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[KyleCross]

So even if my power supply is only 240 watts (I think it may be 330? Does anyone know if all the R2 units use 330?) I'd be able to use the GTX 970 that clocks in at 145 watts? That won't over do the power supply? I notice it says minimum system power requirement is 500 watts... I'm very new to all this.

I guess I should wait to hear if the card will even fit in the X51.

 

[ussjtrunks]

Just noticed the evga 970 is only 9.5 inches long is this going to work :0

Evga 970

 

[GrazGamer]

I have just disassembled mine. Without the front fan the 980 will fit easily and I think, if I replace the front fan with a 10mm one instead of the 20mm it is now, it "should" fit.

 

[GrazGamer]

Just noticed the evga 970 is only 9.5 inches long is this going to work :0

Evga 970

That will fit comfortably.

 

[2002whitegt]

I have just disassembled mine. Without the front fan the 980 will fit easily and I think, if I replace the front fan with a 10mm one instead of the 20mm it is now, it "should" fit.

I just did the same, I think it will work also.

Played a game to see some temps, and it's pretty much the same as before, hovering at around 75-77 degrees celcius.

Can't wait till Monday-Tuesday to get the card

 

[2002whitegt]

So even if my power supply is only 240 watts (I think it may be 330? Does anyone know if all the R2 units use 330?) I'd be able to use the GTX 970 that clocks in at 145 watts? That won't over do the power supply? I notice it says minimum system power requirement is 500 watts... I'm very new to all this.

I guess I should wait to hear if the card will even fit in the X51.

I believe the 645 model comes with the 220w power supply, you will most likely need to upgrade to the 330w to run either the 970/980

 

[ussjtrunks]

I think I'll grab the evga 970 im in Ireland though and id usually buy off amazon but they dont seem to have them up yet

 

[KyleCross]

I believe the 645 model comes with the 220w power supply, you will most likely need to upgrade to the 330w to run either the 970/980

Even tho this is the R2 model? I know the original models had weaker supplies but I hear the R2's all have 330w? I honestly don't know, it's hard to find details. I actually can't even find my exact model number online anywhere, like it doesn't exist. Is there a specific place on the bottom of the external power-brick that tells me its watts? I couldn't find anything.

 

[Marlenus]

Even tho this is the R2 model? I know the original models had weaker supplies but I hear the R2's all have 330w? I honestly don't know, it's hard to find details. I actually can't even find my exact model number online anywhere, like it doesn't exist. Is there a specific place on the bottom of the external power-brick that tells me its watts? I couldn't find anything.

It should have the current and voltage on it if it is anything like a laptop power brick, multiply those numbers and if it comes to 330 it is 330w. I have tried looking for a high res picture so I can read the label but no luck yet.

AHA found one. On the label above where it says Caution: it has the output figures. For 330w yours should read 19.5v and 16.9A.

 

[KyleCross]

I took a pic.

Looks like it's 240 watts. So where's a good place to get the 330?

 

[GrazGamer]

I can confirm that with changing the front fan to a 10mm one the 980 fits.

Just installing drivers now

 

[Jawmuncher]

I took a pic.



Looks like it's 240 watts. So where's a good place to get the 330?

Yep I have this brick as well. So i'd like to know where to get a compatible 330 too.

 

[ussjtrunks]

anyone trying the evga 970? I'll probably wait till its up on amazon uk to get it

 

[Jonm1010]

I can confirm that with changing the front fan to a 10mm one the 980 fits.

Just installing drivers now

Please do update us when everything is up and working. I am absolutely dying to hear if this ends up working!


Also what fan did you all get and is all this stuff difficult to do? I must admit I am a complete newbie to this stuff, hence why I bought an x51 in the first place haha.

 

[blastprocessor]

Just noticed the evga 970 is only 9.5 inches long is this going to work :0

Evga 970

Good spot! Been researching via google and came back to GAF

Edit: Scan.co.uk does not do this type and it's needed for the X51.

 

[GrazGamer]

Well, it certainly doesn't like the Superclocked EVGA 980 GTX. It restarted my PC as soon as any game loaded.

Using EVGA precision I have down clocked the GPU clock and voltage a bit, although it is still running above stock and it seems to be stable now.

And HOLY HELL is it fast. So far, Crysis, Crysis 3 and Watch Dogs maxed out are 60fps at 1080p.

 

[Phil4000]

Anyone know when the new Area 51 is going up for preorder on Alienware's site?

 

[blastprocessor]

Nice. So i'm hoping someone here tries out the 970 as the 330W power supply should in theory be enough.

 

[2002whitegt]

I can confirm that with changing the front fan to a 10mm one the 980 fits.

Just installing drivers now

Congrats man, let us know how it runs, can't wait to get mine on Monday.

Well, it certainly doesn't like the Superclocked EVGA 980 GTX. It restarted my PC as soon as any game loaded.

Using EVGA precision I have down clocked the GPU clock and voltage a bit, although it is still running above stock and it seems to be stable now.

I also got the Superclocked 980, I also assumed I would have to downclock closer to stock levels in order to get it running stable.

Any link to the fan you got?

 

[GrazGamer]

Congrats man, let us know how it runs, can't wait to get mine on Monday.



I also got the Superclocked 980, I also assumed I would have to downclock closer to stock levels in order to get it running stable.

Any link to the fan you got?

Using EVGA Precision I had to drop the Power to it's minimum of 66%. This took the gpu clock down to 1240, a little over stock. I have an SSD in there too though.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/titan-tfd-6010-slim-line-case-fan-quiet-60x60x10mm

This is the fan, bloody noisy though, might consider leaving it off.

 

[2002whitegt]

Using EVGA Precision I had to drop the Power to it's minimum of 66%. This took the gpu clock down to 1240, a little over stock. I have an SSD in there too though.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/titan-tfd-6010-slim-line-case-fan-quiet-60x60x10mm

This is the fan, bloody noisy though, might consider leaving it off.

Is the card getting hot in the case? I didn't notice that big of a difference in temperature when I played a few games last night without the front fan.

You probably have the fastest and strongest x51 in the world right now, lol

 

[GrazGamer]

Is the card getting hot in the case? I didn't notice that big of a difference in temperature when I played a few games last night without the front fan.

You probably have the fastest and strongest x51 in the world right now, lol

It's running cooler than the 670 it replaces.

 

[ShinobiFist]

So my Alienware X51 is the i5 with GTX 645 OEM. I do not know what my power supply wattage is, I cannot find it anywhere. I'm wanting to upgrade cards... the newest announced ones have a chance of working in mine? It's the newer R2 model.

Did you check the label of your power brick? It should say it there. I'm getting the 970 this weekend or during the week.

 

[KyleCross]

So if I'm ultimately not able to upgrade to a 970 with my 240 psu, then what can I upgrade to and would it make a big difference over the 645? I don't care about crazy resolutions, I don't want to go any higher than 1080p.

 

[Jonm1010]

So if I'm ultimately not able to upgrade to a 970 with my 240 psu, then what can I upgrade to and would it make a big difference over the 645? I don't care about crazy resolutions, I don't want to go any higher than 1080p.

As my recent posts clearly indicate, I am far from any authority on internal PC matters, but couldn't you buy the 330 power supply? A quick google popped up some results.

 

[Kibbles]

So I upgraded my old 8GB RAM x51 to 16GB but for some reason the 1600MHz RAM only runs at 1333? What gives how do I did? I updated the BIOS and all that from Dells site. :S

 

[Tenck]

So tempted to do the 330w psu and put a 970 in my x51. If anyone else does this post results.

 

[TerminalDogma]

So I don't know too much about PC's (one of the reasons I bought an X51 to begin with), but am I able to upgrade to a 970, if my current specs are these:

i5-3450 @ 3.10 GHz
8 GB of Ram

My current graphics card is a GTX 555. Should I upgrade Ram or my CPU before upgrading the graphics card? Or are those fine and I should just got ahead and get a 970?

 

[ShinobiFist]

So tempted to do the 330w psu and put a 970 in my x51. If anyone else does this post results.

It uses almost the same TDP of the stock GTX 660(140). Heck, people are rocking the GTX 670 on the X51 with a TDP of 170. The 970 is at 145, so you are very safe going with that. What I want to know is the 980. Is at 175, more than the limit(170), but some already are having no issues as of yet. I'm getting the 970 next week, so I'll post details.

So I don't know too much about PC's (one of the reasons I bought an X51 to begin with), but am I able to upgrade to a 970, if my current specs are these:

i5-3450 @ 3.10 GHz
8 GB of Ram

My current graphics card is a GTX 555. Should I upgrade Ram or my CPU before upgrading the graphics card? Or are those fine and I should just got ahead and get a 970?

As long your Power Supply is the 330W one, you are good.

 

[Tenck]

It uses almost the same TDP of the stock GTX 660(140). Heck, people are rocking the GTX 670 on the X51 with a TDP of 170. The 970 is at 145, so you are very safe going with that. What I want to know is the 980. Is at 175, more than the limit(170), but some already are having no issues as of yet. I'm getting the 970 next week, so I'll post details.




As long your Power Supply is the 330W one, you are good.

Will patiently wait for your updates on that 970

 

[KyleCross]

So a quick Google search is showing that the 330w psu is... selling for well over $100? Well, screw that. Guess I'm in it for the long haul with my GTX 645 unless they release a new card that can deal with the 240w psu.

 

[ShinobiFist]

Will patiently wait for your updates on that 970

Looks like I might have to wait a little longer. Mircocenter in my area only has the non reference cards. And all the reference cards are sold out everywhere. I know some gaffers are getting the reference ones or have them already for the X51. I'll keep hunting.

So a quick Google search is showing that the 330w psu is... selling for well over $100? Well, screw that. Guess I'm in it for the long haul with my GTX 645 unless they release a new card that can deal with the 240w psu.

I'm going to be real with you. Get the power supply. And get a GPU next year if you are strap for cash. Its going be worth it in the long run. It gives your computer more room to breath, trust me.Get the PSU now. And GPU next year.

 

[2002whitegt]

So a quick Google search is showing that the 330w psu is... selling for well over $100? Well, screw that. Guess I'm in it for the long haul with my GTX 645 unless they release a new card that can deal with the 240w psu.

If you don't want to upgrade the psu, I've seen some people have success with the GTX 750 ti and the 240w psu.

It's a much faster card than the 645 and uses 60w compared to the 65w the 645 does.

Really cheap too.

 

[KyleCross]

If you don't want to upgrade the psu, I've seen some people have success with the GTX 750 ti and the 240w psu.

It's a much faster card than the 645 and uses 60w compared to the 65w the 645 does.

Really cheap too.

Hmmm... that's tempting. So this one? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IDG3IDO/?tag=neogaf0e-20 Or a different model? I know some cards have different stats.

 

[2002whitegt]

Hmmm... that's tempting. So this one? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IDG3IDO/?tag=neogaf0e-20 Or a different model? I know some cards have different stats.

I would stick to the card that is not overclocked.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IDG3PRI/?tag=neogaf0e-20

I would do some google searches and see other peoples experience with the setup before buying, but from what I've searched some people were running the card fine.

 

[The Dennis System]

Nice. So i'm hoping someone here tries out the 970 as the 330W power supply should in theory be enough.

Yeah, I'd like to see if the 970 works. I'm not smart enough to replace a fan and tweek all the settings on a 980. I'm hoping the 970 will pretty much just plug in and play.

 

[ussjtrunks]

the reference evga 970 should work the one with the blower fan, hell even the overclocked version might work just wish amazon uk would put them up for sale

 

[GrazGamer]

You need to ensure you get a model with the single fan like the reference card as the cooling only works with these. The cards with multiple fans ontop are not designed around the airflow of the x51.

 

[ShinobiFist]

Looks like I jinxed myself. My current GPU has been acting very funny as of late. First, I was getting the Nivida driver has stopped working, but it repair itself error. Did a clean driver install of the Nivida drivers and all. It fixed the issue for a few days, but then another one happen, it wouldn't bring back the picture out of sleep. I had to put the HDMI cable to the onboard one to see picture. Now today, I booted up the PC to play some Dark Souls, but before I booted the game, I went to Youtube first to check some music out, and boom, my PC turned off and rebooted itself. Now, I can get the X51 to recognize the GPU at all. Going to open it again and clean everything from the GPU fan to the front fan.

 

[Amagon]

.

 

[2002whitegt]

Got the EVGA Super Clocked GTX 980 in the machine and running.

First things first this is was my setup:
Core i7 4770
8gb Ram
MSI GTX 670 Overclock Edition
2TB 3.5in HDD
DVD Delete (Never use it, create some space to breathe in the machine)

The only software tweaks I had before was a custom fan tune using MSI Afterburner and setting the CPU Max load to 99% using Power Options in Windows (To prevent boost)

Install of the GTX 980 isn't hard, just a bit tricky. First the front 60mm x 20mm fan has to be removed (it can be replaced with a thinner 10mm if you want to keep it) I left it off.

Seating the card once it's in the cage is a bit tricky and took a few tries and different angles to get it in, but once it's in, it's in!

Computer booted up did a clean install with nvidia drivers and ran 3DMark 11 to compare to my previous set up:

http://www.3dmark.com/compare/fs/2811793/fs/2759476

Not a bad upgrade! Didn't shutdown! Peaked at 80 degrees during the first test. Much quieter all the way around than the 670.

Enough talk, here are some pics of the card. I will keep testing a few games to see if a downclock more towards stock numbers is needed.


Sorry for the crappy pics, it's dark in my room and my phone's camera sucks in the dark.

A little clue as to what's inside!

Will post if any problems arise, but I'm off to try a few games.

 

[blastprocessor]

Congrats let us know how robust this is. I'm still going for the 970 but finding a 9.5 inch blower card in the UK is proving difficult.

 

[ussjtrunks]

Congrats let us know how robust this is. I'm still going for the 970 but finding a 9.5 inch blower card in the UK is proving difficult.

Doesnt look like evga have released them in Europe yet according to their site guess we'll have to wait

 

[Jonm1010]

Yes congrats 2002 and please give us some updates after a few days. I am eagerly awaiting the go ahead to dive in and upgrade.

 

[ussjtrunks]

anyone know the release date of the evga uk cards or know a way to find out, some of the other brands are stating october 1st

 

[Amagon]

Hey guys, I need some troubleshooting help here. Alright, I'm running Windows 8.1 64-bit on my X51 and decided tonight to update the bios. I was running BIOS version A06 and downloaded and installed A07. Now, I'm having a issue at startup with "Windows is loading files" screen for a couple minutes and then Startup Repair popping up stating it cannot repair this computer. It's saying the root cause found is the OS version is incompatible with startup repair.

What can I do at this point to roll back the BIOS from before?

 

[The Dennis System]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVi9puLG00A

This guy put up a video of him installing a 970 in an X51. He's using an overclocked version and says that his X51 shut down several times while playing games and so he had to turn down the clock speed to get it to keep from overheating. He recommends not getting a superclocked version because it'll overheat.

 

[Soyongdori]

So I have 330 psu I think, and 2013 model with GTX660 and i7. Will 970 work perfectly with my x51?

 

[2002whitegt]

Yes congrats 2002 and please give us some updates after a few days. I am eagerly awaiting the go ahead to dive in and upgrade.

Well it's been a few days, and I still have not had a shutdown, and I have not downclocked my 980 at all. I have run a couple of benchmarks, used DSR on a few games (Assassins Creed 3, Fable Anniversary) and have had no problems with stability.

Now, there can be many factors as to why I'm having no problem, ie: I have a R2 model, I only use 1 HDD, I don't have the DVD drive in the machine etc.

I just want to share my experience, and let everyone know that it is possible and not completely out of the question to run a 980, I will have a long extended gaming session today! So we will see how that goes.

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/2837417

 

[Dicer]

^ <----- awesome news... nice to see we have a nice upgrade still in the future, thought being stuck on a 600 would be a thing I'd have to live with


Edit: lol new page...