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March 2nd, 2018 17:00

XPS 8930 or Aurora R7 selection advice

Currently I have a XPS 435T/9000 I bought in 2009 with a Core i7 920 CPU and ATI Radeon HD 4800. It runs very quiet, the fans hardly noticeable. I listen to music on my computer through speakers; I cannot use headphones. Now I want/need to replace the 435T with something new. I looked at the XPS 8930 with the i7 8700, 16 GB ram, 256 GB SSD and 1 TB HDD. For the graphics card I thought the GTX 1060 would be somewhere in the middle of capabilities and sufficient for now. I am not a gamer, but I don't want to limit myself in the future (my nephew could use it for games). I noticed that the case is much smaller than my old 435T. With the high power CPU, graphics card and PSU crowding the available space, I am afraid that the temps will be high and the fans will be loud, as I found complaints about this in several posts already. That is when I started to look at the Aurora R7 because of the liquid cooling option which is not available on the 8930. As far as I can tell I would need to go to the GTX 1070 for the graphics card in the R7. I am willing to pay the extra cost just to have a silent computer on my desk so I can listen to my music without the fan noise.

Another concern is the PSU. The standard PSU is only 460W. The load on the PSU as a percentage of the total power rating would be quite high, degrading the components in the PSU and causing premature failure. Does anyone think that I am overly conservative in this respect or should I spring for the 850W unit with liquid cooling anyway. BTW, the Aurora case is not one I would select but it doesn't look outrageous so I can live with it.

I appreciate any advice and comments to make my decision a more informed one.

Thanks,

Paul

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24.8K Posts

March 3rd, 2018 04:00

It sounds like the Alienware system is better suited to your needs -- yes, the XPS systems are small, which is visually appealing but compromises function -- in particular, cooling as you note.

Yes, the price is compelling - but there are compromises in the design for the sake of keeping the price down.

 

32 Posts

March 3rd, 2018 10:00

ejn63:

Thank you for your input. What is your opinion on the power supply. Is the standard 460W adequate? Or would you recommend to go with the 850W. I believe that the 850W unit would be less stressed delivering the power needed and therefore run cooler with lower fan speed and less noise. Noise is my enemy!

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