Help me choose GPU and PSU in Dell XPS8100.

[deific16]

Hello,

I have a Dell XPS8100 pc and am looking to upgrade the GPU as I just played through Farcry3 on low settings and am feeling in need of an upgrade. I am currently looking at the ATI 7870 or the 7870LE as they are both in my budget and seem to have the best reviews. Any reasons for or against these cards?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131484&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=6146996&SID=18ueejy9zuenb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150605&nm_mc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r&cm_mmc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r-_-Video+Cards-_-XFX-_-14150605

I am aware that I need to upgrade my PSU as well as it currently only has a 350-400W supply. Recommendations, 100$ range?

A couple of things I am needing help on:
PCI Express Slots, what/how many do I have, is it enough?
Space, how will I know if the GPU will fit?
What PSU is compatible?

Here are my specs:

Motherboard?: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/studio8100/en/cs/cs_en.pdf

Time of this report: 2/7/2013, 15:51:35
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.120830-0333)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Studio XPS 8100
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 870 @ 2.93GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.9GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 8152MB RAM
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 5670


Thanks!

 

[bigshootr8]

Well firstly here is a image of your computer below. Also, your CPU is 4 cores with 4 hyperthreaded cores assisting they aren't really cores per say. The better value of the two is the 7870 LE its essentially a scaled down version of a 7950 its not your nomal 7870. I would go with that as your best value chip out of the two you suggested. PSU wise I would go with something like this. In the end the only thing that concerns me is the cpu frequency of the CPU and whether or not it will bottleneck the card however my gut tells me if it does it will a little bit but not much at all.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013

 

[deific16]

Thanks for the quick response! So does my motherboard have the required PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot? I can't seem to find that information. And that 550W supply should cover it or should I look more in the 700W range?

 

[bigshootr8]

No it does not it has a 2.0 slot and that is fine they are backwards compatible. And honestly there is less then 2-3 percent difference at this point speed wise. A 550w power supply will fit that GPU like a glove. You don't need a 700w power supply

 

[deific16]

Great!

Any concerns I should have regarding the space in the case? It looks like a tight squeeze between the auxiliary audio box above and the wireless network card below it...

 

[bigshootr8]

I can't tell what your slot is below your graphics card the card installed is that pci-e or pci if so you could always move it down but yea you should be just fine. Either way you should be fine. I would just keep a eye on temperatures make sure your computer gets dusted out with canned air or a esd proof vacuum because a 2 slot card may cause more dust over time.

 

[deific16]

The order from top to bottom is the video card plugged into PCI-EX16_1 (reading from motherboard), the wireless network adapter into PCI-EX1_1, the tv tuner plugged into PCI-EX1_2, and then the bottom slot in white reads PCI1. If I had to relocate the wireless network card how would I do that? It seems that the two slot video card would cover up PCI-EXE1_2, which is where the wireless network card is plugged in. The slot on the bottom is free, but it is the PCI1 slot adjacent to it. Could I purchase some sort of extender plug from PCI-EX1_2 to reach down the bottom slot and place the wireless network card there?

 

[bigshootr8]

If you use the wireless card it will be very hard to move it I understand now. Yea it looks like unless you were to get a usb solution or a pci network card you would be stuck with that card no worries.