Dell XPS Desktop 8300, i7-2600 3.40GHz, 12GB ram, 1.5TB HDD, W7

tobingj · 12-01-2012 10:06am

Monotype wrote: »

That's fine if you think it's too much effort to build one but don't mislead people into thinking it's a gaming machine.
The Geforce 530 in the original machine was far from enough. The 545 is a vast improvement (likely to be able to run games for the next two years) and would be okay if you turned down resolution as well as detail but it's still a fairly low-mid card at best.

Good morning Monotype....
At the time of my postings the original offer was expired.. hence my first post looking for active offers. Thanks to Quaderno for posts. I have no clue what the 530 is like as i didnt look at it.. it was the deal with 545 i was looking at....Its gaming enough for battlefield. Its gaming enough for WOW so it was a good deal for me. I was not trying to lead anyone down the path of thinking it is a uber gaming machine but it is a decent platform to start with , and only minor improvement needed to play at high resolution. I didnt see any one requiring a super duper machine on the posts.
Perhaps my mention of AW was misleading but I was just stating that i dont buy top end machines as they are a rip. I also dont build machines anymore as they are too time consuming for imho too little extra.
PS thanks for good posts.
Now to look for a similar deal.

HovaBaby · 12-01-2012 4:46pm

I wonder if they will really take a month to deliver the product.

I mean apart from the Graphics Card, the rest of the computer is the default computer. Surely an extra 3 weeks wouldn't be added just so they can slot in a different Graphics card??

Does anyone know how this process works? Does this have to build an entirely new computer (from scratch) and then ship it out? Plus would the time it takes to build a computer from the ground up mean a prolonged delivery time due to the amount of orders they receive?

HovaBaby · 12-01-2012 4:46pm

I wonder if they will really take a month to deliver the product.

I mean apart from the Graphics Card, the rest of the computer is the default computer. Surely an extra 3 weeks wouldn't be added just so they can slot in a different Graphics card??

Does anyone know how this process works? Does this have to build an entirely new computer (from scratch) and then ship it out? Plus would the time it takes to build a computer from the ground up mean a prolonged delivery time due to the amount of orders they receive?

Zab · 12-01-2012 5:17pm

I'm pretty sure they assemble them all on demand. If the graphics card caused a change in delivery date it'll be because the card was in short supply.

My estimate was the 20th but it might be here tomorrow and if not then I'd be surprised if it didn't make Monday (16th).

testicle · 12-01-2012 5:57pm

Hmmm, mine hasn't appeared in MyOrderStatus yet - bought it on Tuesday night.

Quaderno · 12-01-2012 7:39pm

There are a couple of new codes around, but I can't see any spectacular offers right now (well, apart from that €449 Inspiron of course...):

10% off any system above €599
12th January - 18th January
NPNJPJ3HZTTD1F

Free Shipping on all XPS desktop & notebooks (excl. M11x)
12th January - 18th January
ZP4F?X8J7HZGSB

HovaBaby · 12-01-2012 10:38pm

testicle wrote: »

Hmmm, mine hasn't appeared in MyOrderStatus yet - bought it on Tuesday night.

Check the e-mail account you use for Dell, I had a problem paying them and they sent me an e-mail about it.

jpjc05 · 12-01-2012 11:56pm

Just want to thank the OP thegift06. Got my discounted XPS 15 the other day and am very happy with it.

mcgovern · 13-01-2012 12:04am

Quaderno wrote: »

There are a couple of new codes around, but I can't see any spectacular offers right now (well, apart from that €449 Inspiron of course...):

10% off any system above €599
12th January - 18th January
NPNJPJ3HZTTD1F

Free Shipping on all XPS desktop & notebooks (excl. M11x)
12th January - 18th January
ZP4F?X8J7HZGSB

Do you mean this one?

testicle · 13-01-2012 12:24am

HovaBaby wrote: »

Check the e-mail account you use for Dell, I had a problem paying them and they sent me an e-mail about it.

Nope, nothing. Will get onto them and see. Thanks.

Jaegermeister · 13-01-2012 10:54pm

tobingj wrote: »

Grats Jaeger,

I would think it wise to stay in the price range. Or just a little up.
You might find that the power supplly will not deal with a big upgrade. I got a dell before and 1. the slot was only big enough to slot in a thin single card (most upgrades were double slot width.) 2. The power supply couldnt handle the upgrade.

Monotype wrote: »

The 6870 is a good card. Power consumption is fairly low on it and other people have squeezed them into similar systems but you should check that your PSU is enough.

Thanks for the replies lads. According to UPS it's en route and should be delivered by Thursday next.

I've done a little research, the XPS 8300 has a Delta 460w PSU. According to the manufacturer's website they recommend 500w for the 6870, however a number of people on various forums have said they have installed it on the 8300 no problem. Dell themselves offer it as an upgrade and some guy that got the upgrade from Dell said that Dell put it in with the 460w PSU.

I'll look into it a bit more. If worst comes to worst I could put in the 6770 which has a recommended PSU requirement of 450w but I would prefer the 6870.

partyatmygaff · 13-01-2012 11:08pm

I'm using a 450W and am running a 6850. You'll be fine.

Jaegermeister · 13-01-2012 11:13pm

partyatmygaff wrote: »

I'm using a 450W and am running a 6850. You'll be fine.

Thanks, that was pretty much the universal consensus on the various forums. How do you rate the 6850 vs the 6870?

Zab · 13-01-2012 11:39pm

Not all power supplies are created equal so there's limited use to comparing what others can do with similarly rated supplies. I'd definitely put in a 6870 though, it has the same TDP as the 5850 I'm going to put in.

Zab · 16-01-2012 7:04pm

Arrived this afternoon. Have already lashed in a 5850. Happy days.

Zab · 16-01-2012 8:19pm

Definitely only 2 3.5 inch bays. You may fit something in the flexbay if you wanted to though.

I only saw 4 SATA power connectors and they're in two sets of two without too much leeway between them. That could cause trouble if you're trying to use the flexbay.

It's all screws, no quick release system. The HD closest to you has its screws pointing at you but I had to take out the whole HD cage to get out the second drive (the TB drive in my machine).

It's set up with the 500GB as the boot drive.

It has two six pin PCIe power connectors, although they're on the same cable.

Jaegermeister · 16-01-2012 10:50pm

Zab wrote: »

Arrived this afternoon. Have already lashed in a 5850. Happy days.

Great news Zab. I hope you're happy with it.

When did you order it again?

I'm tracking mine on UPS now. They initially estimated delivery for Thursday 19th but now it just says that it departed Lod (Łódź?) on the 15th at 11pm local time. It's "standard" UPS delivery, so I'm not sure if that goes overland or if it flies through their hub in Cologne.

Did you have any problems installing the 5870?

discombobulate · 16-01-2012 10:58pm

My XPS 14z is in Japan after leaving China this morning!

Zab · 16-01-2012 11:23pm

It's overland. Ordered on the 5h.

Dublin, Ireland 16/01/2012 15:37 Delivered
16/01/2012 4:58 Out for Delivery <-- this said Destination Scan originally
16/01/2012 4:58 Import Scan
16/01/2012 3:39 Destination Scan
Dublin, Ireland 13/01/2012 18:30 Arrival Scan
Tamworth, United Kingdom 13/01/2012 5:50 Departure Scan
Tamworth, United Kingdom 12/01/2012 8:00 Arrival Scan
Lod, Poland 10/01/2012 23:00 Departure Scan
10/01/2012 18:02 Origin Scan
Poland 10/01/2012 2:35 Order Processed: Ready for UPS

No problems installing the card, although it was a 5850. I'll stress it tomorrow and see what it draws from the wall.

Jaegermeister · 17-01-2012 1:18am

That would be great. I've heard good things about the 5850, is that the xtreme version?

Zab · 17-01-2012 1:24am

It is. I have two more if you're interested.

Jaegermeister · 17-01-2012 3:10am

Zab wrote: »

It is. I have two more if you're interested.

Damn that is tempting, let me think bout it. I had my heart set on a 6870, if only cos it is slightly newer and stuff. I'll be interested to hear the results of you putting it through it's paces tomorrow though either way.

ionapaul · 17-01-2012 1:43pm

My XPS 8300 arrived yesterday, spent a lot of yesterday evening setting it up. First thing up was removing the installed PSU and the GT 530 and replacing them with my Antec 600w PSU and HD 6850. It was a very, very tight squeeze, particularly replacing the PSU! It was fairly tricky to manoeuvre it in and not snag any internal cables - not sure I'd try that again. My bigger and better PSU has a drawback as well; far too many power cables and connections, so the case is pretty crowded now. Anyhow, fired it up and all seems well following the modification. Spent the rest of the night removing Dell bloatware (more now than ever before, and getting rid of Roxio Creator Starter is a real BITCH of a job!) and installing my preferred programs - didn't even get a chance to benchmark the machine or see how games play, that's another day's work

I also have to fire up my old desktop (now with the GT 530 1GB graphics card and the 400w PSU) to see if that works ok, remove the ATI drivers and install Nvidia ones instead, and do a fresh Windows Vista install to prepare it for sale on Adverts.ie - yep, it ain't easy buying a nice new desktop, is it?

Zab · 17-01-2012 2:55pm

Jaegermeister wrote: »

Damn that is tempting, let me think bout it. I had my heart set on a 6870, if only cos it is slightly newer and stuff. I'll be interested to hear the results of you putting it through it's paces tomorrow though either way.

Well, the 6870 is obviously a better card. Depends on how restrained your budget it really.

My homebrew load test consisted of FurMark and Prime95 which combined drew a max of 326w at the wall. If anybody has a simple but better load test I'm all ears.

ionapaul wrote: »

My XPS 8300 arrived yesterday, spent a lot of yesterday evening setting it up. First thing up was removing the installed PSU and the GT 530 and replacing them with my Antec 600w PSU and HD 6850. It was a very, very tight squeeze, particularly replacing the PSU! It was fairly tricky to manoeuvre it in and not snag any internal cables - not sure I'd try that again. My bigger and better PSU has a drawback as well; far too many power cables and connections, so the case is pretty crowded now. Anyhow, fired it up and all seems well following the modification. Spent the rest of the night removing Dell bloatware (more now than ever before, and getting rid of Roxio Creator Starter is a real BITCH of a job!) and installing my preferred programs - didn't even get a chance to benchmark the machine or see how games play, that's another day's work

I also have to fire up my old desktop (now with the GT 530 1GB graphics card and the 400w PSU) to see if that works ok, remove the ATI drivers and install Nvidia ones instead, and do a fresh Windows Vista install to prepare it for sale on Adverts.ie - yep, it ain't easy buying a nice new desktop, is it?

Yeah, small case and to be honest it isn't particularly pretty in there. I reinstalled windows 7.

Here's Passmark PerformanceTest 7.0 3D graphics page for the 5850, not overclocked and untweaked.

3D Graphics Mark
This Computer 3012.7

Graphics 3D - Simple
This Computer 4274.8

Graphics 3D - Medium
This Computer 1044.4

Graphics 3D - Complex
This Computer 95.7

Graphics 3D - DirectX 10
This Computer 52.0

Would be interested in seeing the 6850, and even the 530 if somebody still has it installed.

Ballyman · 17-01-2012 4:02pm

ionapaul wrote: »

Spent the rest of the night removing Dell bloatware (more now than ever before, and getting rid of Roxio Creator Starter is a real BITCH of a job!) and installing my preferred programs - didn't even get a chance to benchmark the machine or see how games play, that's another day's work

Is there an easy/quick way to remove all that crap from the PC and revert back to the OS and essential drivers??

Redisle · 17-01-2012 4:11pm

Nice app here that can batch uninstall lots of the rubbish..

http://pcdecrapifier.com/

Jaegermeister · 18-01-2012 12:14am

Zab wrote: »

Would be interested in seeing the 6850, and even the 530 if somebody still has it installed.

I'll try it out on the 530 when mine comes. According to UPS it arrived in Tamworth this morning.

Do they contact you before delivering? I'll have to take a day off work when it arrives.

kingaaa · 18-01-2012 3:27pm

got mine today - happy enogh with it, the only thing wrong is I put a 3.5 drive into the flexi bay, but the spare power cable coming from the dvd drive wont stretch to the back of it - is there an extension or something I can get?

Zab · 18-01-2012 3:57pm

I did warn you about that

The pair on the hard drives looked longer, you might try swapping them. Other than that, yeah you can buy extension.

kingaaa · 18-01-2012 4:05pm

Zab wrote: »

I did warn you about that

The pair on the hard drives looked longer, you might try swapping them. Other than that, yeah you can buy extension.

that you did!!!! Tried that alreedy, no joy. How about a double adaptor?? I recon I could get a 4th drive in-between the original two!!!!

Dell XPS Desktop 8300, i7-2600 3.40GHz, 12GB ram, 1.5TB HDD, W7

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