Will these 7850 cards fit in my XPS 8500?

[tabascosauz]

Hello guys,

I currently have a Dell XPS 8500 with a GT 640 GDDR5 card, but I'm wishing to replace
it with a 7850.

Dell offers a version of the XPS with HD 7870, so I know that the 7850 will fit and work properly
on the 460w psu.

I'm looking at these two cards. I might get it somewhere other than NCIX but that doesn't matter.

http://ncix.ca/products/?sku=76127&vpn=HD7850-DC2-2GD5-V2&manufacture=ASUS&promoid=1209

http://ncix.ca/products/sku=69585&vpn=R7850%20Twin%20Frozr%202GD5%2FOC&manufacture=MSI%2FMicroStar&promoid=1209

I have always been in love with ASUS products but the other choices seem viable too. THere are two things
that are making me hesitate.

1. I do not know if either cards will fit in the XPS 8500 case. I've read somewhere that the ASUS card's cooler hangs a bit off the edge of the board, making it longer than most 7850 cards.

2. I am unfamiliar with the MSI card. There are other Sapphire, XFX and Powercolor cards but I'm not familiar with them either so I don't know about their performance whereabouts.

So if someone can help me figure this out it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

EDIT: I forgot to include the specs for my XPS 8500.

CPU: i7-3770 3.4 GHz
RAM: 12GB DDR3-1600
MB: Intel H77
HDD: 2TB 7200rpm
PSU: Unknown, 460W
VC: GT 640 GDDR5 1GB

 

[rolli59]

They should fit just as this is a tower case.

 

[tabascosauz]

Thanks!

But which one should I go with? The ASUS DirectCU II is $190 with the rebate and when the
rebate is gone, it's $200.

The MSI Twin Frozr III is $194, usually $209.

The Powercolor is only $169, because it uses the reference design and cooler.

The XFX Core Edition is $179, usually $199.

All of the cards are 2GB. There's only 1 sapphire card, and it's $269 but only 1GB.

 

[Guest]

both the MSI and asus are great cards with good cooler designs. you can't go wrong with either.

 

[carver_g]

I have a Visiontek 7850 in my XPS 8300 case right now and the cases are the same size. There is plenty of space. I had a 560ti in there before which is even bigger. You're good. The stock PSU can definitely handle a 7850.

 

[tabascosauz]

Thanks for the quick responses guys.

I read that there might be BIOS issues if you use anything other than the OEM cards (GTS 450, GT 640, GT 620, HD 7870, HD 7770, GTX 660 OEM, etc.).

Have you had any BIOS compatibility problems with the 8300? I think that some incompatible cards will just give you a blank screen; the fans will run but the screen will be blank.

Anyways, I can't get the 7870 cause it's a little bit out of my budget. There's no point in upgrading if I'm just gonna get a 7770.

 

[Guest]

???????a BIOS incompatibility????????

that is very, very odd . . . . oem cards are no different than any other, just from a different source; the one who built the computer.

 

[tabascosauz]

???????a BIOS incompatibility????????

that is very, very odd . . . . oem cards are no different than any other, just from a different source; the one who built the computer.

http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/xps/f/3681/p/19474677/20234177.aspx#20234177

Here, this is the issue I'm concerned about.

I would have considered the 7870 (which is actually a certified card for the XPS offered by Dell) but the only place you can get AMD reference cards is through Dell, and that can't be cheap.

 

[Guest]

http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/xps/f/3681/p/19474677/20234177.aspx#20234177

Here, this is the issue I'm concerned about.

I would have considered the 7870 (which is actually a certified card for the XPS offered by Dell) but the only place you can get AMD reference cards is through Dell, and that can't be cheap.

no offense but a thread with one person asking a question . . . i just find it highly unlikely since i have personally helped other folks with XPS 8500 choose a card to upgrade to and never heard of such a problem. also it makes no sense that the motherboard BIOS made it incompatible with the video card but an updated BIOS on the video card corrects it?

now a hundred or so years ago (that is an exaggeration) when motherboards had PCI 1.0 there could be problems with a card that was PCI 2.1 that would need a BIOS update. but with any motherboard with PCI 2.0 there is no such problem. but again it needed an update to the motherboard's BIOS not the video card's.

i looked through those forums myself and saw quite a few people upgrading to 7870s and 660s that were bought from new egg without any problems.

 

[tabascosauz]

Best answer selected by tabascosauz.

 

[tabascosauz]

no offense but a thread with one person asking a question . . . i just find it highly unlikely since i have personally helped other folks with XPS 8500 choose a card to upgrade to and never heard of such a problem. also it makes no sense that the motherboard BIOS made it incompatible with the video card but an updated BIOS on the video card corrects it?

now a hundred or so years ago (that is an exaggeration) when motherboards had PCI 1.0 there could be problems with a card that was PCI 2.1 that would need a BIOS update. but with any motherboard with PCI 2.0 there is no such problem. but again it needed an update to the motherboard's BIOS not the video card's.

i looked through those forums myself and saw quite a few people upgrading to 7870s and 660s that were bought from new egg without any problems.

Thanks for your help.