Area 51 R2 upgrades

The processor and Power Supply are advanced upgrades.

No offence intended, but are you sure you are up for it ... on your fairly new working high-end machine? If you had the parts, who would do the work, and take responsibility for not blowing the motherboard or other parts?

I've built many computers since 1997. Also went to school in 2000 for electronics engineering, building boards and chips, I think I can handle a simple PSU and processor swap. 

No Offence taken, though you could add some helpful information as well as the caution.

thanks for the reply!

Fine.

That exact config and processor is currently available as a pre-config which is good (Dell MBs rarely have BIOS micro-code to support misc processors like a retail MB). I suggest you work toward building it exactly the way Dell does.

Get a new 1500w Dell-OEM Power-Supply and required wiring harnesses from Dell Spare Parts (for your country).

Get the new Intel i7-5960x processor from a top-tier Intel authorized dealer like maybe Newegg.

RAM is quad-channel. All DIMMs should match exactly. Name brand from Dell (or exactly what Dell uses) or maybe Crucial. Dell MBs are often finicky about RAM. At 32gb, max speed might be lower (as per specs).

For another NVidia 980 to SLI properly with existing, they must match ... especially GPU speed, RAM type and amount. It's usually better if they are purchased as an exact matching set.

Educate yourself with all Area51-R2 service manuals, Intel X-99 Chipset specs, etc.

One other thought ... doing advanced upgrades on tricked-out Dell or HP machines is difficult.

I would have purchased Area51-R2 in wanted config in the first place. At this point, I would likely sell current machine (or re-purpose it) and either buy the machine I wanted or do a custom build with all retail parts.

If you ever get to the point of replacing the motherboard with a retail MB, you will likely have to buy a new copy of Windows. You will also likely have trouble getting unique hardware like MIO-Board working on retail MB. Not trying to discourage you, just giving you a heads-up.

You can do all this on amazon or newegg (kinda have to), I have done almost everything you are wanting except the mother board. Other people have replaced the mother board with no issues. For ram ,just go into bios and change the frequency, for GPU, the SLI, just add it, no problems, Also, you probably don't need to upgrade the PSU, I ran multiple GPU's with only 850 watts. 

Giant waste of money.

Wait for Pascal.

Unless you mess with content creation, don't bother with the 5960X.

Thanks, I would have purchased the one I wanted but this was all my wallet/wife would allow. In weighing the cost/benefit, I think you are right. I will just get my moneys worth out of this machine and the next one i will build from scratch like I used to do.

As you wish.

I did take a took at cost to accomplish this. You are looking at thousands of USDollars ... and that's why a machine with this config costs around $4500 new.

Enjoy your new Area-51 R2 though ... it sounds like a nice machine as is. I would certainly take one and use it.

As much as I like high refresh rates most of the games I play don't get much higher than 60 fps anyways, which is ok for now. I prefer more screen real estate I have a 40" tv right now which works well, my next upgrade will be a 40" 4k display. I do a lot of work as well as game on my machine, and require multiple windows so that display should alleviate the need for multiple monitors. Thanks for the suggestion though.

If you have an upgrade itch, look into G-Sync displays. The ASUS 27" PG279 that just came out is 165Hz/2560x1440. When the framerate is low, it's like magic is happening and you won't notice as much.

That's the biggest upgrade you can do at this time.