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Upgrading XPS 730x i7
I have a Dell Dimension 8200 with no ability to upgrade the memory(rdram) without spending a fortune. Cheaper to buy a new one. I'm considering buying a XPS 730x i7 with a 920 processor. My question is " If I decide to upgade the processor in the future to for example the 940 or 965 is it possible or would I have to replace the motherboard?" Question #2 : what parts are upgradable (ie video card, sound card memory)? question#3 Should I invest in the water cool option?
Darrell WV
482 Posts
1
February 19th, 2009 21:00
Hello Wartley,
Yes, I do remember my old 8200 with great fondness, it was the old clam shell type case and was my first video card with DVI, and I did just recycle it in 2008, upgraded to the XPS 730 H2C, with the QX9650, so I know how you feel about chaning systems.
I love my H2C, it allows me to run the QX PSU, which is hotter running than the i7 920. So I would always say go with the TEC/Water cooled system over air cooled, but that is my personal opinion.
I upgraded my GPU to dual GTX 260's in SLI with no problem, any of the PCIe cards will fit, but please check the Dell Downloads & Drivers, as those are the only cards that have been "Validated" by Dell to work, especially if you want your warranty to remain in tack.
Any of this generation of Core i7 CPU's will fit without MOBO change (920, 940, 965 extreme and the soon to be released 950 and 975 extreme). These are all supposed to work with the 703X board and H2C unit. If you buy them from Dell and have Tech Support then your warranty would remain in force.
Best wishes on your new system,
Darrell WV
mmab63
72 Posts
1
February 22nd, 2009 11:00
I bought the Dell Dimension 8200 in February 2002 with 2.2GHz Pentium 4. That baby cost me $3K back then with the 3 year warranty.
I just recently, back in December, finally relented and upgraded to the i7 965 Extreme version of the XPS 730x air-cooled for 2.5K, $500 less than I bought the 8200 at.
It is like night and day the difference in speed and power. Even if you go for the i7 920, you will be astonished at the difference in performance between the two systems.
As far as your questions are concerned....the CPU, Video Card, Memory, Audio Card, Hard Drives are all upgradable in the XPS 730x. So is the power supply, but at 1000W there's no need to replace/upgrade that unless replacing a defective one.
There's an online service manual (the XPS 730x does NOT come with a service manual in the box unlike the 8200) that will take you through the process of replacing/upgrading those aforementioned components.
Should you invest in the water-cooled option? First off, if you want the water-cooled H2C version, your choice of CPU is already made for you, only the i7 965 Extreme comes with that option.
And if you do decide to go for the Extreme i7 965 version, unless you are a serious gamer or have extra money to spend, I would say go for the air-cooled version. You are looking at least 4K for the H2C version minus any discounts. The air-cooled version will cost you from 2-4K depending upon the options you choose.
Wartley
3 Posts
1
February 22nd, 2009 19:00
Thanks to both of you. Did not want to get into the situation where The CPU ugrade was not possible. Or I would need to re-mortgage my house as I we would if we had to buy memory for the 8200. I saw a post about Level 1 and level 2 boards in the General hardware board. but had no idea what they meant. Can't afford a H2C machine. Do see some posts/commenst about coupons but have not seen any for an i7. (hype?) Did you guys buy Vista 32 bit or 64 bit?
Wartley
mmab63
72 Posts
1
February 22nd, 2009 19:00
Level 1 is the factory overclock settings of the i7 965 Extreme to 3.46GHz, and Level 2 is the factory overclock settings to 3.73GHz.
If you buy the air-cooled version of the i7 965, it will be factory overclocked to the Level 1 3.43GHz settings, and if you buy the water-cooled version, it will be factory overclocked to the Level 2 3.73Ghz settings.
If you buy the i7, the ONLY option is the 64-bit version of Windows Vista.
As for a discount, there are currently none for the xps 730x. I personally got a 25% discount off the price when I bought mine in mid-December.
You can go to this page for the latest Dell discounts....
http://www.cheapstingybargains.com/cheapster/dell/