Asus GTX650Ti OC 2GB - Dell XPS 8700

THRobinson

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I was looking to buy a new Dell XPS 8700 (4th Gen i7 w/16GB ram) and it comes with a 460w power supply from what I can find out.

I have an ASUS GTX650TI-OC-2GD5 video card in my current PC that I want to swap into the Dell if/when I buy it.

I can't find what power supply size is recommended for the card, only that it consumes 150w. In another forum I saw it mentioned that they recommend a minimum of 400w, in which case the PSU is fine. I may upgrade it to 650w and a better video card, but we're talking 1-2yrs from now.

What I would like to confirm is

- Will it work in the Dell?
- Will it fit in the Dell? (card is 8.9 " x 4.72 " x 1.54 " inches)
- Does the DELL have an extra power plug for the video card's fan

Thanks
 

clutchc

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No, it's for the gfx card itself. The slot provides up to 75W power for a card. Bigger cards will require extra +12V power, and will not work until the 6 pin header is populated.
Yes, you could use a Molex adapter, but any 460W PSU that is not a piece of crap will have at least 1 x 6 pin. Yours is probably stuffed away wherever the assemblers stashed the unused cables to keep them out of the way. If I were you, I'd start looking for it. The +12V rail that the 6 pin is on may be a different one than the one you plug your Molex adapter into.
 

THRobinson

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Well, asking around and getting some feedback... plus the 1.5h I wasted last night with a DELL support tech on their live chat window... convinced me to build my own system, which I think will be better and cheaper.

Thinking Core i7-4790 3.6Ghz, with an ASUS H97-Plus ATX board in case ever want to get a 5th gen i7 down the road. Probably G.Skill F3-12800CL9Q-16BGXL (4x4GB) ram. Or Corsair...

Emailed ASUS, because their qualified vendors list seems a bit lacking... doesn't list kits of 4x4GB so, that G.Skill doesn't show up on the list, but may be the same thing as something that does just different SKU number or something. At the least, I am hoping to get the recommended timing and voltage.

I printed off the spec sheet for the motherboard, and it's really lacking details. I like ASUS boards though, never had issues with them over the years and the H97-Plus had some good reviews and my price range.
 

clutchc

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Don't worry about the memory QVL. Those are just the sticks they tested with. You can safely ignore that QVL. Any memory that meets the board's specs will work. For the ASUS H97-Plus, it will be "DDR3 1600/1333 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory"...or faster. 1600/1333 Mhz is just what the on-die memory controller is set to run at. Using the XMP modes in the motherboard BIOS will allow you to run faster memory of you decide to buy it.

Yes, by all means build your own if you have some experience. Or even if you don't. Just don't be in a hurry, and ask for help if you have a question.
 

THRobinson

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I've built I think about 2,000 computers... seriously. When I got my first job, all I did every day was custom build Pentium 75's, 200MMX's and the occasional 486 still... 10-15 a day every day for a year. :D

Since then... not so many... last system I built was the DualCore I have now, well, then replaced the board, then the CPU, then the CPU again, added ram... this case is 15yrs old almost and went from a DualCore to the Core2Quad I have now. Still runs really well... but rather an upgrade and make this a devotes media player.

Right now I have my computer hooked into my monitor for PC work, the TV for movies using XBMC/KODI, and networked to a small DualCore DELL in the front of the house also streaming off my computer for movies. It's time for 2 computers. :)
 

THRobinson

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No... small company called EMJ, using I think they were ACER parts. Also bought out a small company called PRIMAX which was a mistake because those were junk. Bought the company just for the equipment and such, but got stuck with lots of warranty work. :D

Ah the good ol' days.

But ya, I have a thread started for opinions on a build, what would be better, or cheaper etc... narrowing down the PSU right now. But I think it would be a decent system... RAM I'm still debating on but... here's the build

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2702646/system-build-opinions.html

 

clutchc

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Looks like a good build to me, except for the Thermaltake PSU. Bottom tier. https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx?Redirected=true Try to stay in the top 3 tiers. Here's a newer tiered PSU list: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html#xtor=EPR-8886

But you'll get several build suggestions from other folks here. Some folks love to come up with the the best prices by using http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/
I never shopped for Canadian prices, but they have several countries' links.
 

THRobinson

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Ya someone posted a Tier link for PSU's, just breezing through the list and seeing a lot of pricey ones and 800w... but haven't gotten to check through it all yet. 600-650w is I think fine for what I need.

I'll never get more than a $150 video card, and maybe an SSD drive and move the 1TB to a secondary drive... so over 650w I'd think be overkill.

I am going to try that part picker though, may save me some time. :D
 

THRobinson

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I'm honestly having troubles figuring out that PSU Tier list... I just don't get how some bronze rated are tier 1, and some gold rated are tier 3, and seems whenever I find a PSU I like it's not in the list. :D

From what I can tell for that motherboard, I need an ATX12V power supply... was looking at

Fractal Design Tesla R2 650W ATX12V - Bit pricier than I wanted, was hoping $100 max
CORSAIR CX series CX600M 600W - More towards the right price but 50w less, though my system build estimate so far is 305w
CORSAIR RM Series RM650 650W ATX12V - Kinda priced between the first two, and I think a Tier 2 PSU (?)

For the most part, the Tier 1 and Tier 2 PSU's, seem overkill in price/size... understandably you get what you pay for, but, every time I click one, it's a few hundred dollars and 800w and up. Corsair Tier 1, for example... AX series, seems to start at about 750w for $200.

600w-650w basic is all I need which is why I like Corsair. Also a Corsair case so hopefully fits without any fuss.

Any thoughts? (oh 750w on sale)

Untitled_zpszgneodx5.jpg

 

clutchc

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Gold, Silver, and Bronze ratings are efficiency ratings. They have nothing to do with quality or workmanship. Those ratings refer to the power wasted in heat, resistance, and inductive & capacitive reactance. i.e it's a power factor rating.

As long as you stay with the mid-range GTX 650 Ti Boost, you don't need a 750W PSU. A 450W with a single 6 pin connector is enough for the above system with that card. And today's Nvidia cards are using less power than ever before. Even the mighty GTX 980 Ti only requires a 600W w/ a 6 and 8 pin connector.
 

THRobinson

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I decided on the Antec High Current Gamer 620W... has a rebate that brings it down to $89. 620w should be great for what I do. :D

Also swapped the i7-4790 out for a XEON E3-1231v3, which is barely slower than the i7-4790 based on all the comparisons I saw... main difference was no built in gpu which I don't need, and no real overclocking which I never do anyways. Saved about $40.

Still can't confirm if that cooler master fan will fit... or if I should even bother with it at all. I like the idea, cooler is better... but same time, no overclocking and a big front fan and big rear fan. Also worried if the ram may be too high and the fan won't clear the tops.

Untitled_zpsjxgu89yu.jpg
 

clutchc

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You won't need an aftermarket cooler* if you don't OC. Unless you are super sensitive to noise. I have never been bothered with the tiny sound coming from the Intel Stock coolers. Compare to AMD's, they are dead silent.

* if you are buying an OEM CPU, then you will indeed need an aftermarket cooler since they do not come with one like the retail packages do.
 

THRobinson

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From what I read, it has a CPU cooler in the box, and ya... can always add the cooler later if wanted, but, I've never had issues with the stock fans.

Other forum/thread someone pointed out an even better PSU for the same price, EVGA SuperNOVA GS 650W 80+ Gold Certified... Listed as Tier1 so switched for it, dropped the fan... down to $810. And probably better than that DELL XPS 8700 I almost bought for $950.

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/RC4d23
 

clutchc

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Looks like a good build. Man, the prices must high in Canada! It seems like $830 is a lot for that. Especially since that price doesn't even include a gfx card.
Btw, your old GTX 650 Ti is still the weak link in the system for gaming. What CPU do you have it paired up with now?
 

THRobinson

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Well, for the rare time I play games I think it's still good. My current system is in my signature.

I have my PC that I use for working on, while at the same time I have my TV playing movies off it, at the same time it's networked to another TV that also streams movies off it.

It's a good solid computer, but being used for too much at one time. I plan to put an ATI HD6450 1GB video card in it, and make it a devoted media player. I had this system running with an HD 4560 1GB card for 2 years and played movies while working (dual monitor) just fine, so, I'm not dumping more than $50 into a 1GB video card to play movies with. :D

The Asus GTX 650 Ti OC 2GB I think will be pretty good. I refuse to pay more than $150 for a video card.... well $150 Canadian... I just don't game enough to be able to justify the cost of a $300 card. Basically... every 2 yrs, I buy a new $150 card. This card has another year left. :D

But, I made sure to get a 650w PSU, just in case I upgrade to something bigger, or that needs more power etc. I wanted to play it safe which is why I kinda ignored 500w PSU's.

Looking at the R9's like in your signature... R9-270's seem to be the cheapest of that line, still $200CAD though. Looking at the GPU Boss comparison, it's better but, those bar graphs make it hard to know if I would personally see a big difference, or a small difference. :D

290x looks way better than mine for sure, but $450CAD... half the entire computer! :)

I'd like to upgrade it, but just don't have the money... still have a 35yr old motorcycle to rebuild and it's not cheap.

Would it be cheaper/better to do one of those crossfire, 2 video card setups? If I can find another card like mine cheap?
 

THRobinson

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Ya... hard to say. I have a MIG welder for sale, but people keep saying they'll buy it and then never show. Told myself, if it sells before I have to buy a $50 card for the media player, I'll get the Asus R9 270x.

Still debating the 1TB drive vs 250GB SSD... I have an old SATA HDD now, 250GB... so the SATAIII 1TB should be faster anyways... just not sure if a SSD although faster, do I really need it. Boot up doesn't bother me, I usually power it on and walk away for a coffee. More thinking photoshop, games and re-encoding MP4/MKV files.
 

clutchc

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If you need more storage space, the 1TB drive will be a no-brainer.

SATA II vs SATA III makes no difference in speed when you are talking a mechanical HDD. The weak link in access time and read speeds is the mechanics of the drive, not the interface. HDDs can barely saturate the bandwidth of SATA I.

However, when it comes to SSDs, there is a major difference between SATA II and III. And yes, a SSD is well worth the cost for most of us. But unless your SSD is as big or bigger than your HDD, it will require a clean install of Win. Better to do that anyway, but there is always the cloning process if you don't want to have to reinstall all your stuff again.

Since you would probably be installing the SSD in a new system, a clean OS install will be the norm anyway. I don't know how prices are on your side of the Atlantic, but here SSD/HDD combos can purchased for a good price.

If you want to speed up your current system, I've used this in a couple builds. It learns your HDD access over a few days and permanent caches your most accessed data. The result is a system that seems as fast as if it had a SSD. I still have one for my bench rig and love it. http://www.sandisk.com/products/ssd/sata/readycache/
Only costs about $40 USD here.
 

THRobinson

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Ya, storage not so much an issue. Again, I have an old 250GB drive, and 130GB free space. I have 6TB of drive space on my media player for movies/tv series, and a 2TB external for music and photography. I mostly have the C:\ for the OS, Adobe CS6, and smaller apps like Chrome, VidCoder, etc... rest of the space is for downloading before off-loading to one of the other drives.

Not worried about installing the OS from scratch. I actually format my computer 1-2x a year, just to force myself to make sure everything is backed up, and when installed, everything is new and updated. Hate clutter, left over junk from uninstalled apps etc... :D

I was debating those hybrid drives, but see a lot of reviews about those a year later giving all manner of data corruption issues and such.

If I get a $60 HDD and that $40US (so probably another $60CAD) drive... I'd be at the same cost as a 250GB Samsung SSD.

Hmm... Well... I'll get the 1TB.

I'd rather a better video card. Plus... next time I decide to format my drive and reinstall, I can grab an SSD 250GB drive, set it as my C:\ and keep the 1TB internally for my photo work and as a Photoshop scratch disk.

You got me wanting that ASUS R9 270x 2GB... should be a noticeable upgrade over my GTX 650 Ti... I would hope. Sometimes upgrades are very noticeable, sometimes although bar graphs and stats make it look way better, you barely notice it. :)

I still remember when the very first video cards came out with 3D, I think I got a Matrox Mystique 32MB card... was totally blown away. Need for Speed now had clouds and snow flakes hitting my windshield... I think one of the very rare times where the upgrade was just night vs day different. :D
 

THRobinson

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Hey... just wanted to say, ordered the parts this week, final order an hour ago. I have an LG DVD Burner that will be put into the system, which is why no optical drive listed, but, video card was on sale, as was the case and PSU when I grabbed them a few days ago, plus finally sold my welder so, decided to max the ram to 32GB and add the SSD drive. I won't be using transfer software to the SSD, I'll just do a fresh clean install from the Win7 disc.

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/rkgHTW