Different PSUs in the XPS 8100/

[Bob825]

I am a newbie here. I have been reading, looking for information about upgrading a video card in a Dell XPS 8100. I haven't found a thread that exactly answers my questions.
The XPS 8100 is sold with optional video cards that require a 6-pin connector, yet the 350 W Chicony power supply (DP/N K159T) that I have in my recently purchased XPS 8100 appears to have no 6-pin PCIe connectors, nor even any free 4-pin Molex connectors to be used with an adapter to create a 6-pin connector. So, does Dell use a different 350 W power supply if one opts for a video card that requres a 6-pin connector?
There appears to be no diagram of the supply wires of the Chicony PSU in the Dell Manuals for the XPS 8100. Am I missing these connectors? Are they inside the PSU box? With the supply wire bundles, I see only 2 unused SATA connectos and a small white P7 connector which I take to be for a floppy. These can't be used to create a 6-pin, right?
If I upgrade the PSU then I void the warranty, right?

 

[thunderclash]

Haha, same problem here. Well, the difference is that I didn't buy the studio xps 8100, just because of it's puny power supply.

I'm in India, and here dell is selling it with a GTX260 at the most.. and how do they accomodate a GTX260 with a 350W power supply you may ask... they underclock it.

I'm pretty sure that the gtx260 uses 6 pin power connectors, but the gt220(the cheapest card you can get with the 8100) doesn't use any external power.. so they may or may not have 6 pin connectors with the PSU.

I had the same issue, and was thinking about getting a 8100 and then changing my power supply and getting a 5850 or similar card.. but well, if you do that, then your warranty gets void(oddly enough, one of the main reasons I was buying a branded computer)

With which graphic card did you order the dell?

 

[Bob825]

I got only the standard G310. I made the assumption that, since better cards, like the GTX 260, were offered as optional, therefore the video card could be upgraded in the future. Apparently that is mostly wrong. Exactly how Dell uses a GTX 260 in this computer is not clear to me. They may underclock it. Or they may have a proprietary version of the GTX 260 which runs on less power and does not require a 6-pin connection. There are, for example, versions of 9800 GTs which require only 400 W and no 6-pin. Or, as I suggested in the first post, they may instead use a different 350 W PSU, one with a 6-pin connector in the wire bundle. I would be curious to hear from anyone who has an XPS 8100, recently purchased, who has a GTX 260 in it, as to what power supply they have. Does it have a 6-pin connector for the video card?

There are some lower power cards that perhaps aren't too bad that one might use, like an HD 5670 perhaps. Doesn't require a 6-pin. Or perhaps a low power 9800 GT.

Meanwhile, a Dell tech support guy informs me by e-mail that the system will not even support an upgrade of the PSU. Presumably he means that it cannot support a PSU with more than 350 W power. I assume that a 350 W with a 6-pin connector would have to be supported. But there is still the problem of probably voiding the warranty.

What is ironic is that, over the phone, two Dell techs previously told me that the XPS 8100 could handle an HD 4850, which recommends 450 W and needs a 6-pin connector. Furthermore, one can go to Dell's website, go to the Performance Desktop page, and choose an XPS 8100 and configure it (personalize it). When one is choosing a video card, one clicks on a link that reads something like - help me choose. One then finds a table of about 15 or 20 video cards with, among other things, an indication of which Dell models can use such cards. There is no URL given by Dell for this table, so I cannot offer a direct link to it. In any case, the HD 4850 is included in the table here, and supposedly it can be used in an XPS. Several other cards which require a 6-pin connector are also listed as working in the XPS 8100. This is apparently false. Or, perhaps it depends on having an XPS with a different 350 W PSU. It all seems like a Catch-22 to me. Or, like false advertising.

 

[Bob825]

I find this interesting. Got an add by e-mail from Dell. Used it to try to find upgrades for my Dell XPS 8100. Links got me to this webpage:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/CompatibleSystems.aspx?usendhs19&sType=2&dmbid=18800&chassisid=8967

Which offers a drop down menu that features two choices which *both* read - XPS 8100. One choice offers upgrades for graphics cards to include the choice of an HD 5860 which requires 6-pin connector. The other XPS 8100 choice offers no video card upgrades at all.

Again I ask. Is there just one version of the XPS 8100, with one PSU offered, or does the XPS 8100 have a different 350 Watt PSU when you buy one configured with a card that needs a 6-pin connector?

 

[Bob825]

Correction. In the previous post I meant the HD 5870.

 

[Bob825]

I feel like an idiot, but in fairness I have to write this. There is indeed a 6-pin PCIe connector with the Chicony K159T power supply that comes with the XPS 8100. And apparently this is the only PSU that comes with the XPS 8100. I had trouble finding the wiring and connector because it was routed toward the front of the computer instead of being folded back with the main power supply wire bundles. The connector could not be seen because when the cover is off with the computer on its side the connector was under the hard drive. A Dell technician helped me find it over the phone. So, I was wrong. The XPS probably can use the higher types of video cards that it claims to be able to use, and it has the 6-pin connector to support them after all. Sorry for anyone whom I unintentionally misled.

 

[Guest]

Good to know, but this still leaves us with the issue of 350W output of the PSU. How does the PSU cope with a HD 5870 which apperantly needs 500W?

 

[Bob825]

I put an HD 4850 in my XPS 8100 and it seems to work just fine, although I haven't overclocked it or pushed it for high-level gaming. It does 1080p Blu-Ray nicely.

Dell tests many video cards and determines if they work properly in different model Dell computers. One can find a table on Dell's website of cards that will work with the 350W power supply even if the card sellers say they require more. At this point I think I would tend to trust Dell's opinion. So, my guess is that the HD 5870, which is on that list, would work all right in the 8100 unless perhaps one tried to overclock it or push it too hard.

Apparently many PSU makers sell PSUs to customers who are NOT likely to be repeat buyers. I suspect that these manufacturers often over rate the wattage of their PSUs.

The video card sellers presumably know this and they don't want their cards being returned all the time so I think the card sellers tend to give requirements on the high side. That way an over rated PSU may still work for the card.

Dell on the other hand wants repeat business, and I think they therefore rate their PSUs conservatively. Perhaps most computer sellers who use OEM products do the same.