD TV as my "monitor". It's a 42 inch or so. So am looking for a decent card that can play blu-ray etc and also provide pretty decent gaming performance. Actually the 5770 Radeon (oldie) that came with the Dell looked pretty good the other night on the LCD but I was just trying out Counterstrike Source (cough!) and a few HD youtube clips.

P.S. sorry I couldn't report back on the Radeon 6870 suggestion...although frankly I am even thinking about just getting that card anyway when I build. Looks like a pretty decent card that won't break the bank!

 

[Kenmitch]

I now submit a beggars' list for any creative recent builds any of you might have dreamed up!!

Here's a decent mb and memory combo which gives you the ability to go crossfire/sli in the future and overclock if needed. If I was going to build a sb I think it's what I'd get. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.633465

If you want the 2600 you should get the 2600K for $15 more and run it at stock if you don't wanna overclock it. But if you change your mind later as in want more speed then it's easy to overclock it for free speed http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115070

Build your own is so much better than buying a Dell

 

[Arkadrel]

I'm now gearing self up for my best steely eyed Clint Eastwood impression as I prepare to order and build my own PC (which I haven't done in about 7 years). I now submit a beggars' list for any creative recent builds any of you might have dreamed up!! Unfortunately they haven't yet come out with the latest mid-range and upper range buyer's guides on this site...and a certain person is desperate to get started. :| Really looking to spend about 1200-1400 tops if possible...a little less if defensible in terms of "pretty good" gaming graphics power.

CPU:
Intel Core i5-2500K sandy bridge ~225$ (newegg)

Motherboard:
ASRock H61M-VS LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX ~60$ (newegg)

RAM:
Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 ~40$ (newegg)

PC CASE/TOWER:
GIGABYTE GZ-X5BPD-500 Black SECC Steel/ABS ATX Mid Tower ~35$ (newegg)

PSU:
Sunbeam PSU-COM680-BK-US 680W ATX12V Modular Active PFC Power Supply ~69$ (newegg)

HDD :
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB ~40$ (newegg)

DVD/CD DRIVE:
LITE-ON Black 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model iHDS118-04 ~18$ (newegg)

CPU COOLER:
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 ~ 35$ (newegg)
(best price/performance air cooler you can get)

GPU:
MSI R6950-2PM2D2GD5 Radeon HD 6950 2GB ~ 244$ (after Mail in rebate).


total for pc case + stuff in it:
764$


for that you get:
Intel i5 2500k, a 3.3ghz (3.7ghz turbo) 4 core cpu.
4 gigs of DDR3 dual channel ram
500GB HDD
6950 2GB



Unlock the 6950 via bios flash turning it into a 6970, do a tiny overclock.
(your now around 580 stock performance)
Overclock the i5 2500 to about 4.5ghz or so.

Enjoy a great gameing machine.

 

[timma]

Gigabyte 6870 SO or GTX 560 Ti OC~