Dell XPS 420 Upgrades?

Yuley

Yuley

Yuley

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16 Aug 2013
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11
Hi There,

I have a Dell XPS 420

Dell xps 420
Bios: Phoenix Ron bios plus version 1.10 a06
Processor: intel (r) core (Tm) 2 quad CPU q8200 @ 2.33ghz (4cpus) 2.3 ghz
Memory: 3326 mb ram
Page file: 1268 used 5609mb available
DirectX 10
Windows 32 bit
ATI Radeon 3870

I recently bought some games such as witcher 2 etc. I cant even turn the character around without abysmal lag. I was looking for a new graphics card & any other upgrades to the computer that I can make as well as the graphics card to make it run and play games on semi decent graphics.
It wouldn't matter about the budget as I would just like to know what upgrades I can make.

I was pointed towards this card : ''The Radeon R7 260X ''
and wondered if this was the correct one?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-329-SP

*I'm not really clued up, A lot of computer stuff goes straight over my head. Thought I would come to some guys with some experience. If at all possible I would like all the upgrades to come from overclockers as I would like to use them as my supplier...*

Sorry for being so noob about this!

Thanks

Liam
 
What kind of budget are you looking at? Depends on your budget, I'd firstly start with getting rid of that ATI card, and whack Windows 7/8 64bit onto your system, then you can get yourself some more RAM and make use of it. Maybe even a CPU/Mobo upgrade too, but entirely depends on your budget.
 
Lets just say maybe 300/400?

Thanks for taking the time.

I would typically like to even be able to play titanfall on release ...obviously not expecting any amazing graphics! but at least play games like these too.
 
Last edited:
No problem, got nothing else to do lol.

Do you have a PSU? What rating? Also would you be able to re-use a case and optical/DVD drive?
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £169.99
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 270X Boost OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Card £143.99
1 x MSI Z87-G43 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard - FREE Alpenfohn Civetta Cooler!! £86.99
1 x Avexir MPower Yellow Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CM) £49.99
Total : £460.56 (includes shipping : £8.00).




Assuming you can get like £60-£70 for re-sale of your old stuff, this would be a very capable machine. Also assuming you can re-use PSU and case, but if not I have a work-around in mind :)
 
Don't have time to investigate properly right now, but Dell often use custom cases and PSU's, so be careful.

There may be more powerful PSU's that will fit in the same Dell case though, that would save *some* money, if necessary.
 
Yeah, you could pick up a case for ~£30 and a capable enough PSU for ~£50. I thought the same about the Dell system, they always have funny ways of building computers :)

Here's a great i5 build but a good chunk over the budget.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £169.99
1 x Sapphire Radeon R7 260X OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (11222-06-20G) £99.95
1 x MSI Z87-G43 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard - FREE Alpenfohn Civetta Cooler!! £86.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK) £49.99
1 x Avexir MPower Yellow Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CM) £49.99
1 x BitFenix Comrade Midi-Tower - Black £29.99
Total : £501.00 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Here's an AMD build with an 8-core CPU:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £109.99
1 x Sapphire Radeon R7 260X OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (11222-06-20G) £99.95
1 x Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK) £49.99
1 x Avexir MPower Yellow Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CM) £49.99
1 x BitFenix Comrade Midi-Tower - Black £29.99
Total : £434.00 (includes shipping : £11.75).



£35 over but that 8320 CPU at that price is too good to ignore.
 
matt_fsr said:
Don't have time to investigate properly right now, but Dell often use custom cases and PSU's, so be careful.

There may be more powerful PSU's that will fit in the same Dell case though, that would save *some* money, if necessary.
Click to expand...

They haven't used custom stuff for ages. My XPS 8300 takes standard components, I doubt the 420 is any different.
 
Shivy011 said:
Yeah, you could pick up a case for ~£30 and a capable enough PSU for ~£50. I thought the same about the Dell system, they always have funny ways of building computers :)

Here's a great i5 build but a good chunk over the budget.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £169.99
1 x Sapphire Radeon R7 260X OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (11222-06-20G) £99.95
1 x MSI Z87-G43 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard - FREE Alpenfohn Civetta Cooler!! £86.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK) £49.99
1 x Avexir MPower Yellow Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CM) £49.99
1 x BitFenix Comrade Midi-Tower - Black £29.99
Total : £501.00 (includes shipping : £11.75).



Here's an AMD build with an 8-core CPU:

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £109.99
1 x Sapphire Radeon R7 260X OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (11222-06-20G) £99.95
1 x Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020047-UK) £49.99
1 x Avexir MPower Yellow Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CM) £49.99
1 x BitFenix Comrade Midi-Tower - Black £29.99
Total : £434.00 (includes shipping : £11.75).



£35 over but that 8320 CPU at that price is too good to ignore.
Click to expand...

Hi Bud,

This comment.... Is this just a completely new pc?
Honestly Im trash with computers I need to be treated like a moron!
 
Yuley said:
Hi Bud,

This comment.... Is this just a completely new pc?
Honestly Im trash with computers I need to be treated like a moron!
Click to expand...

Pretty much, no DVD drive as I assume you can take it from your old one, but can you chuck us a couple of pics of the case and what power output your power supply gives?

If they can be re-used (unlikely) then you can up the specs a bit, but what I specced is pretty much a new set of computers.
 
Shivy011 said:
Pretty much, no DVD drive as I assume you can take it from your old one, but can you chuck us a couple of pics of the case and what power output your power supply gives?

If they can be re-used (unlikely) then you can up the specs a bit, but what I specced is pretty much a new set of computers.
Click to expand...

Cheers bud,

I'm at work right now. I have my priorities right though ;). I Can double check these for you when I get home. Ill take a few pics of the case? Need one of the inside?

How do I grab the power supply output for you?

Trust me when I say thanks a lot for the help. You can tell from a mile off im a total idiot with this stuff. Its nice to find some guys who are willing to help though!
 
No problem, I'm still an idiot :D The power supply output should be written on the unit itself, go ahead and take some pictures of the case when you have time, no rush. Just sometimes (as matt_fsr said) dell use funny components.
 
No they don't, his case will take a standard motherboard and the PSU is a standard ATX-style one too with all the normal connectors.
 
:P okay, well looking at the specs on the Dell site it shows the PSU;
375 W standard
425 W available on select configurations

I'm guessing you have the 375W version, which may well be pushing it so I'd go for a slightly upgraded one. In the real world, yeah it'll only use about 350W tops but I'd definitely upgrade to about a 500W for peace of mind and that Dell one has probably degraded a decent amount by now.
 
Hi Guys,

I'm not sure If I want to pummel this much money in to an old pc afterall.

What minor changes do you think would be a good idea on top of the graphics card Radeon R7 260X http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=GX-329-SP

just to get this thing to run semi decent games? Otherwise I would rather just look at a new system for 500 rather than throw it all at this old pc?
What do you guys think

Liam
 
The XPS420 is definitely a BTX motherboard, I had one.

No point putting money into this build unless its stuff you can transfer into a new build at a later date.

See if you an pin mod the Q8200, i did this with a Q6600 in a dell to Overclock it to 3.3ghz as the bios does not allow overclocking.

Fit a new PSU and GPU and SSD.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £139.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £71.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £59.99
Total : £281.57 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
Thanks to both of you guys. That gives me an option at either end of the scale which is ideal.

Nuts nut I take it the power supply is to help with that card? Is that more powerfull with the one I posted?

Thanks a lot Shivy. Huge help bro. Appreciated. :)
 
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