Dell XPS 8900

[Urklore]

Hello guys,

I know i should have build my rig from scratch but money constraints made that impossible. Below is my config from dell. ATM WoW bottlenecks and only sustains 20 FPs or lower during raids in Nighthold. i am looking to see what improvements i can make to this rig to get more bang for my buck. i am getting pulled 100 different ways and am looking for a suggestion other then build a new rig.


Service Tag B1FHKB2
Computer Model XPS 8900


XDT7H Base,Mini Tower,Extreme Performance System,8900,Balanced Tec hnology Extended
Part Number Description Quantity
23503 LABEL, BARCODE, TRACK, SYSTEM BOARD, GENERIC 1
48480 SCREW, 6-32X1/4 HX THREAD FORMED
DU555 SCREW, M3X.5X5MM, HEXHEAD, PHILLIPS HEAD, THREAD FORMED, ZINC PLATED STEEL 1
1PNPG Ship Group,Extreme Performance System,L10,Foxconn,8900,Dell Americas Organization
Part Number Description Quantity
3947T LABEL, BARCODE, SYS BOX, GENERIC, 5X5 1
JD509 LABEL, REGULATORY, SIDE, UNIVERSAL, BLANK , V2 1
32W7J MOD,DIMM,8GB,2X4G,2133,N-E
Part Number Description Quantity
61H6H DUAL IN-LINE MEMORY MODULE, 4GB, 2133, 1RX8, 4G, DDR4, NU 2
41YJN Module,Processor,I7-XXXX,8900
Part Number Description Quantity
J4CPH PROCESSOR, SKL, I7-6700, 3.4, 65W, 8M, VPR 1
6GP4J Module,Accessory,Bracket,ANTEN NA,M2 WIFI
Part Number Description Quantity
PX9DM BRACKET, FOR M2 WIFI ANTENNA 1
6HT44 Module,Card,Graphics,NV,GT730, M212N
Part Number Description Quantity
J27RG CARD (CIRCUIT), GRAPHICS, NV, GT730, M212N 1
HH5NK Module,Hard Drive,1T,S3,7.2K,5 12E,GRDABP2
Part Number Description Quantity
6TFN1 HARD DRIVE, 1T, S3, 7.2K, 512E, SGT-GRDABP2 1
NYD24 Module,Dvd+/-Rw,16X,Half Heigh t,Inspiron,Hitachi Lg Data Sto rage
Part Number Description Quantity
96N9F ASSEMBLY, DVD+/-RW, 16X, HALF HEIGHT, BARE, HITACHI LG DATA STORAGE 1
DU555 SCREW, M3X.5X5MM, HEXHEAD, PHILLIPS HEAD, THREAD FORMED, ZINC PLATED STEEL 2
PMCK3 MOD,CRD,NTWK,DW1801,BGN,CSB,WW
Part Number Description Quantity
477MJ LABEL, REGULATORY, WIRELESS, DW1801, CSMB, WORLD WIDE 1
KJTH7 CARD (CIRCUIT), WIRELESS, M.2, DW1801, BGN, WORLD WIDE 1
TJ1KX Module,Thermal,Heatsink,65W,89 00
Part Number Description Quantity
Y8T2X ASSEMBLY, HEATSINK, MAINSTREAM, MEDIUM TOWER 1
5MM1N Module,Shipping Material, Syst em,Studio,Medium Tower, Origin al Development Manager
Part Number Description Quantity
2800M SHIPPING MATERIAL, BOX, OPTION, KAMINO, DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION 1
H108T SHIPPING MATERIAL, BOX, SYSTEM, MNTW, SXPS, MEXICO/MEXICAN 1
K055T SHIPPING MATERIAL, CUSHION, MNTW, SXPS 1
5YX62 MOD,LBL,INTEL,CI7,6,SML
Part Number Description Quantity
HMFF8 LABEL, INTEL, CI7, 6, SMALL 1
7DDKD MOD,GDE,PROD,MUI,SERI,DAO
Part Number Description Quantity
WH67C GUIDE, PRODUCT, MULTIPLE USER INTERFACE, SERI, DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION 1
7XK29 MOD,KYBD,104,US,KB216-B,PMX
Part Number Description Quantity
N6R8G KEYBOARD, 104, UNITED STATES, KB216-B, PRIMAX ELECTRONICS LTD 1
FXFX9 MOD,PLCMT,GETS,8900,W10,D/B
Part Number Description Quantity
RHTW4 PLACEMAT, GETTING STARTED, EXTREME PERFORMANCE SYSTEM, DESKTOP, 8900, W10, D/B 1
J662D Module,Mouse,6BTN,Laser Consumer,Logitech,Desktop
Part Number Description Quantity
J661D KIT, MOUSE, UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS, LASER, CONSUMER, LOGITECH 1
JF6RK Module,Label,Regulatory,Extrem e Performance System,Mexico/Me xican,8900,Power Factor Correc tion
Part Number Description Quantity
K52N4 LABEL, REGULATORY, DESKTOP, EXTREME PERFORMANCE SYSTEM, MEXICO/MEXICAN, 8900, POWER FACTOR CORRECTION 1
N971H Module,Cord,Power,125V,2M,C13 United States
Part Number Description Quantity
5120P CORD, POWER, 125V, 6FT, SJT, UNSHIELDED 1
VW15X Module,Label,RETAIL,Dell Compu ter Corporation,RETURNPOL
Part Number Description Quantity
1RH7N LABEL, RTL RTN, ENGLAND/ENGLISH, UNITED STATES 1
XP4WP Module,Label,Print On Demand,C FIG,8X5,Inch,Vostro,Storage Pr ocessor
Part Number Description Quantity
F8RY9 LABEL, PRINT ON DEMAND, CFIG, 8X5, CSMB, BIZ 1
Y91VP MOD,CHAS,L6,460W,PFC,BLK,8900
Part Number Description Quantity
6JPHH SCREW, M2X3.5, WIFI/SSD/DDPE, DF 1
DU555 SCREW, M3X.5X5MM, HEXHEAD, PHILLIPS HEAD, THREAD FORMED, ZINC PLATED STEEL 1
PH1D0 ASSEMBLY, CHASSIS, PWA INTEGRATED, 460W, POWER FACTOR CORRECTION, BLACK, 8900 1
RN0NJ MOD,SW,DPK,W10H,HE
Part Number Description Quantity
5Y1G2 DPK, W10H, HIGH END 1

[Swag]

I7 6700 is more than fine
4gb of ram is a little low and that's a fairly affordable upgrade.
Nvidia GT 730 might be showing its age a bit.

I would start with more ram and then save for a better graphics card (or keep an eye out for a good deal on one)

[Denpepe]

A gt730 is not made for gaming at all so that would be your main problem.

A GTX 1050 should hopefuly work with your current pc and be an gigantic upgrade while still being affordable and it does not use a lot of power, as power supplies in pre builts are usually on the low and crappy side limiting your options.

Also make sure you have space in your pc to put that card.

[PhantasmagoriaX]

Hi OP,

So, I would upgrade the ram to 16 gigs (if possible), upgrade the Power supply and video card (make sure you have enough room, video cards tend to be big) and if you really wanna see faster speeds (windows booting, zoning into dungeons/raids) put windows and wow on a SSD.

[Urklore]

Any suggestion and which card as i am unsure what PCI express port my board can handle

[lockedout]

Main problem is 4gb of ram.

[ovm33]

Any suggestion and which card as i am unsure what PCI express port my board can handle

From what I could dig up it would appear that your comp came with a 430w power supply. I couldn't find any listings of what connectors that PSU comes with but as the PC could be configured with a 970 I would be led to believe that there would be a 6+2 pin. If there is then your options are vast. But as I cannot guarantee that there is a 6+2 pin then I would say get:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card ($137.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $190.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-13 15:51 EST-0500

The 1050ti requires no direct power from your PSU and will be powered through the MOBO. Your mobo will support it. The 4 gigs of ram is hurting as well, listed a cheap upgrade for it.

The two listed parts plus your i7-6700 will make for quite the competent 1080p gaming rig.

[Lathais]

Main problem is 4gb of ram.

Yeah, because there is a difference in gaming performance between 4GB and 16GB right? Oh, wait, there isn't.

http://www.techspot.com/article/1043...ram/page3.html

and those tests were done with 65 chrome tabs open as well. Big problem only having 4GB RAM there huh?

- - - Updated - - -

From what I could dig up it would appear that your comp came with a 430w power supply. I couldn't find any listings of what connectors that PSU comes with but as the PC could be configured with a 970 I would be led to believe that there would be a 6+2 pin. If there is then your options are vast. But as I cannot guarantee that there is a 6+2 pin then I would say get:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card ($137.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $190.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-13 15:51 EST-0500

The 1050ti requires no direct power from your PSU and will be powered through the MOBO. Your mobo will support it. The 4 gigs of ram is hurting as well, listed a cheap upgrade for it.

The two listed parts plus your i7-6700 will make for quite the competent 1080p gaming rig.

No. No it isn't. Not at all.



As always, the caveat is that if you are building new, yeah, don't get 4GB, it makes no sense. But if it's what you already have and just looking to upgrade your rig, leave it alone. It's not gonna hurt anything. Yes, a new build should have at least 8GB. If he were upgrading to Skylake/Kabylake and needed new DDR4 RAM anyway, sure, buy a 8GB stick or two. But he already has this build and the 4 is not going to hold him back at all.

[Nellah]

Lathais, have you used a PC with 4GB RAM to game lately? I have six stations in my other room where people can game, and I've run two configs with 4GB RAM in an attempt to play Overwatch and a few other relatively low spec games... it was page city. Moving from 8GB to 16GB produces no difference in usability unless you have a lot of stuff running in the background, but 4GB to 8GB is a massive quality of life change. I'm not saying this as an "in your face sucka", though your typed word does come off as that, but for having personally used and tested a rather wide variety of systems as an amateur techie.

The other components were not at fault, for the record... bumping both systems (a Phenom II X2 and a Core 2 Quad) to 8GB COMPLETELY ELIMINATED the paging and stuttering after the initial load, which for most games took less than half the time due to RAM not being shuffled around into pagefile. The graphs in the article you linked do not tell the details of load times and stutters, and I imagine were re-run after game data was cached.

Doesn't matter, because OP has 8GB anyway. ("32W7J MOD,DIMM,8GB,2X4G,2133,N-E")

[Lathais]

Lathais, have you used a PC with 4GB RAM to game lately? I have six stations in my other room where people can game, and I've run two configs with 4GB RAM in an attempt to play Overwatch and a few other relatively low spec games... it was page city. Moving from 8GB to 16GB produces no difference in usability unless you have a lot of stuff running in the background, but 4GB to 8GB is a massive quality of life change. I'm not saying this as an "in your face sucka", though your typed word does come off as that, but for having personally used and tested a rather wide variety of systems as an amateur techie.

The other components were not at fault, for the record... bumping both systems (a Phenom II X2 and a Core 2 Quad) to 8GB COMPLETELY ELIMINATED the paging and stuttering after the initial load, which for most games took less than half the time due to RAM not being shuffled around into pagefile. The graphs in the article you linked do not tell the details of load times and stutters, and I imagine were re-run after game data was cached.

Doesn't matter, because OP has 8GB anyway. ("32W7J MOD,DIMM,8GB,2X4G,2133,N-E")

Actually, yes I have. My HTPC in the living room only had 4GB RAM and I would occasionally play games sitting on the couch. Had no issues. Sure, it likely depends on the game, I was only playing FFXIV with a controller sitting on the couch. It really wasn't any different, and those benchmarks I linked also show no real difference between 4GB and 8GB. What you have is anecdotal evidence, please provide some real benchmarks or something as I have if you wish to refute my claims.

All that said, everyone appears to completely ignore what I say anytime I bring this up. I say, wholeheartedly, if you are building new, yes, most definitely get 8GB. I agree with you 100%. However, in an already built system, with such a low end graphics card, any money spent on anything other than that graphics card is wasted.

[Miyagie]

Hi OP,

So, I would upgrade the ram to 16 gigs (if possible), upgrade the Power supply and video card (make sure you have enough room, video cards tend to be big) and if you really wanna see faster speeds (windows booting, zoning into dungeons/raids) put windows and wow on a SSD.

16GB is not needed for 99% of the games 8 are fine espcialy for wow also its not 2011 any 60-80$ case has enough space for any normal GPU. One of the few things case manufactura learned.