Question Upgrading an old Dell XPS 8700 to an RTX2060 GPU (need help)

[alphexhunter777]

Hello,

I'm looking to make some cost-effective upgrades to my old Dell XPS 8700 and would appreciate any help!

My goal is to be able to run Nvidia Broadcast (System requirements: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, Quadro RTX 3000, TITAN RTX, or higher) and I also would like to be able to run some new PC games on high graphics settings...

My current specs:
i7-4790 CPU @3.60GHz
RAM 16GB
64-bit OS
GPU Nvidia GeForce GTX 745

Upgrades:
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 MicroATX
PSU: EVGA 600 W1
GPU: Zotac Gaming RTX 2060 Super Mini 8GB Samsung 256-bit GDDR6


I'm just concerned if everything will be compatible or if will I run into any issues with my current RAM and CPU or Hard Drive?

Also, will this 300mm GPU fit the case of the Dell 8700?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

GPU: Zotac Gaming RTX 2060 Super Mini 8GB Samsung 256-bit GDDR6
Is this being bought used?

Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 MicroATX
Why are you changing the motherboard in a prebuilt chassis? As things stand, you should have a Z87 chipset. If so, you're performing a downgrade, not an upgrade.

PSU: EVGA 600 W1
Might want to look into a higher quality unit and you can look into a 550W unit, provided you move to a higher quality unit.

 

[alphexhunter777]

Thanks for the quick reply! Yes, I'm buying the parts off of eBay (never had any issues in the past)...

Regarding the motherboard, that's a good question, I assumed the current motherboard (Dell 0KWVT8) would not be compatible with the new GPU...

Any recommendations of brands for a good budget PSU for these parts?

 

[punkncat]

A few things of note here.

Often Dell uses proprietary connectors for its motherboards and power supplies (but not always). I am not familiar enough with your specific model of XPS to know. Make sure you have standard 24 pin, "CPU" (4+4 generally), and PCI-e connectors for your GPU.

Pay close attention to your front panel connectors as they are often off standard for Dell as well. There are places around that sell various adapters for some of the common types that Dell uses, but would require a bit of footwork on your part.

It is also not uncommon for Dell to BIOS lock their parts to the specific options it was available from them as for graphics cards. I would try and search out a Dell specific forum/post about your exact model to see if others have successfully changed to a different card.

If you are budget limited, it may be worthwhile to stick specifically to making sure your graphics card choice and a suitable power supply will actually be workable inside this system. As to the rest it would be best to save money and consider a platform change to newer standardized parts.

 

[alphexhunter777]

Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it all!

After doing a few searches on the internet, I came across a user on the Dell community that managed to get it to work: https://www.dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/XPS-8700-RTX-2060-GPU-upgrade-issues/td-p/7284873 (sorry, if this is against the rules to post outside links)

Besides the added cost of a new motherboard, and as you mentioned @punkncat Dell uses proprietary software to lock some new hardware upgrades, it may just be best to upgrade the GPU & PSU and maybe add to a new 120mm double bearing fan to keep the case cool...