How can i fix up my dell xps 8500 that i bought from dell?

[miztamagoo]

Michael Chanh

 

[COLGeek]

You should edit your original post to remove your email address.

Also, what sort of upgrades do you have in mind? Also, what is your budget?

 

[miztamagoo]

i really don't have a budget, but i do have a gift card from dell that i need to use, so i needed help figuring out what to buy from dell. i want to know how i can enhance the performance of my computer. i have 2TB of storage with 32GB of for booting with 16GB of ram. thanks for letting me know about the email. i didn't notice that

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Detailed specs would help us.

 

[COLGeek]

If you have a current XPS 8500, you already have a capable machine. You could add a SSD or a stronger GPU. As Area51reopened stated, we need to know what you hvae installed now and how much the gift card is worth.

 

[miztamagoo]

Internal Performance Components:
Processor: 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3770 processor (up to 3.90 GHz)
Memory: 16GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz - 4 DIMMs
Hard Drive: 2TB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive + Intel® SRT 32GB SSD Cache
Video Card: AMD Radeon��� HD 7770 2GB GDDR5
Optical Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW), write to CD/DVD (Your computer will only play BluRay if it is specifically listed here)


Internet & Communication Features:
Wireless: Dell Wireless 1703 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.0+LE


Software Included:
Operating System: Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64Bit, English

Office Software: Microsoft® Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook - See the attached file for programs included/not included

Security Software: McAfee SecurityCenter, 36-Months

Digital Downloadable Software: *
Trusted ID, ID Safe, 12 Month Subscription, Digitally Delivered

 

[miztamagoo]

i only have 170 left to spend. i was thinking about getting a wireless headphone but don't know what would be a good one to buy. i need one that will be good to listen to music or it can be something to enhance my computer. i know i can add up to 32gb of ram but 16gb will be good enough for what i need the computer to do. i can also pay extra and get a SSD for the computer but i want to wait until they have at least a 1TB of storage space. the most right now that i found is 500GB and that was not at dell, but my computer don't take long at all to load because of that 32gb of whatever its called. i tried to add another hard drive but for some reason after i hook up the hard drive it does not show up on my computer for me to reformat or whatever, so i thought the hard drive was broken, so i went and bought a brand new one and i still had the same problem. does anyone know how i can get the computer to recognize the drive? everything is hook up correctly. thanks guys.

 

[COLGeek]

With some Dells, you have to activate SATA ports in the BIOS for them to recognize additional devices, like the HDDs you attempted to install.

 

[miztamagoo]

how do i activate the bio?

 

[COLGeek]

Press f2 when you power the system on

 

[miztamagoo]

would you be able to tell me step by step?

 

[COLGeek]

Power the system on. Press F2. Find your SATA settings. Many Dells let you configure them individually and will show the connected devices as well. Enable the port with the new HDD. Save. Exit.

When Windows starts up, you will have a new HDD ready to be formatted for use.

 

[miztamagoo]

thanks for the help i will try that tommorrow