Upgrading Dell XPS 8300 - Need Case Change?

The Dell XPS 8300 is severly limited by the upgrades it can receive. I know because I have one too, with the same setup with the exception of mine having a AMD Radeon Hd 6700. You can upgrade the ram, fans, and hard drive, psu, etc. But you will encounter a problem with your GPU upgrade. As far as I know, The latest cards, AMD Radeon R9 200 series and the GTX 970/980 is incompatible with a 0Y2MRG motherboard. If you bought your computer prebuilt, replacing your motherboard would require:

1)One that fits your case

2) A Clean Certified Copy of Windows

That is because the OS of OEM machines is made only to work with your installed motherboard.

I know it is cruel. But, Dell can fix this all with a bios update for your motherboard past A06. Beta A07 will not work either.

You have an additional $300 that you will need to address these issues.

Wow, I can't tell you how frustrated that makes me. I've been researching for weeks on the upgrades and what would work best only to find out the MOBO is basically a POS. I had noticed someone who successfully installed a GTX 970 on the Dell XPS 8500 desktop. Is that MOBO a lot different? Is it the same circumstance as this?

Thanks.

If grandpa cannot recognize, or see his new power. The drivers are just random things given to somebody, without a purpose.

Hopefully this helps you understand.

Yes the motherboard is different, but the newer motherboard will have the same issues without the latest bios to recognize the latest hardware being connected to it.

I will be honest with you, the motherboard itself isn't broken. It is the fact that Dell has no update for the motherboard bios. The dell xps 8500 has a motherboard that dell has created for it ( A10 as of writing this). The  bios for the xps 8500 supports (or can recognize the latest graphics cards).

Summary of all I said:

--- XPS 8500 motherboard is what Dell Supports, so it gets the latest and greatest.

---Grandpa XPS 8300 motherboard is a muscular macho man with great equipment, but can't function without the latest knowledge on how to utilize himself. (Because Dell stopped giving him knowledge since 2011)

  So when grandpa faces a brand new technology (The graphics cards, GTX 970 or 980. AMD Radeon R9 Series), grandpa doesn't understand how to utilize his new muscles.

Drivers are like (revisions to a law) and are more in depth of how the graphics card utilizes its hardware abilities.

HOWEVER, how can drivers help the graphics card, if grandpas brain doesn't even know what the new graphics card is?

This means that just updating or installing drivers will not fix the problem.

Based on what you've said. You have already invested money into new components abou 200-300$  you are better off building your own computer, and to cut costs, use a linux operating system(Free). Until you can afford Windows OS. I know that a whole lot of steam games work with Linux. So I know that, you will have no problems playing games on linux. (But you need to research the version of linux you want to use).

My background is a major in Digital Forensics, Information Assurance, and Computer Science. I know fod a fact these issues will occur because I tried to turn my xps 8300 into a forensic workstation, and Dell's motherboard made me unable to do.

For starters, I am in the same situation you are in. I got a 1000 dollar xps8300 with my first job. You can salvage everything from your dell xps 8300, the hard drives, ram,  default psu good for a dedicated psu for your gpu. Power everything else with new psu. Microcenter is currently offering price matching for those building a new pc. *Use newegg, they will cry (prices are damn good).

*Warning: Microcenter is a stickler on people returning bent pins on motherboards due to processor installation.

Make sure you have some anti static bags( static shock will destroy components.

Cases on sale for as low as 49.99 and a good motherboard will cost 150-200. Go with ASUS for the motherboard.

*Upon research I have found that EVGA 970 or 980s may work. Without a mobo change.  Price match with newegg that sells em for 250-300. *But there is a risk it they may not work

Thank you very much for your help. I have been trying to determine what path to go on now. I had too much excitement built up for this high end GPU and now I have to slam on the brakes. Moving forward, should I begin with an entire new PC? Building from the ground up? This case is too small anyway, so I could at least start there and look for a MOBO. Tips for a good MOBO?

I'm really just at a loss here and don't know where to go from here.

New mobo means:

--NEW Windows OS software(Not cheap, price rarely waivers).

Don't pirate. I did that and got lots of viruses later on. Because windows cant give updates for a non certified os.

--New processor

XPS 8300 Motherboard is 2nd gen. If you buy a 3rd gen mobo you may have issues using an 2nd gen processor from the old xps 8300.

Processors are expensive, intel I7 2600 is still damn good. (Salvage wise you save 200-300 dollars)

--Motherboard

What motherboard you get, depends on what processor you use.

Example: Intel Processor, means an intel mobo; AMD processor, AMD mobo

*I strongly recommend intel because you get alot for your money.

In general chosing a mobo is easy(my perspective)

Factors are:

Do you want to sli or crossfire?

Get a mobo with dual pcie 3.0 or 2.0 slots.

Use Usbs for school alot?

Get usb 3.0 (for those times you procastinate and have to transfer files quickly).

FINALLY THE LAST ADVICE...

NEWEGG NEWEGG NEWEGG

They have the cheapest pricest for hardware components. This winter season.

Example: 35$ for 650w Corsair psu, 16gb ram for $100, and ssds for as low as 79.99 (good ones too...)

Thank you a bunch for your help. Hopefully you can continue lending advice based on what I have found so far. I have decided to sell my old pc as a whole, meaning I will need all new parts (processor included). I have been researching both the processor and MOBO simultaneously. As far as the processor goes, I am interested in the i7 4790k or no k, the 4770k or no k, or the i5 4690k or no k. Of those, I am not sure if I should get a k model (I have never overclocked before).

As far as MOBO's go, I am interested in ASRock, ASUS and MSI (unless you have other recommendations). From what I have selected so far as potential candidates, I have chosen the ASUS Z97-Pro, ASUS Maximus Hero V1, ASRock Z97 Extreme 4 or 6 or 9, ASUS Sabertooth Z77, ASUS P8Z77-V LX LGA 1155, MSI ATX LGA 1150 Z87-G45 Gaming, MSI Z87 MPower, MSI 970 Gaming, and probably a lot more. I know that is a bunch but at least I am getting somewhere. I think some are 1155, but it seems the upcoming size is the 1150.

What are your thoughts on this? There are tons to choose from and its tough to decide. Keep in mind, I am still aiming at the GTX 970 series and possibly the 980.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

If you are still looking at this forum, I went ahead and bought a bunch of 970s to test which one works. I found that Gigabyte GTX 970 Windforce edition will work. As long as you replace the default psu with 550W or greater.

I also found that the EVGA 970s will work with the XPS 8300.

The GPU upgrade cost for a XPS 8300 if your getting 970s or 980s averages about

$490-$550 USD

The Gigabyte GTX 970 is much too long and won't fit. I was considering the EVGA 970, but I think I have committed for the long run by building a new pc from the ground up. Any thoughts on my previous post about the MOBO and PCU?