XPS 8700 nVidia GTX video card upgrades,

I know the motherboard needs a 24 pin connection and the 4 pin connection...

My question is where does the 4 pin connect to the PSU?

This is what the back of my psu looks like

http://i67.tinypic.com/vz7kw4.png>

Like I said the videos online show two CPU slots on the PSU

I have two MB slots and only one CPU slot on my PSU

Where does the 4pin 12 v (for the motherboard) connect to this psu?

Thanks for all your help- like I said I'm new to this so I apologize if my questions aren't clear etc

The one cable that is not a flat ribbon cable but has a sheath around it is the 24 pin ATX motherboard connector. On the PSU side it will have two connectors: 18 pin (2x9) and 10 pin (2x5). Plug both in, and connect the 24 pin cable to the motherboard. If the connector on the motherboard side is 20 + 4 pin, connect all of it.

The CPU power connector is 8 pin on both ends, but has a split connector on the motherboard side and you will only use 1/2 of it. The key is to get the correct half.

Plug in all 8 pins on the PSU side.

On the motherboard side, look very closely at the connector and the motherboard. There are two "D" shaped and two "square" shaped parts of the connector.  Make sure the pattern matches.

find the cable that has SATA power and plug that into your HDD/SSD and as I suggested earlier, use a second SATA power cable for the optical drive.

You can use one graphics card power cable  to power a single graphics card.

On the graphics card side there are two connectors that are 8 pin (6+2).

The power supply can power two graphics cards which is why they provided two cables.

note: Some Graphics cards need a single 8 pin, some need one 8 pin and one six pin, and some need two 8 pins power connectors so the cables provided will work for all of these.

Good luck. You'll really enjoy the GTX 970.

So I'll have one empty vga port on the back on my psu?

Yes.

Is there an advantage if I use two different cables to power it?  Each cable plugged into one of the two vga ports on the power supply ?

No advantage. Disadvantage is having two cables to route and two loose ends on the cable to zip-tie out of the way. 

The benefit of a modular power supply is only having to use and route the cables you need,  and having flexibility to add more in the future.

I run a single GTX 970 with a single power cable off of a seasonic X-650 which uses the exact same cables as the EVGA 650 GS power supply.

One more thing. I suggest setting the "ECO" switch to where the fan always runs. It adds a token amount of exhaust flow to the case all the time. The fan is so quiet on my X-650 to where I cannot hear it running or not.

So I'll have one empty vga port on the back on my psu? Is there an advantage if I use two different cables to power it?  Each cable plugged into one of the two vga ports on the power supply ?

You guys are the best! Made this easy for a newbie like me.  Setting up the Msata tomorrow might be more challenging

Please start a new thread or searchf ro SSD installs. Here is one on a vanilla Win 8.1 install.

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19614665

Please start a new post for the SSD or search for another SSD post. You'll get better response and it will be of value to the next reader. Here's a starting search for you.

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=site%3Aen.community.dell.com%20dell%20xps%208700%20hdd%20windows

or try this thread.

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19614665

Any recommendation on which brand of gtx 970 to order?

I was thinking Evga ... But now thinking gigabyte g1 gaming edition (has three fans I think) or the Asus strix

Evga has so many different types... I was thinking Evga FTW if I stick with Evga

Any recommendation on which brand of gtx 970 to order?

I have the MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G and it is excellent, but others are also excellent.

The Gigabyte G1 may be too long and conflict with the HDD cage.

Do a google search on this "GTX 970 roundup" and read the pros and cons for each model. In the end look for the choice of monitor connectors, the performance, the noise of the fans and the stability.

I chose the MSI because it either "won" or did very well in every review I read, and I have been happy with the MSI GTX 770 and MSI GTX 760 that we own.

Watch for sales with rebates. They come and go. I got mine for $299 after rebate and it included a game worth about $35 if sold on eBay.

Dell xps 8700 i7. I fitted a Corsair cx 750 power supply and a msi gtx 970 4g twin frozr graphic card. connected to an Acer 1920 1080 monitor via dvi cable and to an Hd tv via hdmi. Disabled secure boot in bios. All I got for my trouble is a computer that when you turn it on offers a high end and expensive BLACK SCREEN! To Quote Dell " Easy expandability so you can be ready for anything". It seems not. Help Please this was a very disappointing Christmas day for my son.

Dell xps 8700 i7. I fitted a Corsair cx 750 power supply and a msi gtx 970 4g twin frozr graphic card. connected to an Acer 1920 1080 monitor via dvi cable and to an Hd tv via hdmi. Disabled secure boot in bios. All I got for my trouble is a computer that when you turn it on offers a high end and expensive BLACK SCREEN! To Quote Dell " Easy expandability so you can be ready for anything". It seems not. Help Please this was a very disappointing Christmas day for my son.

well hopefully he at least reads the last couple we wrote lol