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Dell XPS 8300 Upgrade Questions (Yes, i've searched a bit)
Ok, i am going to be receiving a new Dell XPS 8300 and had some questions about possible upgrades... i have searched and gone through TONS of threads where people have successfully upgraded the PSU and GPU. So that's good to know... but i am wondering if it is possible to upgrade the CPU? I've read in another thread that the 8300 uses the H-67 mobo, so i did some research on that and found on the intel Wiki page that the Sandy Bridge mobos will be able to be upgraded via a Bios update to accept Ivy Bridge 3000 series CPUs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGA_1155
Does anyone know if Dell will be creating a bios update to allow us current 8300 users to upgrade our CPUs as well? I know that the Dell Bios are typically pretty locked down, but they could also make a lot of money off of consumer CPU upgrades etc.
If Dell DOES plan on allowing this, then that would be AWESOME... i'm sure i will be happy with my purchase for a long time, but it is a bummer that these mobos only have a single PCIe x16 slot so no Crossfire etc. If these things came with dual PCIe GPU slots and allowed for Ivy Bridge then that would be great but then again i don't even know what the entry level Sandy vs Ivy entry level performance would be to justify the price of an upgrade.
theflash1932
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16.3K Posts
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January 4th, 2012 14:00
A better place to look for possible CPU upgrades on the H67 chipset is Intel's own site, which lists all compatible processors for that chipset:
ark.intel.com/.../52767 ("compatible products" on the left)
Dell's BIOS does not restrict you from upgrading your processor, BUT the support the BIOS has for various processors can limit which ones on the above list you can upgrade to. Dell is not alone in "locking" out features and capability that the raw device(s) supports, and it is usually done to ensure stability in a configuration with various other devices.
We know from the Dell online configurator for the XPS 8300 that the following processors are fully supported:
Intel® Core™ i7-2600 processor(8MB Cache, 3.4GHz)
Intel® Core™ i5-2320 processor(6MB Cache, 3.0GHz)
The best processor that this chipset will even allow is the i7-2600K (according to the benchmarks below). Order your 8300 with the 2600, which will be MUCH cheaper than buying it after-market. At that point, the only better processor would be the 2600K, which probably would not be enough of an improvement over the 2600 to justify its $300 price tag.
As newer processors are released, watch Intel's specs for the chipset ... if it isn't added there, it won't work on the 8300. If it is added there, check the online configurator for the 8300 for newer options and/or check the BIOS release notes for additional support for new Intel CPU's.
JBSlaughter
32 Posts
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January 24th, 2012 20:00
Ok update... I received my 8300 today. Woo hoo! This thing came preloaded with a 6870 and a wimpy 460w power supply. I came here to try and figure out the needed dimensions for a replacement power supply but I read in another thread that it can't be any bigger than 170mm which is good because ive read on other forums that it can't be bigger than 140mm. Good to know I have way more options than I thought I did. Whew. I guess the only other question I have now is how to replace my main drive with an SSD drive. I have been looking at the samsung 830 and corsair force 3 gt 120gb-ish models. Right now I have my old and new computers connected via a network cable and at least until I buy an SSD I'm going to use the 1.5TB drive in the new pc. I'm using windows easy file transfer to move over all my pictures videos settings etc and it says its going to take 5 hours. Ouch. Once I get an SSD drive, what would be the easiest way to transfer my profile from the 1.5tb mechanical drive to the 120gb drive and keep all my data on the larger drive? I have 10 days to return my old pc so if I absolutely still need that to transfer my profile over to the SSD I need to know now before i send anything back. Sorry for the one run on sentence, I'm sending this from my phone since my pcs are transferring data at the moment :)
SDirickson
72 Posts
1
January 24th, 2012 22:00
I'm the one who installed the 170mm PS; yes, it really does fit, and yes, it is *really* tight. Be careful when you remove and then re-route the WLAN antenna wire.
With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, I probably would have gone with a similar unit, but picked one with modular cabling. The PS I installed has cables/connectors for 2 PCI cards and 16 drives of various types, so there's a lot of unused cabling stuffed in under the DVD drive and below the HD.
WRT "transferring profile", I wouldn't. Or rather, I didn't. I copied everything from my old machine to my NAS box (which you don't even have to do; just install the old drive into the new machine). But I didn't transfer any installed software or settings. I just started using the new machine, and I install software onto the new machine as I find that I need it. If you need license keys or similar items, make sure you get those off of the old machine before you decommission it. Same for machine-specific registrations--de-authorize (or whatever) the old machine and activate the new one.
As a backup, use Easy Transfer to save your settings from the old machine into a directory on the old hard drive; if you find that you need to do so later, you can use Easy Transfer from the new machine to pick up those settings.
JBSlaughter
32 Posts
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January 25th, 2012 08:00
Thanks for your reply! I didn't actually read your message until this morning so it is too late as far as the profile transfer goes... it completed while i was sleeping and i checked and everything made it over intact as far as i can tell. Now i need to pick out a power supply and an SSD drive. I was already planning on buying at least a semi-modular PS so thank you very much for all that info. :)
As for the SSD etc though it has been a LONG time since i did anything on that sort of technical level so i'm not sure what i need to be doing here... after i install the SSD what is the best way to get my profile moved over to the new drive? Actually now that i mention it i realize that Dell did not send me a Windows media disc so i'm not sure how i'm supposed to install on the SSD. Hmm.. dell did include some sort of backup utility that offers for me to create a restore/backup disc. I wonder if i can burn one and use that? Once i get the SSD up and running though how do i ensure that runs as my primary OS drive and the larger mechanical drive just sits there for Data?
theflash1932
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January 25th, 2012 09:00
"Dell did include some sort of backup utility that offers for me to create a restore/backup disc. I wonder if i can burn one and use that?"
Yes, you can. That is what major OEM's do nowadays (not just Dell) instead of sending you a reinstallation disk. You can also use Windows 7 built-in backup.
You can also use the links at Digital River (Microsoft's online partner) to download a Retail copy of Windows 7, then activate by phone:
en.community.dell.com/.../3316.aspx
To copy your profile, as sd said, you can use WET to transfer your profile, or you can copy your profile folder to an external drive, and copy over the parts you want/need as needed.
When you install Windows 7 on your SSD, it will automatically boot to Windows installed on the SSD, but it will probably also detect Windows installed on the larger disk, giving you an option of two Windows 7's to boot to. To eliminate this, you can format the larger drive before installing, or you can simply edit the boot list, telling Windows boot manager to ignore the installation on the larger disk. For this, you can use Windows built-in BCDEdit command line tool, download the free EasyBCD, delete the entry in MSCONFIG, or change the "time to display list of operating systems" to 0 (in case you ever want to easily boot your Windows on the larger drive) in System Properties/Startup and Recovery.