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April 18th, 2018 02:00

XPS 8300, graphics card upgrade

Hi

I have a Dell 8300 that has a Geforce GT545 that was installed from new. It is sitting on a PCI Express 2 double width slot, and has been quite happily driving 2 x 1940 x 1200 Dell monitors. Now one monitor has died and has been replaced by a Dell S2718D 2560 x 1440 screen. I think the PSU is 450W.

I can't use the GT545's hdmi slot as the PC's case obscures it, so I've connected the new screen using a DVI - HDMI cable. I can't get the screeen to work using it's native resolution (it works beautifully on my laptop), unless I go and create a new mode. The resulting display is not good with very fuzzy text. I have downloaded and installed the Dell drivers for the screen.

I think I need to upgrade the graphics card. What is the recommendadtion for a PCI Express 2 compatible card to replace my GT545 that will be able to support 2 x 2560 X 1440 screens, although 1 x 2560 x 1440 and 1 x 1920 x 1200 will do for now? I need screen real estate, and I won't be using the card for gaming. I need one DVI-D and one or two HDMI slots. I also have a limited budget, so can't afford anything too outragous!

4 Posts

April 25th, 2018 09:00

Hi,

Thanks for your recommendation. I've just installed the GeForce GT 1030 and have both monitors working at their native resolutions after the Nvidia drivers updated themselves. Not only that, I now have a very much quieter PC AND a spare expansion slot if needs be :)

8 Wizard

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17K Posts

April 18th, 2018 09:00


@Nezentiawrote:


I can't use the GT545's hdmi slot as the PC's case obscures it,

I thought this comment was strange. My first thought was that you should "fix that" but then I realized ... with a card that old it's likely just a "HDMI v1.3 Port" anyway, so it likely would not go above 1080p anyway.

Just so you know, I only like to use HDMI in the Home-Theater. For computers, I prefer DisplayPort (old preference was DVI).

8 Wizard

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17K Posts

April 18th, 2018 09:00


@Nezentiawrote:

I think the PSU is 450W.


We are both running ATI/AMD Radeon HD-5770 cards in ours.

https://www.dell.com/community/Vostro/Vostro-460-XPS-8300-Upgrade-Adventures/m-p/6054983#M1213

I'm not sure if even the HD-5770 can run TWO monitors at 1440p ... that's no trivial matter. I think you are looking for a video card with TWO DisplayPorts.

I also wanted to mention that I think the XPS-8300 stock power-supply is only 350watts. That can be relevant when you start getting into the larger video cards. I upgraded mine.

8 Wizard

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17K Posts

April 19th, 2018 13:00


@Nezentiawrote:

1. I checked the original config on the Dell site, and my PSU is 460W.

2. So, I need a graphics card thats PCI E2 compatible and can drive two screens, one at 2560 x 1440 and one at 1920 x 1200. I need the card to have one DVI-D and one HDMI or USB-C because that's what the screens have.


1. That should be fine for some (smaller) video cards. They usually state a minimum power-supply wattage size.

2. Well, you also posted this first, 

< to replace my GT545 that will be able to support 2 x 2560 X 1440 screens

... but whatever.

It looks like your new monitor is here:

http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-27-ultrathin-monitor-s2718d/apd/210-alwd/monitors-monitor-accessories

As you can see, the USB-C port is for select Macs ( I guess because Apple has Thunderbolt behind it's USB-C ) and apparently newer Windows laptops ( with ThunderBolt ?). Most Windows machines don't have native ThunderBolt, and I've never seen USB-C on a video card (I think it's impossible).

Looks like you might have to use the HDMI port. 

For this much money, you could have gotten a :
Dell 27" u2717D UltraSharp Infinity-Edge IPS 16:9 QHD Monitor

... I love mine and it's has plenty of ports (including DisplayPort).
http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-ultrasharp-27-infinityedge-monitor-u2717d/apd/210-ahgv/monitors-monitor-accessories

 

 

4 Posts

April 19th, 2018 13:00

I checked the original config on the Dell site, and my PSU is 460W.

So, I need a graphics card thats PCI E2 compatible and can drive two screens, one at 2560 x 1440 and one at 1920 x 1200. I need the card to have one DVI-D and one HDMI or USB-C because that's what the screens have.

4 Posts

April 20th, 2018 02:00

Thanks for getting back to me, but my question remains the same - what's the best graphics card to replace my GT545 that is PCI E2 compatible, and has has dual monoitor support for a 1940x1200 and 2560x1440 monitors now, and dual 2560x1440 in the future, the card to fit into an XPS8300 running W10 with a 460W PSU?

9 Legend

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47K Posts

April 20th, 2018 05:00

The issue is HDMI 2 and or Display Port.  Your card probably doesnt have that.  Single-link DVI employs a single 165 MHz transmitter that supports resolutions up to 1920 × 1200 at 60 Hz max.

Newer cards would fix that issue.

A GT 1030 card would be a good upgrade that doesnt cost an arm and a leg.

https://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-GeForce-GV-N1030D5-2GL-Computer-Graphics/dp/B071DY2VJR

https://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gt-1030/specifications

BEWARE of FAKE 650 750 950 960 1050TI cards that are $49

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ved84d_6occ

8 Wizard

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17K Posts

April 20th, 2018 10:00


@speedstepwrote:

1. The issue is HDMI 2 and or Display Port. 

2. A GT 1030 card would be a good upgrade that doesnt cost an arm and a leg.

https://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-GeForce-GV-N1030D5-2GL-Computer-Graphics/dp/B071DY2VJR

 

 

1. Right.

The fact remains that the Dell S2718D Monitor was a poor purchase choice for this setup. It's limited connectivity makes this config more difficult.

2. Right, for now (maybe, if HDMI is v2.0 and works properly with  Dell S2718D).

However, without a separate DisplayPort, I don't see how it would ever be able to support "dual 2560x1440 in the future".

1 Message

April 16th, 2019 07:00

Quick question. I have an XPS 8300 and just bought a GTX 1660 OC. Video card refuses to boot. Upgraded from stock 460 w PS to 600 Still no go. Is this because the 1660 is a PCI 3.0? and will not work? My old GTX 950 works great in it. Just trying to get some more life out of the old girl. She is 6 years old. lol Thanks

9 Legend

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47K Posts

April 16th, 2019 08:00

The issue with RTX 1660 or RTX 2070 etc is that it requires UEFI and you don't have that.

So the card will NEVER EVER work.

You can use Older Pascal cards Up to 1080TI in older dells and they work fine.  This guy is using an XPS 400 from 2006

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa9b0TkTsLM

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