XPS Desktops

[TheRoots]

I noticed on Dell there are two types of XPS 8930's.  One is called a XPS Tower Special Edition and the other a XPS Desktop Special Edition.

Does anyone know what the difference is between the two?

I chatted with a Dell Customer Service person and they said the Tower version has a larger power supply (850w) and a better GPU.  But, I was able to configure both with the same PSU and GPU.  The base price seems to be about $100 more for the Tower version and it appears that the outside of the case looks different (matte gray versus glossy black).  I am curious if they are other, more significant differences.

I appreciate your thoughts and comments.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

@TheRoots   I appreciate your thoughts and comments.

When the XPS 8930 was first introduced there were more options for CPU and graphics card available for the Special Edition, which also included the silver front plastic shroud. There was no option for a 850 watt PSU in November 2019 when I ordered mine. Based on your experience, the component options appear to be the same now.

What component options were you considering?

[Anonymous]

@TheRoots 

Ok, just went to the Dell web site to scope the situation.

The top CPU for the "Desktop" is i9-9900; for the "SE" you can get i9-9900K.

The top graphics card for the "Desktop" is RTX 2060; for the "SE" you can get RTX 2080.

I am not even seeing the 850 watt PSU option.

[TheRoots]

@Anonymous , thank you for checking into this.

The XPS Desktop is listed under "For Home" from the main XPS Page.  While the XPS Tower is listed under "For Work" from the main XPS Page.

On the "For Work" page there are two options XPS 8930 Tower and XPS 8930 Tower SE.  The Tower 8930 has a 850 watt PSU option.

What I am wanting to know is are there other differences between the two versions of XPS 8930 SE (Desktop versus Tower).  (Yes, the two names are very confusing, Dell!)

I have priced both the Desktop SE (home) and the Tower SE (work) exactly the same and the base price is different.  I wish Dell would clearly identify the differences, so I could tell if the additional cost is worth it.

[John-Jay]

Hi, @TheRoots 

"I chatted with a Dell Customer Service person and they said the Tower version has a larger power supply (850w) and a better GPU."

I would strongly recommend that you opt for the 850W!!

The XPS 8930 is normally defined as a "Mid-Tower" Case (a very tight/small Case, even for a Mid-Tower), hence I'm wondering if your "Tower" version is a different size of Case! If there is a different Case, then I would suggest that you opt for the larger Case.

NOTE:- Throughout out this Forum you will find lots of discussions where Members have replaced the XPS Case (usually because of the poor air-flow in the existing Case and/or heating problems), also there have been lots of discussions about the inadequacy of the 460W PSU!

[Anonymous]

@TheRoots   On the "For Work" page there are two options XPS 8930 Tower and XPS 8930 Tower SE. The Tower 8930 has a 850 watt PSU option.

That would be particularly whack for the 'lower performance' Tower to have the option for the higher wattage PSU. It may be a function of some confusing Dell platform programing.

What will you be using the computer for, and what components are you considering?

[GKDesigns · Accepted solution]

@TheRoots 

I noticed on Dell there are two types of XPS 8930's.  One is called a XPS Tower Special Edition and the other a XPS Desktop Special Edition.

Does anyone know what the difference is between the two?

I venture to suggest that the XPS 8930 comes in two builds, Tower and Tower SE.  They are both desktops.  In the past, the Tower front has been glossy back; the Tower SE front has been matte? silver.  I prefer the look of the black build.

Any other differences are in how they are configured/customized/spec'd, and how Dell prices those configurations.  Any difference between seemingly identical configurations besides color and price may be in Home vs. Work warranty and/or Support response and competence.

The Tower SE configuration options tend to be higher performance, higher cost, higher power consumption, and higher heat dissipation.  Since both builds suffer from a small case with poor air flow and insufficient cooling, an overly-configured Tower SE may suffer more... hotter, noisier, throttling, and shorter component life.

I bought the XPS Tower (black), i9-9900, RTX2060, 16GB, 512GB SSD + 1TB HDD, ODD, AX1650 WiFi + BT for $1690 in Jan 2020... and upgraded to two 120mm case fans (https://www.dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/XPS-8930-how-is-the-cooling-in-the-i9-9900/m-p/7508730/h...).

Choose wisely, grasshopper!

GK

[TheRoots]

@Anonymous 

I noticed if you put a RTX 2070 or above GPU, it will give you the larger PSU.

I use my system mainly for photo, video, and music editing.  As well as the basic finance (Quicken), MS-Office Pro, etc.  Most not too much of a resource hog, but one of my Photo Editing (Luminar) is a resource hog.

I am thinking of 2TB M.2 SSD, Nvidia RTX-2060, BDRE drive, I9-9900, 32GB RAM, and Windows 10 Pro.  Then I plan to add my two 2TB HDD from my (4-year old dead) XPS 8900.  My thought is one HDD will be the data drive the second HDD will be the Windows 10 File History drive.  I also have cloud backup for my photos, videos, music projects.

Thanks again, I appreciate your comments.

[TheRoots]

@GKDesigns 

Thanks for the information.  Having been a Dell customer for many, many years, I have found them to be problematic to deal with and get a straight honest answer from.  There seems to be 4 builds:

1)  XPS Desktop standard (under "For Home" from the main XPS page)
2)  XPS Desktop Special Edition (under "For Home" from the main XPS page)
3)  XPS Tower standard (under "For Work" from the main XPS page)
4)  XPS Tower Special Edition (under "For Work" from the main XPS page)

I use my system mainly for photo, video, and music editing.  As well as the basic finance (Quicken), MS-Office Pro stuff, etc.  Most of it isn't too much of a resource hog, but one of my Photo Editing (Luminar) is a big resource hog.

The system I have configured is almost identical to yours;
I am thinking of 2TB M.2 SSD, Nvidia RTX-2060, BDRE drive, I9-9900, 32GB RAM, and Windows 10 Pro.  Then I plan to add my two 2TB HDD from my (4-year old dead) XPS 8900.  My thought is one HDD will be the data drive the second HDD will be the Windows 10 File History drive.  I also have cloud backup for my photos, videos, music projects.

Did you upgrade the case fans because you were having problems or just to be cautious?

I am not that hardware techy to be able to do that myself.  Also, I try to keep my system as factory built, so I don't encounter problems with Dell support and their warranty service.  I have had problems with them just for adding non-Dell memory (even though that wasn't the problem) and a secondary non-Dell HDD.  I rely on my PC and need the immediate service.

Again, thank you very much!

[Anonymous]

@TheRoots 

Just some comments for consideration.

If you have read any part of this forum you know that the XPS 8930 nano-case has issues with adequate air flow and heat (as pointed out by @GKDesigns )

If you get a non-K processor, you will also get the lessor CPU cooler and no heatsinks for your VRM. Photos below for comparison. Additionally, if you add HDD spinners to this Easy Bake Oven, you are just exacerbating the heat problems. Consider SSD or external storage. Regarding the fan modification; Dell uses industrial grade server fans with ball bearing technology, which can be loud. Changing the top exhaust fan to 120mm better quality, more quiet fan, and adding a quiet 120mm lower front intake fan will improve your user experience. This is my fan modification, which is very simple;   XPS 8930 Fan Upgrade   Of course you will not need to change the PSU if you order the 850 watt model, or you could order the 460 watt PSU and upgrade to a fully modular 850 watt PSU when you upgrade your fans.

(click photos to embiggen)

CPU cooler for non-K processor

blower style CPU cooler for a 'K' processor