Dell Xps 8700 graphics card upgrade

[Davisaurus]

About a year ago I purchased a Dell Xps 8700 from Costco during a sale. The specs are:
Intel Core i7 4770 (3.4 Ghz)
Nvidia Geforce Gtx 645 1 GB(OEM)
16 GB DDr3 RAM
460 watt PSU

Dell states that the following cards are compatible:
nVidia GeForce GTX 660, GTX 645, GTX 650Ti, GTX 660
AMD Radeon HD 7570, HD8870

What is the best card that will fit inside the case, not require a new psu, and be compatible with the xps 8700? Pricing is not a big issue, however I do not want to go much past 200$.

 

[clutchc]

Well, the GTX 660 is the best of your list. But your PSU must be fairly good size to allow that 140W card to be used.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600364399&IsNodeId=1&name=GeForce%20GTX%20660

Can you find the nameplate specs on the PSU? You might be able to even get more card for a $200 budget if the PSU can handle it.

 

[Davisaurus]

Well, the GTX 660 is the best of your list. But your PSU must be fairly good size to allow that 140W card to be used.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600364399&IsNodeId=1&name=GeForce%20GTX%20660

Can you find the nameplate specs on the PSU? You might be able to even get more card for a $200 budget if the PSU can handle it.

The PSU is a 460 Watt OEM PSU made by Delta Electronics. It has a maximum combined +12V current rating of 32 Amps and has two 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors. Is this what you were looking for?

 

[clutchc]

Well, the GTX 660 is the best of your list. But your PSU must be fairly good size to allow that 140W card to be used.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600364399&IsNodeId=1&name=GeForce%20GTX%20660

Can you find the nameplate specs on the PSU? You might be able to even get more card for a $200 budget if the PSU can handle it.

The PSU is a 460 Watt OEM PSU made by Delta Electronics. It has a maximum combined +12V current rating of 32 Amps and has two 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors. Is this what you were looking for?

Exactly. That will put the GTX 660 about the fastest Nvidia card you'd want to use with that PSU. But that also puts the AMD R9-270 in as a contender. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%204017%20600481061&IsNodeId=1&name=Radeon%20R9%20270

 

[Davisaurus]

Well, the GTX 660 is the best of your list. But your PSU must be fairly good size to allow that 140W card to be used.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600364399&IsNodeId=1&name=GeForce%20GTX%20660

Can you find the nameplate specs on the PSU? You might be able to even get more card for a $200 budget if the PSU can handle it.

The PSU is a 460 Watt OEM PSU made by Delta Electronics. It has a maximum combined +12V current rating of 32 Amps and has two 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connectors. Is this what you were looking for?

Exactly. That will put the GTX 660 about the fastest Nvidia card you'd want to use with that PSU. But that also puts the AMD R9-270 in as a contender. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%204017%20600481061&IsNodeId=1&name=Radeon%20R9%20270

The AMD R9 270 has a minimum power requirement of 500 watts. Looking at different Gtx 660 options, which one will give me the most power for the cost? Will any 660 options exceed what my psu can handle or be too big for the case?

 

[clutchc]

According to Dell, it will be fine. Nvidia recommends a 450W PSU minimum: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-660/specifications

I added the R9-270 as an option because 1) it's a tiny bit faster and 2) I have a budget build in service now with the R9-270 on a Rosewill Arc 450W PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182295
Before letting it go out the door, I tested it with games and stress tests. There was still plenty of headroom available with the 450W. But of course, you do what you're most comfortable with. Either card will be a nice improvement over what you have now.

 

[Davisaurus]

According to Dell, it will be fine. Nvidia recommends a 450W PSU minimum: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-660/specifications

I added the R9-270 as an option because 1) it's a tiny bit faster and 2) I have a budget build in service now with the R9-270 on a Rosewill Arc 450W PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182295
Before letting it go out the door, I tested it with games and stress tests. There was still plenty of headroom available with the 450W. But of course, you do what you're most comfortable with. Either card will be a nice improvement over what you have now.

Do you think this is perhaps the best Gtx 660 for the price? I would like the extra GB of graphics RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130911&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Desktop+Graphics+Cards-_-N82E16814130911&gclid=CNTP967WkcICFYdcMgodnE4Apg

 

[clutchc]

Not the best for the price, no. But a really good card. Evga has one of the best warranties.
This would be one of the best for the money: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130967
It has a faster core clock. But it only has 2GB VRAM. Few games make use of more than 2GB VRAM at 1080p and below. But games are always improving on textures, AA, AF, and DOF... all which use up VRAM.
So you have the choice of going for VRAM or clock speed.

 

[meltor13]

Not to hijack this thread, but I recently bought an 8700. Mine comes with an i7-4790 and I only got 12 GB of DDR3, same amount of PSU (460 W). I would be interested to know if those above options are the best available for that power supply or if that was just the best available for that given price range. Either way, I'm looking into probably upgrading my card as well.

 

[clutchc]

Not to hijack this thread, but I recently bought an 8700. Mine comes with an i7-4790 and I only got 12 GB of DDR3, same amount of PSU (460 W). I would be interested to know if those above options are the best available for that power supply or if that was just the best available for that given price range. Either way, I'm looking into probably upgrading my card as well.

According to the specs that the OP listed for the PSU, the GTX 660 is about the highest one should safely go w/o changing the PSU to something with a bit more capacity. I suggested the R9-270 (non-X) as another option if AMD is to one's liking. It only requires 10W more at max load than the GTX 660, and I had no problem using it on the 450W PSU that I mentioned above*.
http://www.hwcompare.com/16566/geforce-gtx-660-vs-radeon-r9-270/

Here's the food chain for gfx card performance (roughly): http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

* (the 450W PSU I used: +12V rail rated at 420W, 35A.)

 

[deskbound]

I just bought one of those machines at Costco last night. I haven't opened it up yet, but looked through the vent on the side to determine expansion options. Many of those cards we are looking at have double slot requirements. I don't remember if those 8700s have two slots available. Am I mixed up on this?

 

[clutchc]

I just bought one of those machines at Costco last night. I haven't opened it up yet, but looked through the vent on the side to determine expansion options. Many of those cards we are looking at have double slot requirements. I don't remember if those 8700s have two slots available. Am I mixed up on this?

I'm assuming this is the PC we are talking about: http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-8700/pd
If so, this is what it should look like from the rear with a dual slot card installed: http://core4.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/07/1253541_bk_1160-100047018-large.jpg

Let's make sure we are all talking the same PC.

 

[deskbound]

thanks for the pic. I'll check it when I get home tonight. I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I bought this. I've built my last few computers but my wife needed something ASAP for video/photoshop rendering. the great processor and RAM are what sold me on this for those purposes alone. I thought I'd slip in a better Vid Card, though, for my "work"... that looks like that back, but I'll verify. it's the 3312, I believe.
next will be an SSD.

 

[deskbound]

i forgot to mention that it's got 16 gigs of memory and comes with Win 7 Pro, which I MUCH prefer to Win 8

 

[clutchc]

[strike][/strike]

i forgot to mention that it's got 16 gigs of memory and comes with Win 7 Pro, which I MUCH prefer to Win 8

Same here. After trying Win8/8.1 and the Win 10 trial, I see no reason I will be switching from Win7 to something that is less intuitive.

 

[Guest]

Would a GTX 960 work with the stock PSU when it comes out (Since the 900 series uses less power)?

 

[clutchc]

Would a GTX 960 work with the stock PSU when it comes out (Since the 900 series uses less power)?

Let's wait and see what the actual TDP is and how many 6/8 pin connectors are required for the card before we make a judgement. The GTX 970 is 145W, so it would seem logical that the GTX 960 would be less.

 

[Guest]

Would a GTX 960 work with the stock PSU when it comes out (Since the 900 series uses less power)?

Let's wait and see what the actual TDP is and how many 6/8 pin connectors are required for the card before we make a judgement. The GTX 970 is 145W, so it would seem logical that the GTX 960 would be less.

Well the GTX 960 is out, which variant will fit? MSI, EVGA, ASUS, etc.

I'm worried about height and gpu sag.

 

[clutchc]

Would a GTX 960 work with the stock PSU when it comes out (Since the 900 series uses less power)?

Let's wait and see what the actual TDP is and how many 6/8 pin connectors are required for the card before we make a judgement. The GTX 970 is 145W, so it would seem logical that the GTX 960 would be less.

Well the GTX 960 is out, which variant will fit? MSI, EVGA, ASUS, etc.

I'm worried about height and gpu sag.

Nvidia recommends a 400W PSU and a single 6 pin (75W) for the reference card. But be aware that many manufacturers will be selling custom designs that may be factory OC'ed. And may even need an 8 pin (150W).
But it appears to be a better choice by far than the GTX 660.

I've never been troubled by "sag". Even on the long R9-290X I have now. Heigth should not be an issue unless the case has a weird design. Length may be an issue, however. be sure to check the length of the card you decide on against the room you have in your case. But most of them I've seen appear to be 9.5" to 10" long.