Dell XPS 8500 video card / psu upgrade

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mmeurky

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Why is everything so hard? I've been searching the web, asked Dell (no response back), and still don't know what I can do. I have a Dell XPS 8500, Intel i7, 3.4GHz A12 Bios and 24GB ram. Running Windows 8.1 64bit. The machine came with a AMD Radeon HD 7700 series video card and I'm running 3 Dell 2007FP monitors. I'm getting into Flight Simulator X, but the resolution sucks. I'm running Rex4 textures so things should look better. Have to slow down the frame rate below 20fps, otherwise the video freezes and large blocks of scenery turn into globs of color. I've been told that FSX is CPU intensive and not video card intensive. Don't know if I believe this. I'd like to stick with and AMD video card - I like eyefinity. What is the best video card (and PSU upgrade if required) that I can use with my machine? Thank you guys!!
 
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mmeurky

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To be honest, I haven't thought about my budget - I just want something that works really nice and fixes my issues with FSX. I'm willing to pay whatever... As I said in my original write-up, fixing my resolution issues might include getting new monitors, new video card and PSU (if necessary). My only stipulation is that I'd prefer to get another AMD card, as I like the eyefinity setup process.

With that being said, I'm a bit worried about space and connection to mother board - kind of hard to spend fairly big money to buy something blindly. I was hoping that someone else with a XPS 8500 can share their own experiences on what fits, what is best, and what PSU they used.
 
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mmeurky

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I just checked my computer's configuration. You are correct, my current PSU is 460W... so a PSU upgrade will probably be necessary.

Another stupid question - does it matter who the manufacturer is? Looking at AMD's website and looking at the HD 7950's specs, there is a link to shop various prices. In doing so, there are several manufacturer models that come back. (HIS, PowerColor, Sapphire, VisionTek, XFX). Are there specific vendors to avoid, or is everyone essentially the same?

Also, what is the difference between a PCIe x16 Gen 2.1 vs a Gen 3.0? Are these two connections the same, but dictate speed of transfer? How can I tell what my motherboard will accomodate?

Thank you for your help, patience and opinions!
 
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ak47jar3d

ak47jar3d

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The brands have different cooler solutions. The 7950 is recommended stays very cool (Newegg link). I also posted a link for a very reliable 650w psu. If you buy those two parts you will be all set. :)

As for pci 2.1 vs 3.0, I would say the difference in preformance is very small between both types and I am sure pci 3.0 will mean more as video cards get better but every benchmark tells me that the difference isn't much with even the best cards.
 
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mmeurky

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For other owners of Dell XPS 8500 computers who want to get a better video card - THIS IS THE THREAD FOR YOU. Before coming here, I attempted to use the Dell website that supposedly provides suggested upgrades based on computer model, and the site absolutely stinks. Luckily I found Tom's Hardware.

My Dell XPS came with a 460W PSU and an AMD HD 7700 series video card as a stock setup. This was not powerful enough to do a good job running 3 monitors of Microsoft Flight Simulator X.

Besides what appears in this thread, I have also been working with ak47jar3d using private email messages. I wanted share ak47jar3d's knowledge publicly and to share my personal outcome with the rest of the XPS 8500 population. First of all ak47jar3d has been super-helpful. He is great and really knows what he is talking about.

Using his suggestion, I went ahead and purchased the Corsair TX650 power supply. It is very nice and you cannot go wrong. One word of caution - you will also need to purchase a separate conversion cable kit to convert the Corsair EPS 12V CPU (8-pin) cable into a ATX12V plug (4-pin) for the "PWR2" area of your XPS motherboard. There is the perfect conversion kit for this on Amazon for $3.75 by CableHero. Link below:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0032K9Y0W/ref=pe_385040_30332200_pe_309540_26725410_item

The TX650 is a really nice PSU and should have plenty of power to drive your new video card. I personally like AMD's eyefinity, so I wanted to stick with an AMD card for my video card upgrade. ak47jar3d suggested the HD 7950 card. Unfortunately, both models carried by newegg.com are currently out of stock. All 7950s on Amazon were all priced well over $400. Too expensive for my blood.

I eventually found an MSI Radeon HD 7970 card with twin Frozr III on newegg - this thing is a beast. It is still a 3GB PCI-e 3.0 card, but it also is the boost edition and overclock edition. For you non-technical people like myself, the overclock edition means the core/boost clock ratings are a bit faster than the typical HD 7970 specifications. I paid $350 with no shipping charges.

My TX650 PSU comes with two PCI-E cables. The MSI 7970 card is powered using one 6-pin and one 8-pin connections. Both ak47jar3d and Pinhedd confirmed I can use these two PCI-E cables to power my new card. For one connection, I'll use just the 6-pin connection. For the other 8-pin connection, I'll use the 6-pin and extra 2-pin as well.

I guess that summarizes my personal lessons-learned on getting a new video card and PSU. Wanted to make sure this forum was able to get the full details on my upgrade process. Tom's Hardware is a great resource and I'm very happy I found this site.

Thank you ak47jar3d!!!


keywords: Dell XPS 8500, video card upgrade, power supply upgrade
 
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the rocker

the rocker

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Great input for the Dell 8500 !!!

I purchased the CORSAIR HX Series HX850 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011

Kind of future proofed I hope, in that when I finally do my own build, this is ready for the Haswell 4th Gen

Did I make a good choice ? This Power Supply should work great, even though a little over kill ? Right ???
my first PSU purchase.
My 8500 is the Special Edition, 32 GB Ram, GTX 660, and adding SSD or two using a PCIE x1 slot Controller Card PCIE to Sata III.
After receiving the 8500 I was going through the specs, and found that the Chipset would only see 2 Sata III Ports. One used by the Samsung m830 SSD and the other with the WD Black 2TB HHD...

Needing a performance HDD I purchased a Samsung 840 EVO 256 SSD. (came with FC4 !!! lol )
Talking with Star Tech this PCIe x1 to Sata III Controller Card should show as a SataIII speed connected SSD and achieve the correct speeds. Supposedly works with Native Sata II as long as the PCIe is v 2.0 or better. all the way back to Vista 64 bit..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816129101

So to make sure I have enough power with all the additional hardware, and the fact I will be utilizing the 32 Ram for Graphics, Audio and Video Editing, and Rendering, I would need ample power.

This Corsair 850HX has more connections than I need for now, even when I add the extra fans (which will be a challenge is this tower) the extra connections will be handy...

So before I install this Power Supply and plug it in, I could use a little back up on my purchase and intended use, lol,,,
I read and learned quit a bit, hopefully enough I don't learn the hard way,, lol,,

Am I ready for this ak47jar3d ? lol,,,
 
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ice2hot

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Great to see this thread. Im planning on upgrading my card to MSi GtX 970.
I was told that currently it would be best that I upgrade my processor to the 4th gen as I have the i7 3770 3.4hz for games like witcher 3

Can my board do an upgrade to intel 4th generation i7.
 
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newhere2015

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No. I was looking to upgrade my i5 3450 on my XPS 8500 and the i7 3770 is the best you can get for the mobo. I was looking to upgrade to a i7-4790K but the H77 motherboard on the 8500 will not support it. The motherboard should be a Z97 I believe to support the 4th gens :(

I just recently upgraded to a GTX 970 too. The 970 comes with a 6 pin to 8 pin cable so you can use the dell PSU (used it for about a week with the 970), but I did end up getting a 600 watt PSU just to be safe.

Also a couple 970s only use two 6 pin power cables, so the dell PSU should definately be fine with one of those. I upgraded my PSU because I was told that the 8 pin 970s needs certain "wattage or amps" going through the 8 pin cable and the dell PSU might not give that wattage out through the 6 - 8 pin adapter but there are others I have read that use the dell PSU with no problems.
 
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threedb

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Feb 24, 2015
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There is a guy on the Dell forums ( XPS 8500 GPU update thread ) that upgraded to the 970. I would have a look there. It has a number of very specific examples from numerous people with lots of configurations that may be helpful. Not a lot of mention tho on CPU or Witcher3. Link

If it were me I would try asking ak47jar3d. Not to spam the guy but he helped me with my upgrades.
 
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threedb

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And please document your solution here to the thread so everyone can see what you did. That kind of stuff was very helpful for a guy like me :)
 
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the rocker

the rocker

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For What it's worth,,, My above post and the build I left as is,,,
I did add mSata 1TB recently, (less than $200) a TB SSD, 500GB SSD and replaced failed 2TBB HDD.
Even the Sata 2 get over 200Mb/s transfer.
It's a rock solid computer, and upgrading anything would be pointless really,,,
Better off With a new build,,,
After looking into things the DDR4 ram and 6th Gen i7 were coming out soon,,,
Posted in case anyone thinks about upgrading... my above build is pretty much max for the Dell 8500
 
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