Upgrade help with Dell XPS 8300

[JJNoob]

I have a Dell XPS 8300 with a 460w PSU. I want to upgrade the PSU to somewhere in the neighborhood of a 550-650W PSU. My burning question is whether or not I can fit an NVIDIA GTX 780 in it. It has the water cooling unit of a TITAN on it, instead of the huge reference cooler that came stock.

 

[Barty1884]

You should be able to upgrade the PSU, from what I've read the 8300 isn't a proprietary PSU (which alot of Dell's are), so you're good there.

As far as the GTX 780 with water cooling.....is it a self-contained water cooling unit? Or is it a water cooling block?
I'm not aware of a stand-alone, self-contained water cooling unit for this GPU only......and you'll need a liquid cooling setup to use just the block - I'm assuming your rig isn't liquid cooled at the moment?

 

[JJNoob]

You should be able to upgrade the PSU, from what I've read the 8300 isn't a proprietary PSU (which alot of Dell's are), so you're good there.

As far as the GTX 780 with water cooling.....is it a self-contained water cooling unit? Or is it a water cooling block?
I'm not aware of a stand-alone, self-contained water cooling unit for this GPU only......and you'll need a liquid cooling setup to use just the block - I'm assuming your rig isn't liquid cooled at the moment?

It has the Titan/780 Heatkiller waterblock unit on it. much slimmer than the reference cooler that also came with it. it is not liquid cooled at the moment

 

[Barty1884]

So the cooling block would require you to upgrade to liquid cooling in order to use - that's the part I was getting at.

Not sure of the room you'll have to install this set up. The card will fit, no problem with that, it's everything else...

 

[JJNoob]

So the cooling block would require you to upgrade to liquid cooling in order to use - that's the part I was getting at.

Not sure of the room you'll have to install this set up. The card will fit, no problem with that, it's everything else...

I can revert it to its reference state. It came with it. I am completely clueless about the watercooling. If I could purchase the remaining system of tubing and what not, I would consider it. But if I were to upgrade the PSU to have the 8-pin and 6-pin connections needed for this card, the 11.5" length shouldn't be a problem?

 

[Barty1884]

Sounds like there was poor case dimensions with the XFS8300
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1946946/graphics-card-dell-xps-8300.html

I'd suggest you open the case & physically measure the length you can fit before making a purchase.

There's conflicting information online (some say yes to full size, others only half-sized. There's even suggestions low profile is the only way to go). The only way to know for sure is to open it up & measure.

 

[JJNoob]

I know right. I have the card, so I got some thinking to do.

 

[Barty1884]

I know right. I have the card, so I got some thinking to do.

Should be fairly easy to figure out those. Open the case up, measure where the GPU is currently (and any space leftover) and see if that leaves enough room for the GPU you have.

Width doesn't seem to be an issue in the case, even if you put the stock reference cooler back on. Length should be the only issue you face, but measure height too, just to be safe.

 

[JJNoob]

It fit fine. The only setback was having to purchase two 2ft SATA cables to fit up and over this beast of a card. I got a 600w Thermaltake from BestBuy and some cables and some thermal compound for reinstalling the reference cooler, and boom.

so far so good. this mofo is by far worth every penny. SInce I got it in like new shape for 200, the cost of a decent PSU still made this a bargain, and my system is shit hot right now, at least for me. It aint 4k, but its sweet like bear meat.