Dell Studio XPS 435t/9000

Neonridr

Honorable
Aug 31, 2012
4
0
10,510


I also have an XPS 435t - i7 920

just two days ago I swapped out the stock 475W PSU with a Corsair 650HX 650W PSU. 3 out of the 4 mounting screws fit perfectly (bottom left one needs a new hole drilled for the screw in the metal tab - or you can leave it out because 3 out of 4 will hold the unit fine). The new PSU is a tad bit smaller in height, so there is a little gap left underneath the PS so a bit of dust can get in the back of the case, but nothing a little clean from time to time can't fix. I also replaced the stock graphics card (a 54xx series Radeon) with a new Radeon 7870 2GB that I got from Newegg. I can't even begin to describe how much better this graphics card is. It's ridiculous. I can play games at 1080p with max settings and the game still flies. Anyways, so rest assured you can put a new graphics card into the system and it works. The only thing I had to do was remove a black plastic arm that swings up from the bottom of the case on the inside to ensure that components like the video card and network card stay in place. The 7870 was a bit too wide, so that arm was hitting the side of it. It was not needed anyways since these components have locking tabs and screws to hold them in place.

Next step is to upgrade the RAM a bit, and I will be happy at least for the next year until I want to do a new build. My system only came stock with 6GB of DDR3 ram.

Hope that helps jason
 

Rcmdawg

Honorable
Feb 27, 2013
3
0
10,510
Have you replaced the CPU? I have also replaced the graphics card in mine with a GTX 660 ti and it works fine with the stock PSU. I was thinking of replacing the I7 920 cpu but wanted to know what other people have done.
 

Neonridr

Honorable
Aug 31, 2012
4
0
10,510
I would have to think that you would need to upgrade the motherboard if you were thinking about changing out the CPU. The Dell motherboard probably isn't designed to handle the newer chips.

If you were to go that route though, you would probably be better off getting a new tower, since doubtful the new motherboard will fit in the Dell casing with all the ports lining up properly.

That will be my next step. I dropped in an extra 12GB of DDR3 ram (now running 15GB - 4x4x4x1x1x1) - Mine came with 6 1GB RAM boards originally.

I'll take the video card, hard drive, power supply and Radeon 7870 and move them to a new tower with new motherboard and get a newer i7 chip.

But in the meantime the thing works great. The new video card really helps, and the processor still holds its own.
 

Rcmdawg

Honorable
Feb 27, 2013
3
0
10,510
yeah i love the case so i might keep it, but i figured i would need a new motherboard if i wanted a newer processor. I've heard of some people getting new motherboards and fitting just fine in the case. Right now it's running everything fine at 60fps @ 1980x1080 this is with stock motherboard and PSU running the GTX 660 ti, so i'm not too motivated to upgrade soon.
 

chefmike

Reputable
Jul 17, 2014
2
0
4,510
hey i know this is a couple year old thread but im hoping i reach u.....i have the xps9k & i upgraded my GC tho the gtx 750ti. i bought 2 new 4g ram sticks, thinking i could replace a couple at a time as i can afford it. do i need another to replace 3 at once or can i just do 2 for now?