Alienware X51 with EVGA GTX 950

[HotGamingPotato]

Hello, a while ago I posted a thread and asked if the EVGA 750ti FTW w/ ACX would work on the alienware x51. I searched quite a bit on the internet and for the 20-30 quid more I can get the EVGA GTX 950 and I get much more performance. Now my questions are, GTX 750ti FTW or GTX 950? Will the 330 watt power supply provide enough juice for the GTX 950? And do you think I will run games like GTA V, Space engineers and Fallout 4 smoothly on 1080p with the specifications listed below(if i go with the 950/750ti)? Thank you for reading =)




Specifications:
Intel core i5-3450s,
1tb hard drive,
120gb SSD,
330 watt power supply,

 

[The Grox Empire]

Your Power supply cant run GTX 950. You need to change your PSU, but first we need to know what is your PSU form factor

 

[maxalge]

Hello, a while ago I posted a thread and asked if the EVGA 750ti FTW w/ ACX would work on the alienware x51. I searched quite a bit on the internet and for the 20-30 quid more I can get the EVGA GTX 950 and I get much more performance. Now my questions are, GTX 750ti FTW or GTX 950? Will the 330 watt power supply provide enough juice for the GTX 950? And do you think I will run games like GTA V, Space engineers and Fallout 4 smoothly on 1080p with the specifications listed below(if i go with the 950/750ti)? Thank you for reading =)




Specifications:
Intel core i5-3450s,
1tb hard drive,
120gb SSD,
330 watt power supply,

yes, many people have installed gtx 960's

just make sure it is the reference cooler or you will have temperature issues

 

[HotGamingPotato]

The form factor of the PSU is brick. Like the xbox 360 for ex. Because Alienware didnt have much space inside they just decided to go for a brick charger.



And maxalge, when you say yes do you mean 950 will work because i dont have money for the 960. If the 960 will work the best i might just go for it, but for now. I prefer the 950 =)

 

[The Grox Empire]

The form factor of the PSU is brick. Like the xbox 360 for ex. Because Alienware didnt have much space inside they just decided to go for a brick charger.



And maxalge, when you say yes do you mean 950 will work because i dont have money for the 960. If the 960 will work the best i might just go for it, but for now. I prefer the 950 =)

GTX 950 alone will consume almost half of your PSU i dont think it's enough

 

[maxalge]

The form factor of the PSU is brick. Like the xbox 360 for ex. Because Alienware didnt have much space inside they just decided to go for a brick charger.



And maxalge, when you say yes do you mean 950 will work because i dont have money for the 960. If the 960 will work the best i might just go for it, but for now. I prefer the 950 =)

yes, but make sure you buy a blower type version of the 950

because you will have temperature issues with your case otherwise

 

[HotGamingPotato]

So, pretty soon i'm getting EVGA GTX 950 SC. I hope the power supply will be enough. I searched quite a bit and the GTX 950 uses 110 watts under load and that's pretty OK for my Alienware.
When I get it I will tell you the TEMPS, if I had to downclock it and those stuff. Thanks!

 

[HotGamingPotato]

Got the card today. There were quite a bit of problems installing it, (e.g. bracket was making problems, one of my ram slots doesnt work now i dont know why, didnt post etc) finally when i got it to work i installed drivers and just decided to jump straight into gaming. Ran everything on ultra, some more demanding games like space engineers on planets had to turn the settings down a bit but everything ran so smooth. So impressed from the card.
Power supply has enough juice for it.
It fit in the bracket.
Temps:
Idle: 60 degrees
Load: 70-73 degrees.
The graphics card is completely silent.
I really recommend this graphics card.
I got the EVGA GTX 950 SC with one fan by the way.

 

[maxalge]

Got the card today. There were quite a bit of problems installing it, (e.g. bracket was making problems, one of my ram slots doesnt work now i dont know why, didnt post etc) finally when i got it to work i installed drivers and just decided to jump straight into gaming. Ran everything on ultra, some more demanding games like space engineers on planets had to turn the settings down a bit but everything ran so smooth. So impressed from the card.
Power supply has enough juice for it.
It fit in the bracket.
Temps:
Idle: 60 degrees
Load: 70-73 degrees.
The graphics card is completely silent.
I really recommend this graphics card.
I got the EVGA GTX 950 SC with one fan by the way.

I always like it when people post back with things working out in the end


XD grats

 

[The Grox Empire]

Congrats for able playing space engineers with planet. I never can play it after planet update

 

[HotGamingPotato]

Sorry but, after I installed the graphics card, one of my ram slots doesnt work. I tested the memory sticks and they both work fine. Any idea how to fix it.
My light on the sides and front do not work as well.
Thanks.

 

[HotGamingPotato]

Now, this alienware (Alienware x51 R1) has 8gb of DDR3 (2x4GB Crucial ballistix sport).
Before I upgraded the GPU everything ran absolutely fine.
A few days ago, I installed the GPU and decided to boot it for first time with the new GPU.
The pc started beeping like this: 2 beeps, pause...., 2 beeps pause.. and so on.
Apparently 2 beeps means no RAM is detected.
So I changed where the ram sticks were etc.
When I put one of the RAM sticks on the right slot with the left slot empty everything booted just fine. Then I tried the same thing with the other RAM stick to make sure it's not faulty.
Yes, it ran fine. But here begin the problems
I tried putting them both in the pc and the computer started beeping again.
Now, after raging for quite a while I put one of the RAM sticks on the ''faulty'' slot and leaving the ''good'' slot empty......it still didn't work. 🙁
I do not want to buy an 8gb memory because I'm currently broke 🙁
Please tell me the risks (if there are any) in your suggestion before answering.
THANK YOU!!

and by the way I am currently running on 4gb ram.
I have used to 8gb and I really cannot stand 4gb ram.

 

[The Grox Empire]

It's still a speculation but I think your PSU wasn't good enough. Prebuilt PSU only designed to power your default machine. 750 to 950 are big power consumption increase. I always skeptical prebuilt PSU can handle increase power consumption

 

[yotuck]

I replaced my 645 with the 950 in my Alienware X51 R2, and also upgraded from 6 to 8 MB of RAM with no problem.
Very similar to Hot Gaming Potato's scenario. My 330w Power Supply seems to be working.
What GPU are you replacing?
The 950 consumes less power than the 645, according to the GeForce website (90w compared to 130w, respectively). Part of the pitch of the 950 is low power consumption.
Sorry you're having the trouble.

 

[HotGamingPotato]

Re-installed the cpu, got a toothbrush and ''brushed'' the ram slot.
Everything is fixed now!
Thanks everyone