Graphics Card Upgrade Dell XPS 730

I don't see any problem at all with it working.  Just make sure you clean out the ATI driver and software before installing the new Nvidia card.  I'm not sure if your older Q9450 will hold you back a bit or not with this card.  It is still a good CPU though so I would not be too concerned about it.  

Thanks for that JMichael much appreciated. I never even thought for a second that the CPU might pose an issue. So I'm gathering you're saying the Q9450 might struggle a little keeping up with the GTX 560-Ti OC? Do you think overclocking the CPU might alleviate any probs maybe? I was considering doing this anyway, nothing crazy, maybe just a little push up to 3GHz/3.2GHz or something but I'm still learning the ropes when it comes to overclocking. Do you think I'd get away with a mild overclock on air? I have the standard heatsink that came with the XPS 730 or should I look into an after market cooler?. Or if that's not a good idea, do you think hunting around for another CPU might be a better option , if so, any recommendations that would give the GTX 560-Ti OC room to get to it's full potential?

Also good point about removing all the ATI stuff prior to putting in the new card. is there an ATI removal program that can help with removing ATI drivers, registry keys and software etc? I think I remember reading somewhere that something existed, I might check out ATI's website, or would a typical add/remove programs in the control panel and a reg clean do the trick?

Thanks

Dell XPS 730
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 @ 2.66MHz
MB: Dell 0UU795 Nvidia nForce 790i Ultra SLI
RAM: Elpida PC3-8500U 4GB
HDD's:  Samsung F3 1TB (System & Apps) - Samsung F1 500GB (Backup)
PSU: Dell 1KW
Audio: Internal: Creative SB X-Fi - External: Mackie Onyx 400F.
Monitor: Dell 2209WA 22" IPS 1680x1050
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

I use Driver Sweeper HERE to get a clean install.  I would just run and test the card first to see if you are getting the rated performance before looking at other things. Overclocking can help improve performance.  You have a nice system, but I'm not sure how good your heatsink is.  If it looks beefy enough, I would not worry about it and just monitor your temps after any overclock.  Since this is a 775 socket board, you really cannot go to much higher with a CPU and the cost just would not be worth it.  The Q9650's are way too much and just not worth the upgrade cost from the Q9450.  Just go with the video card.  

Thanks again for your help, I'll check out drive sweeper. I ordered the MSI 560 Ti Twin Frozr II OC last night (PC Case Gear) and they sent me an email today letting me know it's ready to be picked up so I'll grab it this afternoon, I'll install it and run some tests on it and post back for anyone else considering this card/PC combination. Do you have any recommended test programs that might be helpful? I have GPUz, should I look into anything else? Also, I added 8GB of new ram in the order from PCCG for this machine as well (Corsair TW3X4G1333C9A x 2 kits - 4 x 2GB), Corsair's site said it had been tested on the same motherboard I've got. Someone on this forum mentioned finding some Crucial ram but I couldn't find any around in the local suppliers, so hopefully all goes well, I'll post back.

Thanks again JMichael, your speedy and informative replies have been very helpful.

Dell XPS 730
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 @ 2.66MHz
MB: Dell 0UU795 Nvidia nForce 790i Ultra SLI
RAM: Elpida PC3-8500U 4GB
HDD's:  Samsung F3 1TB (System & Apps) - Samsung F1 500GB (Backup)
PSU: Dell 1KW
Audio: Internal: Creative SB X-Fi - External: Mackie Onyx 400F.
Monitor: Dell 2209WA 22" IPS 1680x1050
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

Here the links to the GPUz posts, for some reason it wouldn't let me add them or links to them in the previous post.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/61499287@N02/5597927954/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/61499287@N02/5597347011/

Thanks

GPU-Z is just informational and not a benchmarking tool.  Most likely your PCI Express X16 slot is v1.1 and not version 2.0 which is why it is reporting it this way.  Just make sure under your power options in your control panel and under the advanced power options that the "PCI Express" setting is turned to "off".   

I use EVGA Precision HERE as a tool to monitor temps and use a custom fan setting that I create in increase my fan speed as the temperatures increase.  I do this only because my card stays at 40% until the temps reach almost 75C which I don't like. This probably would not apply to your card since it runs much cooler.  However, you can see how the temps and clock speeds change over a period of time.  My clock speeds stay underclocked during 2D mode and then increase to their rated speeds as shown when gaming.  A lot of people also use "FRAPS" HERE to monitor their FPS.   The free version of 3D Mark Vantage is also very popular HERE for performance benchmarking of your video card.

Edit:  Since you have an MSI card, Afterburner is also a good tool and basically does the same as the EVGA tool HERE.    

Hi, thanks again for the info JMichael. I went into the control panel and switched the PCI Express power setting to off and now GPUz posts PCIE x16 v2.0 as I thought it should seeing that the card is PCIE x16 2.0 and the first slot on the motherboard is also PCIE x16 2.0, so all is sorted. It seems that in power saving mode it drops it down to v1.1. Anyway I'll check out the EVGA Precision software as suggested, it sounds exactly like what I was after, posting temps and FPS in the upper left hand side of the screen during gameplay. I have MSI Afterburner although I haven't played around with it though, I'll do that before downloading the EVGA software if it can pretty much do the same thing. I figured Afterburner was more so for overclocking the card.

I installed and had tried to run Fraps but for some reason it wouldn't run, I'd click the icon on the desktop, the little loading icon next to the mouse cursor would spin for a second, then nothing. When a game was launched it showed nothing, so maybe it didn't install properly unless I'm doing something else wrong. Also, I'll try out 3D Mark Vantage too, I'm curious as to how the card goes, I'm sure it should perform pretty well but the crashes/freeze ups in Dirt 2 (usually when it's loading after a race) and the flashing and pixelation in Crysis warhead (after I've been playing for a while) has got me concerned as the games ran ok with the old card, although I couldn't get away with all the settings on high on the old card The HD 3870x2 also created a pumping action like the graphics were trying to keep up and refreshing in waves, so tearing down the road in a F1 car would slow down for a split second and then speed up every half a second or so which was quite annoying. Do you have any thoughts on why I may be experiencing issues with Dirt 2 and Crysis Warhead with the new card? And is it likely that something like 3d mark vantage would reveal any issues that might be related? I'd love to wrap my head around it, as I'm fairly new to gaming on the PC with current games, I've come primarily from consoles, I still have my Xbox 360 but gaming on the PC takes it to a whole other level. Plus I'm using an xbox 360 controller on the PC for my racing games so it still feels pretty much like what I'm used to.

Thanks 

Dell XPS 730
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 @ 2.66MHz
MB: Dell 0UU795 - Nvidia nForce 790i Ultra SLI
RAM: Corsair XMS3 - PC3-10600 8GB (4 X 2GB) - DDR3 1333MHz @ 9.9.9.24
HDD's:  Samsung F3 1TB (System & Apps) - Samsung F1 500GB (Backup)
PSU: Dell 1KW
Graphics Card: MSI GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II OC @ 880MHz/1024MHz GDDR5
Audio: Internal: Creative SB X-Fi - External: Mackie Onyx 400F.
Monitor: Dell 2209WA 22" IPS 1680x1050
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit