Confirmed video card upgrades for XPS 8500 ?

Any of those cards will work.  Since you have a PCIe 3.0 motherboard, I would get the HD 7850.   The other two are certainly more affordable though if cost is a factor. 

Thanks, has anyone actually installed any of these? I was looking for suggestions for specific brands to ensure that they work and fit.

Dell offers the full size HD 7870 as an upgrade so all 3 of these cards are below that.  Most of the HD 7850 cards are small in length with just a couple running extended housings like the Asus if you look at the list HERE.   Admittedly, some of these with dual fans can run over 10" on any of these cards.  I still believe they will fit though.  You can see the picture below of the XPS 8500 with the HD 7870.  

Hi MJL321,

Welcome to the Dell Community.

These are the graphics card  that are available with XPS 8500.

• GeForce GT 545
• GeForce GTX 555
• AMD Radeon HD7570
• AMD Radeon HD7770
• AMD Radeon HD7870

I can't use Geforce or Radeon.  I need to be compatable with Solidworks CAD software. An Nvidia Quadro card is recommended by Solidworks but would it work on a Dell XPS 8500 computer? If so whick Nvidia Quadro card/s would work?

I just received my XPS 8500 yesterday with the Radeon 7870  installed.  However, it would not work.  After 40 min with tech support, and after reseating the card it finally worked ( but only for a couple of hours)  I finally figured out the problem.  the XPS 8500 only comes with a 460 watt power supply, and the system requirements for the 7870 from AMD list a min of a 600 watt power supply with the two 6 pin power connectors.. I contacted tech support again today however the said the system will only come with a 460 watt supply. what am I to do now.  Since you all will not send me the appropriate power supply.  I feel like I really got duped and I've been buying dells for a long time and have been very happy with them but the unwillingness to upgrade the power supply to one that is ACTUALLY required is really turning me off to your company.  This is the first time ever I have had to have an issue resolved and it seems that Dell is unwilling to do the right thing in this case.

Dell has stated that the power supply is sufficient to run the 7870 supplied with your computer and it has been tested by most tech companies out their to confirm it does work. You may just be unlucky and have a malfunctioning PC.  I would recommend having Dell fix your computer as it is under warranty.

I have tried a Gigabyte GV-R787OC-2GD Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB in 3 different XPS 8500 machines and it does not work.

We have 12 XPS machines in our lab (of various generations).  

3 are XPS 8500's (1 i7 and 2 i5) and we suspect it is an MB Bios issue or  simply due to the low 460 watt Power Supply included.  

The card works fine in our previous generation XPS 8300 i7 rig.

However, All of the stock AMD and Nvidia cards that came with the XPS 8500 machines work fine.

So you may be forced to buy your video card directly from Dell in order to ensure it works properly.

I ordered November 4th a XPS8500 i7 with a Radeon 7870 card, now I'm really worried that I will be getting a 460 watts power supply and all the problems linked to it as I can not find the specs for my power supply anywhere on my order? I hope Dell will be smart enough to upgrade the power supply for PC's that get configured with this video card....DELL, Please include all the specs (including power supply) on you website, it is so difficult to find any information on the Canadian website!

TEST

I ordered November 4th a XPS8500 i7 with a Radeon 7870 card, now I'm really worried that I will be getting a 460 watts power supply and all the problems linked to it as I can not find the specs for my power supply anywhere on my order? I hope Dell will be smart enough to upgrade the power supply for PC's that get configured with this video card....DELL, Please include all the specs (including power supply) on you website, it is so difficult to find any information on the Canadian website!

The XPS 8500 only comes with the 460 watt power supply.  There are no other options.  Dell provides no information about the power supply other than it's a 460 watt unit as shown on their web site for the XPS 8500 under the tech specs.  It won't be a lack of power if things do not work correctly.  The new cards are very power efficient and use less power than older cards that have worked on systems with smaller power supplies.  If you have problems from the get go, send it right back to them because they most likely will continue, and they will want to replace other parts like the video card, motherboard, memory, etc.  It should work right out of the box and keep on working unless something just came loose during shipping. 

Hi Kelbear1, hopefully, you are correct and the PowerSupply will be fine for the 7870 card.

Thank you for the response and the suggestions, I will follow the for sure.

I still can't figure out where you got the Power supply wattage info, you're good!

Hi all,

I am a noob here, but the day before yesterday, I had successfully installed a GTX 680 Winfast  in a dell xps 8500 i7 3770 . however as the card comes with a seasonic x660 PSu, this was installed as well. The PSU is longer than Dell's OEM PSU but it fits (tight!) The card is as long as the motherboard and was easier to install. the old card was a GT640.

I have to say I am very impressed with both cards and PSU, they are quiet even playing BF3 at ultra. heat generated is another story altogether, and I am thinking of installing extra fans for cooling...later.

Even after reading and looking around, I still feel GTX66+ and HD78++ will need a better PSU than dell's 460W. in the long run it is safer and better.

After a long night, here are my findings...

System requirements from AMD for the 7870

500W (or greater) power supply with one 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connector recommended.

Measured power consumption Radeon R7870

1. System in IDLE = 157W
2. System Wattage with GPU in FULL Stress = 274W
3. Difference (GPU load) = 117W
4. Add average IDLE wattage ~10W
5. Subjective obtained GPU power consumption = ~ 127 Watts

• bad 3D performance
• crashing games
• spontaneous reset or imminent shutdown of the PC
• freezing during gameplay
• PSU overload can cause it to break down

Which are what most people have been complaining about the XPS8500 on the Dell website!