Dell XPS Studio, upgrade to GTX 980

[cdawall]

If, and only if, you have some experience with any kind of cable management prior to that. Now give your PC to your teenager niece and ask her to replace PSU. "Come on, sweetheart, it can't be that hard!" Pro tip: just because someone's using a PC daily doesn't make them an expert in it, just like taking drugs doesn't make you a pharmacist. You think a non-expert should replace a PSU on their own? Then remind yourself of that distinct smell of burning plastic and think again.

I think anyone with any brain cells could replace a power supply. They aren't difficult and yes I think a non-"expert" could do it. My teenage niece pulled up youtube and rebuilt her entire computer all on her own. Guess what it booted without any burning plastic smell.

 

[Constantine Yevseyev]

I think anyone with any brain cells could replace a power supply. They aren't difficult and yes I think a non-"expert" could do it. My teenage niece pulled up youtube and rebuilt her entire computer all on her own. Guess what it booted without any burning plastic smell.

See, now you're just angry with me.

Look. All I want to do is to save OP's money through an alternative upgrade path, because everyone so far has been pushing him to basically take everything apart and redo the build. No one's right in this situation: you're making him spend a lot of money on quality PSU and high-end GPU (and that XPS Studio is already expensive as hell), plus get rid of the warranty on a machine he's just purchased. I want him to keep that somewhat shady AcBel unit and settle for something less performant and future-proof, because I believe that I understand his intentions better (just like you do).

Just look at this situation from a different angle. He didn't know anything about the quality of power supply he's gonna get with this machine (it's clear from the OP), and you're making him regret the choice he made. Instead of offering RMA, though, you want him to do something he should've done in the beginning: go on Pcpartpicker and do the fully customized build, saving hundreds of dollars and getting a proper gaming GPU instead of OEM-supplied R7 370. Except he's already paid for the barebone, and no one is going to give him back that extra $ Dell have charged him for the XPS branding.

Just let him have at least two options before he decides what he's gonna do with this machine. If you think I'm offering something wrong or harmful, then go ahead, criticize it.

 

[cdawall]

See, now you're just angry with me.

Look. All I want to do is to save OP's money through an alternative upgrade path, because everyone so far has been pushing him to basically take everything apart and redo the build. No one's right in this situation: you're making him spend a lot of money on quality PSU and high-end GPU (and that XPS Studio is already expensive as hell), plus get rid of the warranty on a machine he's just purchased. I want him to keep that somewhat shady AcBel unit and settle for something less performant and future-proof, because I believe that I understand his intentions better (just like you do).

Just look at this situation from a different angle. He didn't know anything about the quality of power supply he's gonna get with this machine (it's clear from the OP), and you're making him regret the choice he made. Instead of offering RMA, though, you want him to do something he should've done in the beginning: go on Pcpartpicker and do the fully customized build, saving hundreds of dollars and getting a proper gaming GPU instead of OEM-supplied R7 370. Except he's already paid for the barebone, and no one is going to give him back that extra $ Dell have charged him for the XPS branding.

Just let him have at least two options before he decides what he's gonna do with this machine. If you think I'm offering something wrong or harmful, then go ahead, criticize it.

Dell XPS's start at $699, that's with a 6700, DDR4 etc. they are not that expensive. The OP has already added a hard drive, added a solid state and is planning on adding a GPU. The AcBel unit will not handle all of that plus a GTX970 so what you are doing is requesting the OP fries his computer. That is not anger on my end that's you either not reading the entire thread or just plain old giving bad advice.

My suggestion is to do exactly what Dell did to upgrade the unit to handle a GTX980. Seems to make sense to me seeing how the Dell gentlemen who came out to do the work makes well into the 6 figure range.

 

[Constantine Yevseyev]

Dell XPS's start at $699, that's with a 6700, DDR4 etc.

Well, he's not from the US. Where I live you'll have to pay 1130 USD for a similar configuration of XPS 8700, that's with i7-4790 even, I just checked through their official website. Sounds like a complete rip-off to me, since i7-6700 goes for 426 USD.

The OP has already added a hard drive, added a solid state and is planning on adding a GPU

The power consumption of GTX 970 is nearly identical to what R7 370 (R9 370 OEM) draws, except for extraordinary cases, like when running FurMark:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1590?vs=1557
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-radeon-r9-390x-r9-380-r7-370,4178-9.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-gtx-980-970-maxwell,3941-13.html

172.14 Watts Average for R7 370, 179 Watts Average for GTX 970.

I'm absolutely confident his AcBel will be able to supply those theoretical 300W, since it's fine with providing 250W at the moment. And those three drives, they barely consume anything, something like 10W for HDD and another 14 for SSDs combined.

That is not anger on my end that's you either not reading the entire thread or just plain old giving bad advice.

I've read each and every post so far, now even twice. The picture is this: OP didn't show interest in upgrading PSU. And then there's TPU community (obviously, tech enthusiasts), tossing money around like everyone here can afford latest and greatest. Replace this, add that. Sometimes that's not possible.

so what you are doing is requesting the OP fries his computer

Excuse me? In no way can you "fry" a computer by not providing sufficient enough power. If what you've meant is the fact that a cheap PSU can cause harm, then again, your advice should be "RMA the whole unit because they sold you a safety hazard".

You and everyone else are saying that this PSU is "good enough" when used under 65% load (with R9 370) and then "it's gonna fry up" under 75% (GTX 970). The truth is, that's obviously not what's gonna happen, since the increase in power consumption is marginal, and can be easily accommodated even by the cheapest Chinese PSUs. So no frying, no turning off even, it'll just work.

 

[cdawall]

Well, he's not from the US. Where I live you'll have to pay 1130 USD for a similar configuration of XPS 8700, that's with i7-4790 even, I just checked through their official website. Sounds like a complete rip-off to me, since i7-6700 goes for 426 USD.

He hasn't listed that the price was an issue I believe he asked if it would work.

The power consumption of GTX 970 is nearly identical to what R7 370 (R9 370 OEM) draws, except for extraordinary cases, like when running FurMark:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1590?vs=1557
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-radeon-r9-390x-r9-380-r7-370,4178-9.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-gtx-980-970-maxwell,3941-13.html

172.14 Watts Average for R7 370, 179 Watts Average for GTX 970.

I'm absolutely confident his AcBel will be able to supply those theoretical 300W, since it's fine with providing 250W at the moment. And those three drives, they barely consume anything, something like 10W for HDD and another 14 for SSDs combined.

Did you know Lenovo sells a similar unit with an R9 360. SSD, single HDD, Quad core CPU, etc. It comes equipped with a 400W FSP bronze unit. Do you think lenovo uses a larger power supply for a reason?

Or how about the Dell that comes equipped with a GTX 960? 450w AcBell unit.

These manufactures are in the game of making money. If they could cut even $1 per unit on a powersupply they will. They are not designed to have a video card thrown in I cannot tell you how many we get back with in a weeks time because someone added a midrange GPU to a dell and the PSU is dead taking out the motherboard. This is a common problem. I see it quite often.

I've read each and every post so far, now even twice. The picture is this: OP didn't show interest in upgrading PSU. And then there's TPU community (obviously, tech enthusiasts), tossing money around like everyone here can afford latest and greatest. Replace this, add that. Sometimes that's not possible.

Then he might want to look into having someone else do this for him, because I cannot recommend a GTX970 on that machine. If he tries it I hope he is good at splicing however. I don't know if you know this or not, but it has no 6 pin PCI-e plugs nor does it have a smart way to add any. Last one I opened had a total of 5 SATA power adapters. No molex at all.

Excuse me? In no way can you "fry" a computer by not providing sufficient enough power. If what you've meant is the fact that a cheap PSU can cause harm, then again, your advice should be "RMA the whole unit because they sold you a safety hazard".

You and everyone else are saying that this PSU is "good enough" when used under 65% load (with R9 370) and then "it's gonna fry up" under 75% (GTX 970). The truth is, that's obviously not what's gonna happen, since the increase in power consumption is marginal, and can be easily accommodated even by the cheapest Chinese PSUs. So no frying, no turning off even, it'll just work.

Any powersupply can have a failure and take out other components. All it takes is the rails going out of ATX specification. That happens with AcBell units there are a multitude of reviews showing this exact situation. Let me tell you ATX does not like when you have 200-400mV ripples and 10.8v running on the 12v rail.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Well it seems we lost the OP...

 

[Constantine Yevseyev]

Then he might want to look into having someone else do this for him, because I cannot recommend a GTX970 on that machine. If he tries it I hope he is good at splicing however. I don't know if you know this or not, but it has no 6 pin PCI-e plugs nor does it have a smart way to add any. Last one I opened had a total of 5 SATA power adapters. No molex at all.

OK, I guess we can agree that if he wants to be safe, he should look for a proper PSU first (+ cable management supplies), and only then plan on upgrading his GPU (whether it is GTX 970 or 980).

Any powersupply can have a failure and take out other components. All it takes is the rails going out of ATX specification. That happens with AcBell units there are a multitude of reviews showing this exact situation. Let me tell you ATX does not like when you have 200-400mV ripples and 10.8v running on the 12v rail.

I absolutely agree with you. That machine in my specs originally had a POWERMAN PSU, rated 380W, and when I asked my employer a week ago to add whatever GPU for rendering they could manage at the moment, I was the one who took out that unit and replaced it with an overkill XFX model that I already had. The chip that turned out to be half of the Trinidad Pro doesn't need even 300W, but I've applied same reasoning as yours and figured "if I want reliability, I'd better invest in something both quality-made and, to an extent, future-proof".

But that doesn't eliminate the fact that the machine itself was at risk before. The IHV here is the one to blame: in my case, for powering a LGA1156 server with a cheap retail PSU (which used to have a 140W Xeon in it before we re-purposed it for GPGPU stuff), and in OP's case, for putting this excuse of a power supply in a premium desktop product. Still, it has passed the tests and it clearly meets all regulations, so it's not a crime to use that thing with anything up to GTX 980. Hypothetically. It won't work because of the dirt cheap inners of said unit, so it'll probably burn during one of the peak loading scenarios, but on paper, it's perfectly fine.

 

[Caleb Fagundes]

I'm in risk of losing 3 years of warranty if I change the PSU... then I will try the reference model of GTX 970.
Does somebody really understand the power supply diagram ?

 

[Caleb Fagundes]

Dell setup up one of those machines to run the 5K dell monitor display. They took the OEM tower with NO additional hardrives (just a single 1TB) and threw the OEM PSU away. It currently runs 5K video 24/7 with a GTX 980 and an EVGA 500B.

Dell the company that made the computer threw their PSU in the trash to run the 980. Take the hint.

I will run games only using 1920x1080

 

[Caleb Fagundes]

Unpopular opinion in 3, 2, 1...
Assuming that you haven't done any custom builds before and don't have too much interest in practicing...

1. Keep the PSU. Replacing it in a OEM case will leave you with Hanging Gardens of cables, unless your eye perception is really good and you can manage to tie each and every single one to the one-and-only acceptable hook thingy carved in the back wall.

This process can be really painful when there are no proper cable management options available, and once you're done with replacing the unit, you'll feel like you have done something terrible to your (no more) new, shiny, and premium XPS. Compare it to just unplugging (literally) a couple cables and putting them back in after a minute.

Not to mention the "void 0" type of thing that you're doing to your warranty.

I swear I'm not possessed with any kind of retail demon right now. It's just my vision of pre-built systems: if you buy one, you want to upgrade it, not tear the whole thing apart. Having tens of zip ties shooting around in the process doesn't help.

2. Get a GTX 970. Just don't pick anything with a custom power components layout (ZOTAC Omega, ASUS STRIX) that would require extra watts (see reviews to check which ones do that). Get a card that has a reference PCB and a custom cooler and you'll be fine.

P. S.: Please don't ban me for this.

I'm trying to find a reference model GTX 970, non OC with two six pin connectors

 

[Constantine Yevseyev]

Does somebody really understand the power supply diagram ?

The passport? Yeah, but there's pretty much nothing of interest on it, except for the calculated watt output @ 12V line. Again, if we're talking watts, you're all good. A system like yours only requires 300W during gaming:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8568/the-geforce-gtx-970-review-feat-evga/15

What worries me (and other people) is the quality of this PSU. Are you absolutely sure you don't want to take the proper upgrade path? I mean, It's true that you don't need GTX 980 for 1080p gaming, and GTX 970 isn't exactly a power-hungry GPU, but if you have plans on upgrading your monitor in the future, this might be the right time to prepare for that.

I'm trying to find a reference model GTX 970, non OC with two six pin connectors

A little OC is fine. If a card is 8+6-pin, just check whether it has a 6-to-8-pin PCI-E power adapter bundled, because if it does not, you will have to purchase a separate SATA-to-8-pin PCI-E power adapter, since your PSU doesn't have any Molex connectors natively. It does have exactly two 6-pin PCI-E ones though, but you know that already.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

I'm in risk of losing 3 years of warranty if I change the PSU... then I will try the reference model of GTX 970.
Does somebody really understand the power supply diagram ?

You wont need the warranty if you become savy enough you fix all the issues you might have later on yourself.

 

[Constantine Yevseyev]

You wont need the warranty if you become savy enough you fix all the issues you might have later on yourself.

Before anyone upvotes this comment, let's just reiterate over ourselves for a moment here. When was the last time you saw a thread, like, a project log with somebody repairing their motherboard? How many of you guys have actually fixed anything in your life? Changing capacitors? MosFETs? Let's face it: "fixing" hardware on TPU has been a tradition of taking out a faulty unit, trashing it, and then putting a shiny new one in place of it. As cdawall would say, anyone can do that, not just a savvy person.

Extended 3 years warranty allows you to save any cash that you would've spent on replacing a failing HDD or a Skylake CPU that got damaged by an incompatible cooler.

Oh Christ, I'm gonna get so much sh*t for this post...

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Before anyone upvotes this comment, let's just reiterate over ourselves for a moment here. When was the last time you saw a thread, like, a project log with somebody repairing their motherboard? How many of you guys have actually fixed anything in your life? Changing capacitors? MosFETs? Let's face it: "fixing" hardware on TPU has been a tradition of taking out a faulty unit, trashing it, and then putting a shiny new one in place of it. As cdawall would say, anyone can do that, not just a savvy person.

Extended 3 years warranty allows you to save any cash that you would've spent on replacing a failing HDD or a Skylake CPU that got damaged by an incompatible cooler.

Oh Christ, I'm gonna get so much sh*t for this post...

Dell wouldn't be changing mosfets, capacitors, etc on a system if you send it in. More than likely they would just end up doing the same thing that you would, replace the whole part.

 

[Constantine Yevseyev]

Dell wouldn't be changing mosfets, capacitors, etc on a system if you send it in. More than likely they would just end up doing the same thing that you would, replace the whole part.

Of course! But at least it's gonna be free.

 

[95Viper]

I'm in risk of losing 3 years of warranty if I change the PSU... then I will try the reference model of GTX 970.

Did you purchase an additional warranty? As the XPS 8900 comes with a one year warranty.

Also, look through your warranty papers... Dell could nix your warranty for just swapping out anything.

If you purchased an extended warranty... and don't want to loose it, then don't mess with the innards at all.

Quote from the warranty:

This limited hardware warranty may be voided by Dell, at Dell's sole discretion, if third party products that were not provided by Dell are installed on your Dell system.

If you decide to go through with upgrading or parts replacement, here is a guide: XPS 8900 Service Manual

 

[PCGamerDR]

What OP needs to look at is the PSU cut-out on the case, dell is known to use non-reference PSU cut-out so people buy their reference PSUs, he will need a saw to cut his case probably at least the PSU part (if im right).

 

[MxPhenom 216]

What OP needs to look at is the PSU cut-out on the case, dell is known to use non-reference PSU cut-out so people buy their reference PSUs, he will need a saw to cut his case probably at least the PSU part (if im right).

I dont know about that. But I took an old dell dimension 3000 desktop and put a corsair cx430 in it with no problems.

Not going to doubt the fact that they have changed things in the last 10 years. :/

 

[Constantine Yevseyev]

What OP needs to look at is the PSU cut-out on the case, dell is known to use non-reference PSU cut-out so people buy their reference PSUs, he will need a saw to cut his case probably at least the PSU part (if im right).

OP's fine, the 460AM unit is a standard ATX PSU and has all four mounting screws exactly where you'd expect them.

There are people who report that they have successfully upgraded their XPS 8700/8900 PSUs (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-DEL...HU-460AM-00-/281863536240?hash=item41a0603e70).

 

[tabascosauz]

@Caleb Fagundes Alright, I'm going to put an end to this once and for all.

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3515/t/19474677

This thread has a wealth of information on just about everything related to swapping out GPUs and PSUs.

If OP has already added an SSD, Dell may find that sufficient to void his warranty (yes, it's absurd). If you swap out the GPU, Dell will most certainly not cover anything.

The good news is that the only thing that is really proprietary once you have swapped out the PSU is the motherboard. The CPU, cooler (though it's complete crap), RAM, GPU and drives can all carry over to a new build, and since the CPU/motherboard/RAM platform is so new, you won't have any trouble finding a replacement Skylake board to pop your components into. Many people have done successful transplants into retail cases before, if that's what you would like to do in order to accommodate a GTX 980, which is often a long card that may not fit in the stock case. Check here:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/341842-28-will-dell-8300-transplant-case

One thing that may be of trouble is working out Dell's front panel header connections. That page offers a layout that works with the XPS 8300 and most likely XPS 8500, as they are Sandy/Ivy Bridge respectively. I don't know about Skylake. Dell does not offer a diagram in its manual, AFAIK.

On the topic of the motherboard, it will be of a standard wide micro-ATX form factor that goes well into just about any mATX case on the market, and its feature set will be not anything new compared to retail boards. However, if it ever goes bad you're on your own. This is not much of a problem as there are plenty of inexpensive H110/B150/H170 boards that can accommodate your CPU and RAM. Plus, by tinkering with anything, you're already risking Dell not covering your board under warranty.

 

[PCGamerDR]

I dont know about that. But I took an old dell dimension 3000 desktop and put a corsair cx430 in it with no problems.

Not going to doubt the fact that they have changed things in the last 10 years. :/

OP's fine, the 460AM unit is a standard ATX PSU and has all four mounting screws exactly where you'd expect them.

There are people who report that they have successfully upgraded their XPS 8700/8900 PSUs (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-DEL...HU-460AM-00-/281863536240?hash=item41a0603e70).

I had a past with dell having non-standard PSU cut-outs, just giving another "thought" on things to look out for .

 

[cdawall]

Of course! But at least it's gonna be free.

As long as when he sends the PC back to dell he puts the OEM PSU in it will be free regardless to what upgrade he chooses.

 

[Constantine Yevseyev]

As long as when he sends the PC back to dell he puts the OEM PSU in it will be free regardless to what upgrade he chooses.

Ha, this is a pretty evil idea, I like it, but let's not forget about the warranty stickers, marker traces and many other things OEMs do these days to prevent this sort of thing. I still think the service is gonna be free even when he replaces a video card, two out of two IHVs I've dealt with happily accepted machines with HDDs, RAM, and GPUs replaced. My friend was lucky, too, he upgraded his CPU to something like Core i5 "K", and had long going problems with PSU-motherboard relationships before, yet they installed him a new ASUS one and a pretty cool HIPER PSU, if I recall correctly.

You work for a PC shop, right? Maybe you know more about Dell's return policy?.. I haven't been to USA at any point in my life, haven't heard a whole lot of RMA-related stories either, so I have no idea how you guys have it there. Because, well, if it doesn't make sense to keep the warranty (even the extended one, which probably has some benefits), then maybe I'm just fearmongering for no reason here...

 

[cdawall]

Most oems don't give a shit as long as what you added didn't cause the problem.

 

[Caleb Fagundes]

Folks, resurrecting the topic.
Have you seen that DELL is offering XPS 8900 with a Special Edition ?
It comes with a GTX 980 !!!

But guess what? It will run on the standard 460W PSU.


http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-8900-se/pd