What's the best graphics card my XPS 8500 can take?

[plrbear1028]

Just wondering if upgrading and gaming is worth the money too. SO what's the best card I can fit in my XPS? i7 3770k is the CPU and if you want to know anyone else, let me know

 

[Tradesman1]

You've a PCI-E 2 slot so can run most anything, may need a better PSU for it as I theingk the 8500 only came with like a 450 PSU or so (they are normally chintzy on prebuilt rigs) 😉

 

[TheMentalist]

Some people have tried to upgrade their 8500, but there has been issues with the graphics card. Dell motherboards doesn't support all the graphics cards out there like other boards. You are also very limited by your dell power supply. I say a 750ti (EVGA: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487024) would be a good upgrade for your machine. Physically this card will fit in your case and the power draw of this card is fine. It won't even need a 6 or 8 pin PCIe power cable.

 

[kalijaga]

I have the dell XPS8500 as well, and its power supply although is rated at 460w, I do not think can handle more than 350w continuously at the 12v rail. The motherboard only has a single PCIE x16 slot. The chassis have a HDD frame that will block power connectors to graphic card of more than 11inch.
My humble opinion is to find a card that is less than 10.5 inch long and upgrade your PSU to something better.
I did mine with a gtx 680 and seasonic x660. Fits perfectly with some struggling.

good luck.

 

[plrbear1028]

Some people have tried to upgrade their 8500, but there has been issues with the graphics card. Dell motherboards doesn't support all the graphics cards out there like other boards. You are also very limited by your dell power supply. I say a 750ti (EVGA: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487024) would be a good upgrade for your machine. Physically this card will fit in your case and the power draw of this card is fine. It won't even need a 6 or 8 pin PCIe power cable.

so I should get a new motherboard then?

 

[TheMentalist]

I think the power supply is the first thing to upgrade. Take a look at this: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3515/t/19474677.aspx

 

[kalijaga]

I agree with the point that with any top tier GPU, the PSU needs to be upgraded as well. The choice of PSU is unlimited just like the choice of GPUs. The limiting factor would be the chassis.

Good luck.