What should I upgrade next?

Yes, if you want to OC your processor and you have a DELL motherboard then it will not happen. If you are serious about OCing, it must be done with a non-DELL board.

Additionally, who told you that DELL makes good PSUs?

I have been a Network Admin in a past life and managed hundreds upon hundreds of DELL computers over many years and I never noticed their PSUs to be anything special. Their PSUs had higher failure rates than that of any other part in the DELL computers, in my experience.

Mind you, PSUs in general have higher failure rates than other parts and I generally like DELLs for the enterprise environment, but that is a far cry from saying that DELL PSUs should be powering enthusiast PCs constructed from individual parts.

The DELL PSUs may be better than, say, Diablotek PSUs, but they aren't better than Seasonic PSUs that is for sure.

DELL also tends to give you just as much PSU as you need and no more. That generally means if you want to upgrade then you will probably need a new PSU, regardless. This makes sense to DELL from a business perspective because a better PSU is added cost for them that they can't make up in the selling price of the computer. The competitors of DELL (HP, etc) cut PSU corners and DELL does also in order to stay competitive.

Additionally, if you go to the AMD website and look up the 6870 power requirements, it says a minimum of 500w. See here:

http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/amd-rad...

It is the second line under System Requirements if that tab doesn't automatically display.

That means right out of the box your PSU isn't within the manufacturer requirements which could potentially void your warranty.



Also, I would strongly advise against going with 2x video cards. I would strongly advise to go with a board that is $100 less (regular micro atx OC capable) and spend the extra $100 on a single fatter video card. $100 more than a 6870 puts you in 6950 range. While that card won't generally be able to provide the same FPS as 2x 6870s, it is much easier to configure, easier to power, easier to cool, easier on the power bills, and it avoids micro stuttering which can seriously detract from the gaming experience.

If you are 100% sure you want to go with 2x video cards, then make sure you ONLY do it with whatever 6870 you get now + a Powercolor 6870x2 dual processor card (total of 3 processors on 2 cards). This card is very expensive, but it gives you all of the advantages of a 3x video card setup with only two physical cards which is necessary since the 6870s only have one port for connecting them to other video cards. Three video card processors working in unison maximally avoids micro stuttering and is much easier to configure, power, cool, etc than any setup that uses 3 regular cards because it isn't guaranteed that two cards must be positioned such that at least one of them cannot breathe in air adequately.

Anyway, I still think you should stick with 1 fat card, but at least if you want to go with 2x cards at least do it with the Powercolor 6870x2 as the second card.