Upgrading my Graphics Card

teenflon5 · 27 Oct 2022 at 21:09

Hello,

I bought a Dell G5 gaming desktop PC a year or so ago, It's fantastic, but struggles with VR. It has a 1660 TI graphics card which is good but given prices of cards have come down I'd like to upgrade.

I shot myself in the foot a little when buying the PC because its quite short. The external end to end legnth is just over 30cm, whereas some graphics cards I've seen are 33cm. I'd like to put in a RTX 3070 or 3080, but dont see how it would fit.

Are there 3070s or 3080s that are shorter or all roughly the same size? I'd also probably have to up the PSU for the higher spec card. Alternative is to move the PC into another case but given its a dell pre-build PC I imagine things wont fit easily. Any ideas?

tamzzy · 27 Oct 2022 at 21:19

teenflon5 said:
Any ideas?

check what psu connectors are available and psu power rating it has first
there may only be one pcie connector or a low wattage psu in which case your upgrade options may be limited/slightly more complicated
(there are other ways to get round it though)

Craig_d1 · 27 Oct 2022 at 21:20

teenflon5 said:
Hello,

I bought a Dell G5 gaming desktop PC a year or so ago, It's fantastic, but struggles with VR. It has a 1660 TI graphics card which is good but given prices of cards have come down I'd like to upgrade.

I shot myself in the foot a little when buying the PC because its quite short. The external end to end legnth is just over 30cm, whereas some graphics cards I've seen are 33cm. I'd like to put in a RTX 3070 or 3080, but dont see how it would fit.

Are there 3070s or 3080s that are shorter or all roughly the same size? I'd also probably have to up the PSU for the higher spec card. Alternative is to move the PC into another case but given its a dell pre-build PC I imagine things wont fit easily. Any ideas?

look at the fe cards..they're definitely shorted than the aib cards as based on dual fan design...and as nvidia's own cards, cheaper than aib...
the 3070fe (£469) is out of stock atm, so you have the 3060ti at £369, or the 3070ti at £549...the 3070ti is 267mm long..3060ti will be shorter my guess...the 3080fe is 285mm long, though that's been out of stock forever, so you'd have more luck on 2nd hand market..
go to nvidia website

purely on the gpu dimensions...@tamzzy correct on psu..quick look, the g5 can come with a 360w or 500w psu in it..pic very small so that's about all I could garner, and couldn't see if standard atx on not

bought a dell pc once myself as 1st ever pc...you only do it the once

teenflon5 · 27 Oct 2022 at 21:37

Thanks, yeah I had a look and the Nvidia cards are 267cm long which would actually just fit, so I could go with that.
https://www.**********/nvidia/products/3070ti/defjhyasi0eq37?g=f7cabcd1-e419-431a-9390-eeb823e9a2d0

A few things you mention, the 1660ti uses PCI E gen 3, whereas 3070TI uses gen 4. Is this an issue? Can I check what the motherboard PCI gen is?

On the website it mentions graphics card power is 290w, required system power is 750w, supplementary power connectors, 2x PCIe 8 pin. Can I get a new PSU which connects directly to the card, or does there need to be a certain amount of power from the motherboard?

Not sure why the URL is *** is that a thing? its scan . co . uk / nividia etc

Tetras · 27 Oct 2022 at 21:50

teenflon5 said:
Not sure why the URL is *** is that a thing?

You can't mention competitors here because it is a forum owned and run by ocuk.

teenflon5 said:
A few things you mention, the 1660ti uses PCI E gen 3, whereas 3070TI uses gen 4. Is this an issue? Can I check what the motherboard PCI gen is?

If you google the model number of the system (try cpu-z if you're not sure), or less ideally the motherboard model, then you should be able to get the full specs. You could also just tell us the CPU and we'll say. It isn't an issue though.

Craig_d1 · 27 Oct 2022 at 21:51

teenflon5 said:
Thanks, yeah I had a look and the Nvidia cards are 267cm long which would actually just fit, so I could go with that.
https://www.**********/nvidia/products/3070ti/defjhyasi0eq37?g=f7cabcd1-e419-431a-9390-eeb823e9a2d0

A few things you mention, the 1660ti uses PCI E gen 3, whereas 3070TI uses gen 4. Is this an issue? Can I check what the motherboard PCI gen is?

On the website it mentions graphics card power is 290w, required system power is 750w, supplementary power connectors, 2x PCIe 8 pin. Can I get a new PSU which connects directly to the card, or does there need to be a certain amount of power from the motherboard?

Not sure why the URL is *** is that a thing? its scan . co . uk / nividia etc

for good orders sake, delete the bit you mention competitor to OCuk...without mentioning who, nvidia choose 1 partner retailer to sell their own 'fe' 3000 series cards, so their website will link to them. no other place you can get them
the card will come with a splitter..one end goes into the gpu, the other end splits 2 ways..each one you connect with a seperate pcie cable to the psu..do not use one pcie cable and use the daisychain part of it..each pcie cable can run 150w, so need 2 cables each going to a pcie socket on the psu..the mobo can provide another 75w from the pcie slot the gpu sits in..(so card will in theory be able to access 375w max from connectors)..if you use 1 pcie cable and use the daisychain, then the max the gpu would get is 150+75 so 225w of power...hence don't daisychain
so question then becomes, you'll probably need a new psu..can you see if your psu is standard atx fitting..and some dimensions(atx psu do come in diff lengths)..when choosing a psu, i'd go fully modular(ie has no cables attached and you just plug in the one you need), and get one with a 10yrs warranty..if it's any good it'll come with that..the lesser psu's come with 3-5yrs warranties...but firstly, check the dimensions of the psu..dell have a habit of using proprietry stuff which doesn't fit anything(mobo's included0, so any upgrades have to be sourced through them
pcie4 is backward compatible with pcie3..you will loose negligible speed with pcie4 card in pcie3 slot, or so I've seen from testers

teenflon5 · 27 Oct 2022 at 22:06

Ah ok thanks makes sense!

My motherboard is a dell 0DXJD9 which is gen 3 PCIe, I see transfer speeds are less but I imagine I'll still notice a big difference with the new card.

My current PSU is a bit of a weird dell one, AC460EBM-00, I see it has an 8 pin socket going to the current graphics card and an available 6 pin one thats not connected to anything. It is the 460 watt PSU, so would that work with the 3070TI? I would assume not with the card saying the required system power is 750w? but graphics card power is 290w? I guess the other issue if I can use it is it doesnt have 2x 8 pin PCIe

PSU;

Dell - 115V Internal - AC460EBM-00 - 19875 | CLEAResult

www.clearesult.com

teenflon5 · 27 Oct 2022 at 22:17

From what I read, it would need to be a 750w, and there are SFX power supplies that would fit, so I think that may be the solution. Other than the PCIe gen, PSU and dimensions, is there anything else to consider before I buy?

tamzzy · 27 Oct 2022 at 22:19

teenflon5 said:
PCIe gen

of no reasonable significance

teenflon5 said:
SFX power supplies that would fit

if you use another PSU you'd probably need special adaptors to connect to the motherboard as dell use proprietary connectors iirc (open up the case and check)

Craig_d1 · 27 Oct 2022 at 22:44

how much did you spend on the pc..if wansn't too much you could always try and flip it, use the proceeds to build a new rig..just sawa quick review of g5 on yt..was a diff higher spec model, but uses custom matx board (no heatsinks over vrm..no expense spared there), with custom psu so no easy swap..case has no air intake at front(don't know if that right on your one), and single fan exhaust at back?