XPS 8300 GPU Upgrade

Alkers

I have a Dell XPS 8300 from about 2012 with the following specs:

Base - Intel® Core™ i7-2600 Processor (3.40GHz, 8MB)
Memory - 12288MB Dual Channel DDR3 1333MHz [2x4096 + 2x2048] Memory
Video Card - NVIDIA® GeForce GT 530 1GB DDR3 Graphics Card
Hard Drive - 1.5TB Dual Hard Drive No RAID (500GB & 1TB 7200rpm)

I am looking to upgrade the GPU (which may be onboard) as it sems to be well below spec with the rest of the pc. What is the easierst way of finding out what GPU upgrades are compatible in terms of space within the case, power supply capacity and physical connections? I used to build PCs about 10 years ago but have not kept up with advances since. It should be noted that the pc is connected to a projector and not a monitor so I will need either DVI or HDMI out.

I am interested in playing Cities: Skylines which has the following requirements:

MINIMUM:
OS: Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1 (64-bit)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo, 3.0GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+, 3.2GHz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: nVIDIA GeForce GTX 260, 512 MB or ATI Radeon HD 5670, 512 MB (Does not support Intel Integrated Graphics Cards)
DirectX: Version 9.0c
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 4 GB available space

RECOMMENDED:
OS: Microsoft Windows 7/8 (64-bit)
Processor: Intel Core i5-3470, 3.20GHz or AMD FX-6300, 3.5Ghz
Memory: 6 GB RAM
Graphics: nVIDIA GeForce GTX 660, 2 GB or AMD Radeon HD 7870, 2 GB (Does not support Intel Integrated Graphics Cards)
DirectX: Version 11
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 4 GB available space

TerrorFirmer

A GTX1050Ti is a good bet for around €160. Everything in your PC is fine except for the video card which would not even have been a gaming card in 2012 - it's a multimedia card really.

Even a GTX1050 for €110 is a massive upgrade and would meet the recommended spec for Skylines, as well as play most AAA titles reasonably well at 1080p.

Either will meet your needs, and won't require any additional power from the PSU - just plug and play.

Alkers

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

A GTX1050Ti is a good bet for around €160. Everything in your PC is fine except for the video card which would not even have been a gaming card in 2012 - it's a multimedia card really.

Even a GTX1050 for €110 is a massive upgrade and would meet the recommended spec for Skylines, as well as play most AAA titles reasonably well at 1080p.

Either will meet your needs, and won't require any additional power from the PSU - just plug and play.

Thanks for that, where'd you see those cards at those prices?

Also, do you know if my main board has a PCI-e slot which will accomodate either of them?

TerrorFirmer

Yes, it does. Amazon have the GTX1050 for about €115 (Zotac Mini) and GTX1050Ti for about €150 (Palit Storm).

Alkers

Thanks very much! As a last question, are there any older cards which you think would fit the bill which I could pick up second hand? Ideally I'd like something which is passively cooled when not under load - PC is used in home cinema.

Thanks

Lu Tze

Simona1986 wrote: »

Thanks very much! As a last question, are there any older cards which you think would fit the bill which I could pick up second hand? Ideally I'd like something which is passively cooled when not under load - PC is used in home cinema.

Thanks

You could get a second hand older card with similar or better performance for the same price, but these will tend to have a higher power draw (made need to replace power supply) and generate more heat so likely the fan(s) will be louder.

Palit do a passive 1050ti (kalm x) but you would have to make sure you have a decent airflow from the case fans when gaming. You can setup up a custom fan profile with any card, keep fan speed to a minimum until you hit a certain temperature, should be very quiet for watching films etc

Charlie-Bravo

Sorry for hijacking the thread. I have this same XPS 8300 machine which I acquired when it was a bargain alert on here. Unfortunately my hard drive has completely died, and I am unable to copy the recovery partition. What's the best way about going and getting a copy of the recovery partition for this particular machine to reinstall Windows 7 in Hope of an upgrade in due course to Windows 10?

robcon

astrofluff wrote: »

Sorry for hijacking the thread. I have this same XPS 8300 machine which I acquired when it was a bargain alert on here. Unfortunately my hard drive has completely died, and I am unable to copy the recovery partition. What's the best way about going and getting a copy of the recovery partition for this particular machine to reinstall Windows 7 in Hope of an upgrade in due course to Windows 10?

http://www.dell.com/support/contents/ie/en/iebsdt1/article/Product-Support/Self-support-Knowledgebase/software-and-downloads/dell-backup-solutions/Media-backup

Charlie-Bravo

You Sir, are a gent.*



*If I use the masculine, I also mean the feminine, and vice versa, and however you identify yourself!

Charlie-Bravo

Just a note: I downloaded the tool but wouldn't accept my service tag. It did however redirect me to a media creation page on MS for downloading my particular Win10 version (yes, Win10 and not Win7 media). Installed it using the serial key on the machine that was originally for Win7. So all is now good.

Your step above did help me find the answer although indirectly.