1155 LGA MB - Rebuilding from a Dell XPS8300

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
S

simsrw73

Reputable
Jan 16, 2015
2
0
4,510
I'm rebuilding a Dell XPS8300[1]. Last year I replaced the case (Corsair 730T), psu (Corsair HXi 850), and hd (Samsung 850 Pro 512GB). Probably next year or late this year I will upgrade the MB, CPU, & RAM triad, but right now I'd like to upgrade the Graphics card which is currently a AMD Radeon HD 6870[2]. To do that I think I need to temporarily switch out the MB for a slightly more modern interim solution until I'm ready to invest in a final upgrade. Specifically, I'm wondering about the PCIe slots. I can't find the specs for my MB but HWiNFO shows it as PCIe v1.1. This would be a bottleneck for a modern card, correct?

The MB and Card I'm looking at are ASRock Z77 Extreme4[3] and MSI GTX 970 GAMING 4G GeForce GTX 970. Will this get me a worthwhile upgrade? Is this the best option for upgrading graphics? Any other suggestions? (A primary concern is availability on NewEgg.)

I've really not kept up with hardware terminology and specs for a long while, so I appreciate any advice. TIA.

1. http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-8300/pd
2. http://www.amd.com/en-us/products/graphics/desktop/6000/6870
3. http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z77%20Extreme4/
4. http://us.msi.com/product/vga/GTX-970-GAMING-4G.html#hero-specification
 
Solution
ihog
So you're set on the 970? Cool. Now, I do recommend a motherboard upgrade, mainly because even though PCIe is supposed to be backwards compatible, there have been issues and the 970 has been problematic on old motherboards.

The Extreme4 is pretty good; go for it. Be sure to update the bios to the latest, stable version before installing the 970 if you purchase it. But, if you're planning on upgrading your CPU in the future, you should weigh the costs and benefits of upgrading to the Extreme4 now against upgrading both your CPU and mobo (assuming you plan to upgrade to a CPU that isn't LGA 1155). If you're going to upgrade to a LGA 1155 CPU, then you can just go for the Extreme4 now.
Sort by date Sort by votes
ihog

ihog

Distinguished
May 22, 2012
5,166
2
19,960
So you're set on the 970? Cool. Now, I do recommend a motherboard upgrade, mainly because even though PCIe is supposed to be backwards compatible, there have been issues and the 970 has been problematic on old motherboards.

The Extreme4 is pretty good; go for it. Be sure to update the bios to the latest, stable version before installing the 970 if you purchase it. But, if you're planning on upgrading your CPU in the future, you should weigh the costs and benefits of upgrading to the Extreme4 now against upgrading both your CPU and mobo (assuming you plan to upgrade to a CPU that isn't LGA 1155). If you're going to upgrade to a LGA 1155 CPU, then you can just go for the Extreme4 now.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
S

simsrw73

Reputable
Jan 16, 2015
2
0
4,510


Thanks. I had started to go ahead with just the video card and see how it would work with my current system, but after your post I went to grab an Open Box they had had on NewEgg for $110, but it was gone. Amazon did have some available from several vendors, but they seem to have disappeared too (but have since returned with some due to be in stock next week). Seeing them disappear that quick definitely convinced me to go ahead, hunt down and grab one.

The Extreme4 may not be upper end, but it seems to be one of the best cards still out there for LGA1155. I think 970 and Extreme4 will give me a huge boost from where I am and hold me over until I move up to a upper end, current MB/CPU/RAM config next year and I'll still be able to reuse this interim equip to build a nice little linux box.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom