Dell XPS 420 direct replacement Card

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Roddyrock

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Dec 1, 2014
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Dear All

Apologies in advance for my silly question as I have never even seen the inside of a pc...!

i wish to change my graphics card from a 8800 Gt to a 650ti/750 ti (so I can play modern games) without changing any other component in my pc (ie psu).

Very grateful if you can advise if this is possible.

System specs (original Dell pack - late 2007):
Intel® Core 2 Quad-Core Processor Q6600 (2.40GHz, 8MB, 1066MHz)
3072MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024/2x512]
SINGLE 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT card
375w PSU
Chip set - Intel x38/48
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium 32 bit
Maximum 4gb OS memory

I would be very grateful for any help or advise you can offer


Many thanks in advance
Roy H
 
Solution
Math Geek
ok so finally got some time and got this thing figured out :) i dusted off an old hdd and installed vista again to test it out, the vista driver worked but was buggy and did not work very well. however, the win 7 driver i am using worked great. i even installed a couple steam games to make sure. here is what you have to do and it is real easy.

1. download this win 7 amd driver http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop/previous/detail?os=Windows%207%20-%2032&rev=14.9

2. double click the exe file like before to extract the files.

3. go to the amd folder it made (like before) and find this file: amd catylist 14.9/packages/drivers/display/wb_inf/cw176153.inf

4. open CW176153.inf and scroll down to the following line. (it is about...
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Thanks for the detailed reply, I feel like a boxer who's done 12 rounds after all the uninstalling/ reinstalling debacle. I'm done in for today and going to take a break and have another crack at it tomorrow. I'll keep you updated 🙂
 
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Ok, updated motherboard bios and made sure all the pc is up to date.

Uninstalled Gpu drivers again, ran cc cleaner all in safe mode.

Followed your instructions to install manually, found fild and all seemed ok until this message-
Update driver software
Windows found driver software for your device but encountered an error while attempting to install it
Amd radeon r9 200 series
This system cannot find the file specified.

I reinserted my old 6850, followed your instructions and came up with the same page saying the systems cannot find the file specified after I led it to the 6850 series software!

The only thing I can think of is to restore It to an earlier time so the 6850 works and send the R9 270 back :-(
 
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I used amd 13.12 catalyst and DDU uninstaller. just checked and windows vista is updated to SP2 and .Net Framework is installed.

i now cant system restore to rectify the drivers so i'm stuck with 2 GPU's, i cant up date the drivers for neither of them now, give me strenght!

 
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ok,

i finally got the 6850 to work with the 13.12 driver after running DDU etc.
i then uninstalled and reinstalled the R9 270 and used the catylist to try to install the drivers.. it would only load the HDMI audio driver.
i then tried loading it manually by math geeks method but it wouldnt work.

i did notice that the 13.12 driver did not have the R9 270 drivers in it, just the generic AMD radeon R9 200 series, radeon R9 255, radeon R9 260, R9 290 and R9 290X?

this i think might be the problem some how?

anyway i reinstalled the old 6850 and its working now. in device manager under display adapters it says AMD Radeon HD 6800 series?

now the R9 270 also had the AMD Radeon R9 200 series in the 13.12 driver, so i cant understand why the catlyst didnt try to install that driver?

anyway i think i'm done with the 270, i just cant get the drivers to load.


 
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sorry been a long day and i just got some time to read through. did some searching and seems that vista drivers are an issue with the r9-2** cards. i found a fix posted a few places that seemed to do the trick.

i will have more time tonight to read threw a bit more but i did this google search "r9-270 vista 32 bit drivers" and see a bunch of posts about the issue you are having. this evening i can read some and see what the solution people found out is. the issue seems to be the fact that the drivers are signed as win 7 and not vista. will need to adjust the inf file to take out win7 only restriction. been a long time since i have done this so will need to read a bit.

i'll post what i find out later this eve. could you do me a favor and post the link for the drivers you are trying to use. this way i can extract it and change the inf file myself and and then just send that to you instead of you having to figure it out yourself. the inf file would then replace the one you have been trying to use. finally, the manual install would be done like i posted above. this should fix it, i just need to see where the reference is at that needs to be changed.

stick with it :) you're almost there
 
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A good suggestion but as I said in previous posts that this is the final upgrade before I start a completely new build. Don't want to be spending too much upgrading windows, PSU, ram etc. This is older equipment that should run the GPU on paper but not it seems in practice.

 
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good morning, i'm sorry i have not finished with your driver issue 🙁 i am in the middle of a family emergency and am just unable to get to it at the moment. things should be back to normal in the next day or two and i promise i will finish up with it as soon as the storm passes.

i hate that i am leaving you hanging but it just can't be avoided right now. if you would pm me a good email address i will email the fixed inf file as soon as i can with some instructions to go with it :) some reading i have done while sitting in waiting rooms makes me pretty positive the problem is the driver signing and that it only needs to be edited to allow the vista install. i just need to have the time to do it.

stopped at home to change clothes and thought i would drop a quick note to explain my buggin out on you.

edit: if anyone else has experience with this edit feel free to do it and post it yourself. i have done it before but need to finish reading to ensure i change every reference that needs to be changed in the inf file.
 
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Hey BAYAN1

Sorry, not sure if you have made further progress but when i first installed my new R9 270x I had the exact same problems you have detailed.

After days of research and pulling my hair out, I followed the step by step manual install (http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/faq/id-2335392/manually-i...), The guide is very clear and offers explanations as you go along and includes the steps to change the .inf file(s).

My 420 now runs the R9 270x just fine, although my device driver displays radeon R9 200 series but this doesn't seem to be an issue,

As helpstar suggested, i also considered upgrading to Win 7 but the price put me off.
 
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ok so finally got some time and got this thing figured out :) i dusted off an old hdd and installed vista again to test it out, the vista driver worked but was buggy and did not work very well. however, the win 7 driver i am using worked great. i even installed a couple steam games to make sure. here is what you have to do and it is real easy.

1. download this win 7 amd driver http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop/previous/detail?os=Windows%207%20-%2032&rev=14.9

2. double click the exe file like before to extract the files.

3. go to the amd folder it made (like before) and find this file: amd catylist 14.9/packages/drivers/display/wb_inf/cw176153.inf

4. open CW176153.inf and scroll down to the following line. (it is about 50 lines down just after the break for "Driver Information") [ATI.Mfg.NTx86.6.1]

5. change the last number from a 1 to a 0 so it reads [ATI.Mfg.NTx86.6.0]

6. save the file and close out notepad.

7. manually install the driver through device manager. chose the following path as you do this update driver/browse my computer for driver software/let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer/have disk/(and now browse to the inf file you changed and select it)

8. it will now have "AMD Radeon R9 200 series" in the model box and just select next and let it install. you will get an unsigned driver warning but let it install anyway.

that's it, you should have an up and running 270 in your system. like i said, i installed vista home premium 32 bit sp2 to make sure it worked as offered. and i got steam playing a game on it right now with no issues at 1080p.

thanks for sticking with it and giving me the time i needed to attend to family matters. if you do not wish to edit the inf file yourself, feel free to pm me an email address and i will send the one i used to you, 😀
 
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Solution
Hi Math Geek and Roddyrock,

I Hope everything is well with your family and the crysis has passed.

Sorry for the late reply, i've been working shifts and my phone email account didn't send me an email notification saying you replied on this thread.

ok here's where i'm at, i got the driver to install 2 days ago, sort of the same route roddyrock went down, installed driver version 13.251.0.0. and my device driver displays radeon R9 200 series.
i've ran three 3DMARK test runs and it averaged a score of 2700, which i thought was good but a bit low. My old 6850 average score was 2050.

Anyway i then ran Rome2 with its own inbuilt benchmark in 1080p with these results-
6850
ultra settings 15.5 FPS
extreme settings 9.7 FPS

R9 270
ultra settings 38.8 FPS
extreme settings 25.8 FPS

Now these real world results were a lot better and what i was hoping for :)

Now i think i've got a good grasp of how to change the INF file thanks to both your help, so Im going to have a crack of reinstalling the way Math Geek has suggested with the newer driver, time permitting, and hopefully see a better 3DMARK score.


 
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ok,

i've followed your install guide, it was real easy as you said and took about 20 minutes. i'm now running the 14.301.1001.0 driver (at last).

Wow, the 3DMARK score is now 3750 on average and its now actually a pleasure to watch the process without it looking like a flick book.

The rome2 scores went up to this with the new driver.
6850
ultra settings 15.5 FPS
extreme settings 9.7 FPS

R9 270
ultra settings 39.7 FPS
extreme settings 26.2 FPS

I am so happy that i listened to your advice and i didn't send the card back. it's been a hard slog but well worth it and i can't thank you all enough. I also learned a lot about drivers 🙂

Can you remember what your scores were in 3DMARK for the 270 and 270X, as the link seems broken?
 
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i'm glad you also saw the buggy vista driver in action. it looked very choppy and such for me too. but the 7 driver looked a lot better.

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/4915907 this is my 270 3dmark score (4399 if the link does not work). you score is still lower but i am willing to bet it is still just windows vista vs win 7. i never actually used vista since it was just so troublesome. only device i bought with it i downgraded to xp and then to 7 when it came out. i am glad i was able to help out and the drivers worked as advertised :)

there is a newer win 7 driver out and you can probably use it as well by changing the inf file the same. i have not tried it but i can't see why it would not work same as this one. since you know how to it, you can play around with the newer/beta drivers if you wish to see what kind of scores you see. i am impressed with the 270's performance on my old machine and consider it the minimum for 1080p as it just seems to hit the sweet spot of not to low but good enough. double the fps of the 6850 is a nice upgrade any way you look at it.

enjoy your gaming 😀
 
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from what i have seen vista is most of the issue. but i do have 4gb ram installed despite using 32 bit windows (i know but not worth the cost on 64 bit just for the other .5gb ram usage for this old pc). but considering the age of the pc to still beat out 40+% or 33% in that other score you posted is pretty good to me :)

just read the shadow of mordor review posted and it looks like i could do 1080p on ultra and still get 40+ fps. not bad for a new game on an 8 yr old pc!!
 
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Hi Math Geek,

I'll definitely be playing around with new drivers and seeing if they improve the Fps in the future. I'm really happy with the 3Dmark score. It just goes to show how rubbish Vista is, as its 650 points less than windows 7 on an identical machine.

If you ever online playing games then say hi if you see me, I play as Bayan and I'm usually playing Red orcastra Darkest hour. Its an older WW2 game but still the best, think COD but ultra realistic and for adults.

Thanks again everyone for all the advice given on this thread 😀

 
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So the card works fine on the XPS 420. The only issue was drivers specifically in Windows Vista?
 
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still running strong on my system :)

only vista driver issue was any problem and if you are still using vista, you can use the guide above to get it working. still daily gaming on the old system and it is loving every minute of it.

edit: as a side note, if you want more card for the old xps system, the new gtx 960 is a stronger card and uses less power than the r9-270. this would be a nice step up for the extra $50 or so depending on current pricing. it will run easily since the 270 runs fine on the stock psu and uses about 30 more watts than the 960.
 
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Thanks guys! And... that's interesting. I pulled the trigger last night on the R9 270. Not sure if it's worth returning and getting the Nvidia instead?
 
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from what i have seen most of the 960's only use a 6 pin. think i have only seen one that needed an 8 pin so far. i'm sure that will change as they begin to oc and add huge coolers to them.

unless your goal is 1080p @ high settings with all the eye candy, then the 270 is enough. it will run 1080 at mid to high depending on the game. newest AAA of course won't run as high. the 960 will be able to handle higher settings by a decent amount. the choice is yours really which you prefer to use. check out some benchmarks to decide depending on what games you play.

i do think that had i been buying now instead of 4-5 months ago, i would probably have gone for the 960 myself just cause i was looking for the best card i could add on the stock psu and the 960 would be it right now. the asus 960 strix or the evga superclocked one still only need a 6 pin connector as far as i have seen. they are very solid cards.
 
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