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XPS 430 upgrading to Radeon HD 6870, fiction or myth?
Hi guys,
I'm having all the trouble in the world to find answers to this. I want to upgrade my graphics card to something more powerful. I've just maxed my RAM to 8G of DDR3 1333Mhz and now its time for some serious graphs.
The first problem I've come upon is the PSU requirements. On the Radeon HD 6870, the specs require 500W PSU and my XPS 430 only has a 375W. Can I easily change to a more powerful PSU? Will this be a problem for my motherboard or any other component in my PC?
Then, there's the graphics card itself, is it compatible with my motherboard and chipset?
So many technicalities that my eyes start to swirl and my head gets dizzy.
In the end, knowing what I've got and what I'll have, do you think its a wise decision to invest 450$ for a PSU and graphics card for my XPS 430 or should I give up the hunt and simply cough up 1 000$ for a new tower?
Please help out a stranger and win yourself a place up in heaven... :emotion-1:
shesagordie
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January 3rd, 2012 14:00
FriendlyNeighbour
The XPS 430, does not use a Dell proprietary power supply, you can install most standard ATX power supplies with a 24-pin or 20+4-pin main motherboard power connector.
As the XPS 430 has an open back panel, a power supply with or without the on/off switch can be installed.
You should be to buy the power supply from most local, or online computer stores.
Note: You need a power supply, with a minimum of five SATA power connectors.
The PCI Express x16 Radeon HD 6870 should be compatible with the XPS 430, but before purchasing the card, obtain the card's dimensions, then check that the XPS 430 chassis has the free space available for the card. Best to use a plastic ruler for this.
Do I think if it's worth investing $450 in an obsolete system, maybe not, probably better to put the $450 towards buying a new Intel i7 desktop.
Bev.
shesagordie
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January 3rd, 2012 15:00
FriendlyNeighbour
Jason.
Yep, $210 would be a good investment in the XPS 430 and it's something I would do.
Good luck with the upgrade.
Bev.
FriendlyNeighbo1
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January 3rd, 2012 15:00
eehhh... babababa.....
I'm completely amazed at your most awsome and honest reply. Its the most I've got since I've been looking for answers.
Based on your recommendations, maybe what I can do before completely ruining my wallet, I can simply opt for the cheaper Radeon HD 6850 (150$) and go for a Coolmaster 600W PSU (60$). So I drop down to 210$ and still get not so bad of a performance for at least another year...
But in any case, I am really greatful you took the time to answer my call for help.
Thanks,
Jason * the friendly neighbour.
FriendlyNeighbo1
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January 4th, 2012 05:00
I feel like I just want to hug you!!! ;)
I'm ordering the parts today and will keep you posted on how all of this went for me. Again thanks for your awesomeness!
shesagordie
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January 4th, 2012 08:00
FriendlyNeighbour
Jason.
Happy to have helped and hugs are always welcomed. :emotion-2:
Bev.
FriendlyNeighbo1
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January 9th, 2012 08:00
Bev!!!
So I ordered on Wednesday the Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 (145$) and got a superb deal on a OCZ 550W (35$) from www.ncix.com and received them last Friday, took pictures of everything and installed...
Works like a charm! I'm running Deuz Ex full specs without any visible lag for 180$! ;-)
Again, many thanks for your intervention. Had it not been for you, I would have spent 1 500$ for a new system when all I needed was this.
Your the greatest!
Jason
shesagordie
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January 9th, 2012 10:00
FriendlyNeighbour
Jason.
$180, wow, congrats, that's a great upgrade and one heck of a price on the OCZ 550w PSU.
Bev.
FriendlyNeighbo1
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January 23rd, 2012 06:00
Hi Bev...
Its me again! .. ;-( I've been having certain issues with the AMDKMDAP driver from that crashes randomly. I've read lots of tech blogs and tried lots of proposed solutions, but it doesn't seem to be working for me.
I've tried uninstalling, then running driver cleaner and ccleaner via Safe Mode and reinstalling, but there still seems to be a glitch somewhere. It worked fine for a few days, but now it just seems to be worst than before.
I've downloaded and installed 3Dmark 11 to test my hardware and it doesn't even go through the benchmark, stating conflicts of some sort. And when executing dxdiag.exe, the videocard it sees is my old HD 3650? When playing Skyrim, my videocard option is HD 3650, but when playing Deus EX, it recognises HD 6850???
I've been suggested to reinstall Windows Vista 64, that may be my ultimate solution.
Have you heard of anything in this sort of situation?
Thanks,
Jason
shesagordie
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January 23rd, 2012 08:00
FriendlyNeighbour
Jason.
It would seem there could a driver conflict, as the HD 3650 is still recognized, maybe the old drivers were not completly removed
Try going to the ATI website and see if there's a driver cleaner available, use it and reinstall the latest version of the HD 6850 drivers, that can be downloaded from the ATI site.
Other than this, all I can suggest, is backup all your files and folders, followed by carrying out a clean reinstall of Vista.
Maybe other forum members have a better solution, you could try posting this in the Video section of the forum.
Bev.