Upgrades Possible? Or system revamp?

[RezMePlz]

Hello,
I want to upgrade (again) my stock dell xps 7100
has stock mobo (not sure exact model)
Hello! First, the current SPECS
athlon IIx4 630 propus 2.8 (reading 2.7?)
8gb crucial ballistix rams
stock psu :*( (like 400w, not sure recently reinstalled it)
AMD HD 2600XT GPU (like 256mb)

OK, I've upgraded this machine before with OCZ 600w PSU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Which im like 97% sure murdered this HiS AMD7950
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Bought my first pc upgrades, it was summer of '13, i was a young lad, with a wallet full o green and a brain full o dreams, after browsing newegg, learning everything i could (in one hour) on the web I decided to buy (previously stated GPU/PSU/RAM), it arrived, i installed, (weird driver probs took a day to figure ((no more AMD for me)) and was blown away by the gfx (coming from the 2600xt and Ps3 i was in shock) and system was 100% until about Oct 2014, first artifacts appeared.
(and after months of artifacts, hard reboots from black screens) gpu would die on load everytime then just wouldnt display at all (after about a year of strenuous gaming), few days after removing 7950, re installing (and blowing the dust off) the 2600xt, the system runs fine (if you call that fine) after next windows update wont power on, ah heck. Reinstall stock PSU and back up and running!
Now, as much as i enjoy a gpu from 2007, I need better, I would like to upgrade but Im worried.

Did my (cheap) previous PSU kill the 7950 or was it some kind of incompatibility?(im new at this)

Will this old quad core bottle neck anything new i want to put in?

Any recommendations on a PSU/GPU combo that would do my Dell well? (heheh)

Is this mobo a snake in the grass?

Ive been drooling over these 2, but want a little help before making a buy, what do you pros think?

GIGABYTE GTX 960 (2gb)
CORSAIR CXM600M (600w, bronze cert.)

And RAM, my system doesnt "feel" like it needs more, but what do I know imirite?
I have 2 slot open fore more/better!

Thanks for reading !! Any tips/comments will be read and hopefully enjoyed and helpful!

 

[Kisianik]

This is strange regarding OSZ power supply issue, weird.

Anyway, your CPU will bottleneck GTX 960, if you determined to make your XPS a beast, you should consider upgrading CPU first, you can go up to AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition or 1090T Black Edition, those 2 can be overclocked (this is the last Dell with AMD CPUs, which can be overclocked), after this you can upgrade your GPU to 960 with appropriate PSU.

You can see my signature Inspiron 570, what I done with this, your XPS is from the same AMD Dell motherboard line, so CPU upgrade is very similar.

If you up to this, I will help, it is not going to be easy, but rewarding, for sure.

So?

Or you can build a new PC, but you would have to spend more money, for sure.....

 

[mwhybark]

This is strange regarding OSZ power supply issue, weird.

Anyway, your CPU will bottleneck GTX 960, if you determined to make your XPS a beast, you should consider upgrading CPU first, you can go up to AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition or 1090T Black Edition, those 2 can be overclocked (this is the last Dell with AMD CPUs, which can be overclocked), after this you can upgrade your GPU to 960 with appropriate PSU.

You can see my signature Inspiron 570, what I done with this, your XPS is from the same AMD Dell motherboard line, so CPU upgrade is very similar.

If you up to this, I will help, it is not going to be easy, but rewarding, for sure.

So?

Or you can build a new PC, but you would have to spend more money, for sure.....

Hey Kisanik, can you take a look at this i570 thread over on the Dell forums? Short story, trying to get a 960 to work with i570, no luck. I do have the CPU upgrade components in hand but wanted to just get the card operating first.

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3515/p/19638117/20797281

(sorry to hijack, will be making a thread here too).

UPDATE, local thread here now: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2747307/gtx-960-dell-inspirion-570.html

 

[Kisianik]

This is strange regarding OSZ power supply issue, weird.

Anyway, your CPU will bottleneck GTX 960, if you determined to make your XPS a beast, you should consider upgrading CPU first, you can go up to AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition or 1090T Black Edition, those 2 can be overclocked (this is the last Dell with AMD CPUs, which can be overclocked), after this you can upgrade your GPU to 960 with appropriate PSU.

You can see my signature Inspiron 570, what I done with this, your XPS is from the same AMD Dell motherboard line, so CPU upgrade is very similar.

If you up to this, I will help, it is not going to be easy, but rewarding, for sure.

So?

Or you can build a new PC, but you would have to spend more money, for sure.....

Hey Kisanik, can you take a look at this i570 thread over on the Dell forums? Short story, trying to get a 960 to work with i570, no luck. I do have the CPU upgrade components in hand but wanted to just get the card operating first.

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3515/p/19638117/20797281

(sorry to hijack, will be making a thread here too).

UPDATE, local thread here now: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2747307/gtx-960-dell-inspirion-570.html

Take a look at Dell forum.

 

[RezMePlz]

Thanks for the reply!

Seems I have to upgrade my CPU for sure :*(
I'm having alot of trouble finding an AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition (new)

 

[RezMePlz]

Also those CPUs cost more than i would like to spend on the entire rig

 

[RezMePlz]

Only 1090T i could find was 365$

 

[Kisianik]

Only 1090T i could find was 365$

eBay is your best friend here http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-Phenom-II-X6-1090T-3-2-GHz-Six-Core-CPU-Processor-HDT90ZFBK6DGR-Socket-AM3-/141332710394
and similar.

Let me know if you want to go this route.

 

[RezMePlz]

is the 1100T black ed. vastly superior to the 1090?

again thank you for your help Kisianik

 

[Kisianik]

Not much difference in terms of performance.
What is your primary interest are the following:

Phenom II X6 1075T Black Edition
Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition would be my personal choice since XPS was sold with this one
Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition

XPS 7100 was manufactured with:

AMD Phenom II X6 1035T
AMD Phenom II X6 1045T
AMD Phenom II X6 1055T
AMD Phenom II X6 1075T
AMD Phenom II X6 1090T
AMD Athlon II X4 630
AMD Athlon II X4 630
AMD Athlon II X4 640
AMD Athlon II X4 645
AMD Phenom II X4 820
AMD Phenom II X4 830
AMD Phenom II X4 945

http://en.community.dell.com/what-do-i-buy/for_home/f/4510/p/19430008/20026793#20026793
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/p/19516132/20409725#20409725
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/p/19393216/19919004#19919004

Black Edition AMD can be overclocked using AMD OverDrive (AOD for short) in Dell Inspiron 570 and XPS 7100, I found out this by an experiment, it is not supported by Dell oficials.

You need to read my Inspiron 579 upgrade guide to see what could happened during upgrade http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19490818

Your steps would be different, but idea would be the same.

What you must do during an upgrade is to upgrade CPU heatsink (your choice would be different) and reinstall Windows 7 using non Dell .iso image, I hope my guide links are still functional.

For maximum overclock, you will have to change XPS case for a different one with more cooling/fans options - this is an advanced stage, to be done after little overclock worked with an original CPU cooler, you do't want to buy small cooler to fit your case and than, if your decide to change the case for a bigger one, buy a bigger cooler, this is what I have done, so I have a lot of left over parts....


I did some search of Dell community forum for extra material so I don't have to do it again later:

Further reading http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/p/19437165/20054805#20054805 for ferified cooler upgrade
Just in case if needed to play with BIOS http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/p/19490775/20297790#20297790
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19369875?pi21953=2#19944876

And this is the place for drivers and info in the future, if needed.

So, basically, you need 1090T Black Edition, price is OK, just choose wisely http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=Phenom+II+X6+1075t&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1311.R1.TR3.TRC1.A0.H0.XPhenom+II+X6+1090t.TRS0&_nkw=phenom+ii+x6+1090t&_sacat=0

Use http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-Phenom%20II%20X6%201090T%20Black%20Edition%20-%20HDT90ZFBK6DGR%20%28HDT90ZFBGRBOX%29.html for verification of CPU part numbers.


More will come when you will be ready, if you decide to go this way.

Your turn now.

 

[RezMePlz]

Decided on

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card
Corsair 760T White ATX Full Tower Case
Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

 

[RezMePlz]

At this point should i just replace the mobo?

i have a flash drive with win7 .iso, just use as boot device and install right? still have my win. key

 

[Kisianik]

At this point should i just replace the mobo?

i have a flash drive with win7 .iso, just use as boot device and install right? still have my win. key

If you decide to change MOBO it would be better to go and build completely new system since 1090T is thing of the past and it would be beneficial to go with Intel now.
It is all depend on your skill level and budget.

If you want to save a lot, upgrading is your choice, if you keep losing $100 bills here and there - build a new one.

Regarding your case choice - it is beautiful looking, but not practical in terms of cooling, I know, I have exactly the same, white as well with 4790K and GTX970. No side fans, only front 2 and up to 3 upper panel, huge, no good air circulation, it is good case for water cooling. Also, it is USB 3.0 and your XPS is USB 2.0.
Case like mine is much more practical - 2 fans in front, 1 on the side panel and 2 on top panel, smaller, better air circulation.
Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze has many negative reviews on newegg.
Don't use sleeve bearing, doesn't last long, double ball, SSO2, fluid bearing are the best choice. I have Noctua NH-D14 in Corsair 760T, fits perfect and silent, however doen't do a perfect job due to lack of fresh air despite upgrades of the case fans to much stronger ones.