I'm planning to upgrade my graphic card to a GTX 980 and my CPU to a i7-4790K

[Justin Hsu]

I have a Dell studio XPS 8100, though I did some upgrade before.

here's the specs
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 650 @ 3.20GHz
Manufacturer Intel
Speed 3.2 GHz
Number of Cores 2
CPU ID BFEBFBFF00020655
Family 06
Model 25
Stepping 5
Revision 04

Video Card AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series
Manufacturer ATI
Chipset AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series
Dedicated Memory 1024 MB
Total Memory 4.0 GB
Pixel Shader Version 5.0
Vertex Shader Version 5.0
Hardware T & L Yes
Vendor ID 1002
Device ID 6739
Plug and Play ID VEN_1002&DEV_6739&SUBSYS_03B41043&REV_00
Driver Version 15.200.1062.0

Memory 8.1 GB

Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition Service Pack 1 (build 7601), 64-bit
Service Pack 1
Size 64 Bit
Edition Home Premium
Version 6.1.7601
Locale 0804

BIOS Default System BIOS
Version Dell Inc. A05
Manufacturer Dell Inc.
Date 08/16/32

Power supply Thermaltake TR2 RX 650W

I search on the internet saying this might also need to upgrade my power supply too, but it's all fine, I just wonder if the motherboard is compatible for 980 and i7

 

[The Recchi]

But...where's the motherboard?

 

[Sergeant_Sneaky]

Your current motherboard isn't compatible with the i7 you plan on purchasing as it is a different socket. You will need to buy a Z97 motherboard (Socket 1150).
Sidenote: 980s are pretty long cards, so you'll need to make sure you'd have enough room in your case for one.

 

[Justin Hsu]

But...where's the motherboard?

It's a 0G3HR7 model for xps 8100

 

[Justin Hsu]

Your current motherboard isn't compatible with the i7 you plan on purchasing as it is a different socket. You will need to buy a Z97 motherboard (Socket 1150).
Sidenote: 980s are pretty long cards, so you'll need to make sure you'd have enough room in your case for one.

Thanks for your reply, does Z97 motherboard accept ST31000528AS hard drive?

 

[The Recchi]

Thanks for your reply, does Z97 motherboard accept ST31000528AS hard drive?

Yep, you'll have no problem with that.

 

[Kisianik]

Basically you will need to build a new PC......

 

[Justin Hsu]

Thanks for your reply, does Z97 motherboard accept ST31000528AS hard drive?

Yep, you'll have no problem with that.

thanks for the reply, so what if I upgrade my CPU to a i7 870 rather than 4790k, would there be any problem with GTX 980?

 

[Kisianik]

First maximum upgrades for XPS 8100:

WFM1Y Lynnfield I7-880, 3.06, 8MB, LYN, B1
717FP Lynnfield I7-870, 2.93, 8MB, 95W, B1
TJG6J Lynnfield I7-860, 2.80, 8MB, 95W

Technological benchmarks:

I7-880 - 5744

i5- 650 - 3145

I7-880 is QUAD vs i5- 650 is DUAL only, so you will see the difference. However pricing on eBay is terrible, so stepping down to i7-870 is a good idea, pricing is around $110 or so.

Now going to video card upgrade. Let see some pictures

I have seen confirmation of 13 inch card installed. I think, in this case GPU will go under mounted hard drive.

I think that GTX980 will be too much for your processor, GTX 960 will be much better.

This card reported here to work with Dell original power supply ASUS GeForce GTX 960 STRIX
Note, if you want another card, your original PSU (350 watt) has only one 6 pin supplemental power connector.

If you want to upgrade higher, GTX 970 or 980, you will need also power supply upgrade.

But, if, or I can say, for sure, stronger cards will bottleneck your CPU, and this will create glitches, frame dropping in games, so you don't have really go that high.

Hey, I have 4790K with GTX 970 and very happy with combination....

 

[Justin Hsu]

First maximum upgrades for XPS 8100:

WFM1Y Lynnfield I7-880, 3.06, 8MB, LYN, B1
717FP Lynnfield I7-870, 2.93, 8MB, 95W, B1
TJG6J Lynnfield I7-860, 2.80, 8MB, 95W

Technological benchmarks:

I7-880 - 5744

i5- 650 - 3145

I7-880 is QUAD vs i5- 650 is DUAL only, so you will see the difference. However pricing on eBay is terrible, so stepping down to i7-870 is a good idea, pricing is around $110 or so.

Now going to video card upgrade. Let see some pictures

I have seen confirmation of 13 inch card installed. I think, in this case GPU will go under mounted hard drive.

I think that GTX980 will be too much for your processor, GTX 960 will be much better.

This card reported here to work with Dell original power supply ASUS GeForce GTX 960 STRIX
Note, if you want another card, your original PSU (350 watt) has only one 6 pin supplemental power connector.

If you want to upgrade higher, GTX 970 or 980, you will need also power supply upgrade.

But, if, or I can say, for sure, stronger cards will bottleneck your CPU, and this will create glitches, frame dropping in games, so you don't have really go that high.

Hey, I have 4790K with GTX 970 and very happy with combination....

Thanks for the information man! Well, I'm now leaning towards building a new rig