XPS8100 with ATI 6870 - PSU Requirement?

[mitya001]

Hi,

I purchased the Dell XPS 8100 and planning to add 2 74gb raptors for raid 0 and replace the GPU with ATI Sapphire 6870. Will the stock PSU be able to run it?

The current specs for the system are:

Intel Core i7-870 2.93 GHz, L2 cache 8 MB
8 GB DDR3 1066 MHz
1.5 TB SATA 7200 RPM
16x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer write capability
19-in-1 media card reader
THX TruStudio PC Sound
ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1 GB graphics memory

Thanks for the help.

 

[wribbs]

From what I gathered from a quick search the XPS 8100 comes with a 350W PSU. Currently you probably need 300W to run what you have. To run what you want, probably a 400W. Going higher for some breathing room is recommended, necessary if you want to do any sort of overclock.

 

[ko888]

The HD 6870 is going to draw at least 13.5 Amps from the +12 Volt rails under maximum GPU load.

The 350 Watt power supply unit I'm guessing will supply a maximum of 25 Amps from the combined +12 Volt rails.

That leaves you with 11.5 Amps on the +12 Volt rails to power your CPU, motherboard's chipset, hard disk drives, CD/DVD drive, sound card, capacitor aging which isn't enough.

You need to add to your upgrade budget for a name brand (e.g. Antec, Corsair, Enermax, PC Power & Cooling, Seasonic, XFX) power supply unit. I would suggest at least 450 Watts or more.

 

[mitya001]

So should I even add those components in? Is the performance increase that significant if I add the hard drives and the video card over the stock stuff mentioned above?

I just opened the case and it looks a bit more complicated than I though to add that stuff in. There is no room for the two drives and the GPU/PSU are not that easy to replace.