Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > XPS gen 4
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bruiser   03-17-2009 at 01:19:34 PM

Ok, I have an old XPS gen. 4 Dell. It has a radeon X850 XT PE graphics card with 256 mem., 3.73 mhz extreme edition P4 and 2 gigs of ram. I've ordered 2 gigs more mem. but really want to replace the aged graphics card. It is PCIe 1.0. All of the new cards I've seen are PCIe 2.0 and I know they are not backwards compatible. My question is what is the best replacement (PCIe 1.0) for this card? It seems PCIe 1.0 is becoming harder and harder to find.
Thanks in advance!

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Delluser1   03-17-2009 at 01:31:24 PM
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bruiser wrote :

All of the new cards I've seen are PCIe 2.0 and I know they are not backwards compatible.


Um, they are backwards compatible.

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bruiser   03-17-2009 at 01:42:14 PM
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Delluser1 wrote :

Um, they are backwards compatible.



Really?....so considering I have a PCIe 1.0 slot and install a 2.0 card what am I losing in the terms of performance and what card would you reccomend?

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bruiser   03-17-2009 at 01:43:53 PM
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As you can tell I am not well educated on this topic that's why I cam ehere to the pros to be educated!!
thanks!

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evongugg   03-17-2009 at 01:51:09 PM
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Best Graphics Cards For The Money: March '09 : February Review/March Updates

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2218.html

You may need to buy a new power supply if you upgrade the graphics card.

------------------------------ Google is your friend and Bob's your uncle
 Reply to evongugg
Delluser1   03-17-2009 at 03:11:13 PM
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I wouldn't put anything more than a 9800 GT or ATI 4830 in that machine, you won't lose any performance because of the PCIE 1.0 slot and it will be a massive upgrade compared to the X850.
At 460 watts and 32 amps there's no need to worry about the psu either.

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Message edited by Delluser1 on 03-17-2009 at 03:11:30 PM
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wburrows   06-04-2009 at 05:47:35 PM
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Delluser1 wrote :

I wouldn't put anything more than a 9800 GT or ATI 4830 in that machine, you won't lose any performance because of the PCIE 1.0 slot and it will be a massive upgrade compared to the X850.
At 460 watts and 32 amps there's no need to worry about the psu either.




Hi DellUser1, I have the same XPS gen 4 as bruiser and am thinking of upgrading my graphics card to the new ATI radeon HD 4850 x2. At peak load it draws between 350 and 375 watts (according to this site and "tech reports". First question: do I need to upgrade the 460w power supply to use the 4850 x2? If the answer to this is yes, which I'm guessing it will be, then can I upgrade my XPS to the power supply used on the XPS 600 ?

Thanks

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AKM880   06-05-2009 at 02:32:07 AM
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^ I think you can upgrade the PSU to any ATX form. But the CPU might be holding back the 4850X2

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wburrows   06-05-2009 at 02:55:38 AM
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AKM880 wrote :

^ I think you can upgrade the PSU to any ATX form. But the CPU might be holding back the 4850X2



Thanks AKM880 for your reply. I have the 3.8 ghz P4 processor and 2gb RAM in my rig. For me the question is whether I will still get great bang for the buck even if the cpu can't feed the 4850x2 to its full potential. Do you know of anywhere I can get information on the PSU upgrade or is the XPS 600 PSU plug-for-plug compatible to mine?

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edeawillrule   06-05-2009 at 03:40:30 AM
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Will you people with your Pentium 4 systems please just get new computers?! You're just wasting money trying to extend the life of what you have when you could save that money for a new system! And some people wonder what the cause of global warming is...

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------------------------------ Core 2 Quad Q9400 (2.66Ghz, 6mb L2, 1333MT/S) | 6Gb DDR2-800 SDRAM | 512mb HIS IceQ Radeon HD 4670 Turbo | 640Gb 7200 Rpm HDD | 350w psu | Dell 0M0171G G43/G45
 Reply to edeawillrule
wburrows   06-05-2009 at 03:51:59 AM
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edeawillrule wrote :

Will you people with your Pentium 4 systems please just get new computers?! You're just wasting money trying to extend the life of what you have when you could save that money for a new system! And some people wonder what the cause of global warming is...



Have you heard the story of how to boil a frog? If the water in the pan is already boiling and you drop the frog in it will hop out. But if you drop the frog into the pan and slowly bring the water to a boil it won't notice until its too late. The same parable applies to my wife and spending money on computer upgrades :D If I come to her with the plan to buy an entirely new computer she'll veto it but if I slowly replace my system piece by piece.... ;)

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edeawillrule   06-05-2009 at 03:57:50 AM
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wburrows wrote :

Have you heard the story of how to boil a frog? If the water in the pan is already boiling and you drop the frog in it will hop out. But if you drop the frog into the pan and slowly bring the water to a boil it won't notice until its too late. The same parable applies to my wife and spending money on computer upgrades :D If I come to her with the plan to buy an entirely new computer she'll veto it but if I slowly replace my system piece by piece.... ;)

 

Or you can slowly buy all the pieces and keep them hidden somewhere until she isn't home one day. Then you can gut the case and install all the new components at once lol.

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Message edited by edeawillrule on 06-05-2009 at 03:58:01 AM
------------------------------ Core 2 Quad Q9400 (2.66Ghz, 6mb L2, 1333MT/S) | 6Gb DDR2-800 SDRAM | 512mb HIS IceQ Radeon HD 4670 Turbo | 640Gb 7200 Rpm HDD | 350w psu | Dell 0M0171G G43/G45
 Reply to edeawillrule
AKM880   06-05-2009 at 03:58:40 AM
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Most newer ATX PSU's will probably have all the connectors you need. Here are a few cards to consider.

9800GT - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127406

Sapphire 4830 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102827

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Delluser1   06-05-2009 at 05:13:01 AM
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The Gen 4 uses a proprietary psu that is not upgradeable.

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wburrows   06-05-2009 at 05:28:34 AM
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edeawillrule wrote :

Or you can slowly buy all the pieces and keep them hidden somewhere until she isn't home one day. Then you can gut the case and install all the new components at once lol.



Sweet! In that case I wonder how long it would take her to notice the change in the system :whistle:

Reply to wburrows
wburrows   06-05-2009 at 05:34:42 AM
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Delluser1 wrote :

The Gen 4 uses a proprietary psu that is not upgradeable.



I agree for all other PSUs but can it be upgraded to the XPS 600's PSU? It has the same low-flat profile as the XPS Gen 4 and attaches to the bottom of the case in the same way. Not sure if the case is exactly the same size of course so I may have to jury rig it.

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Delluser1   06-05-2009 at 03:32:34 PM
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The psu for the XPS 600 uses a 10 pin 12v cpu connector, you should be able mod it to fit the 4 pin connector on the Gen4 board.

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------------------------------ q9650 @ 4.050 | Asus Rampage Formula | 2x2 & 2x1 Corsair Dominators | WD Black 640 x2
EVGA GTX260 Core216 @ 686/1479/1103 | Antec TPN 750

 

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wburrows   06-05-2009 at 04:53:14 PM
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Delluser1 wrote :

The psu for the XPS 600 uses a 10 pin 12v cpu connector, you should be able mod it to fit the 4 pin connector on the Gen4 board.



Ah now we get to the nitty gritty. Thanks! Is there somewhere I can find some information on how to do this mod? e.g. has someone written this up? Or is there pin diagrams out there for each of the PSUs I can look at? Or are they similarly color coded so that I can just match colors to pins on the board? Thanks for all your help and suggestions.

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jerohmeee   06-05-2009 at 07:27:36 PM
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HAHAH I got a gen 4 tooo with a x850xt pe!!! Wahoooo Our PC was the shizzy back in the day! Way way back in the day ha. So many people got new computers at that time for doom and half life 2. Ah, the good ole days. Too bad all I did was play WOW with this damn rig! ha But, yea bro if you can get a new computer I would just do that. I would never even bother upgrading this old thing. I am waiting for windows 7 and the next gen cards and going to build my own rig this time!!! :D

BTW you need to tell that women who's the man of the house! Tell her you where the pants and are the breadwinner. Tell her "this is how its going to be women! Now go cook me dinner!" :pt1cable:


Message edited by jerohmeee on 06-05-2009 at 07:30:55 PM
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