I bought a Dell XPS 8940 pre-built at the end of 2020, and so far, I've upgraded it with an extra 16GB of RAM for a total of 32GB and swapped the original 256GB SSD for a 1TB SSD. Now, I'm looking to possibly upgrade my GPU (currently an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti) and/or my CPU (Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-10400), but I'm unsure about what my motherboard and PSU can handle. Is there a way to check these limits? Also, considering the age of the system, should I just build a new PC from scratch instead of upgrading these parts? I'm interested in gaming, especially after seeing how well games perform on my friend's PS5.
1 Answer
Upgrading a Dell is usually tricky because they often use non-standard motherboards and power supplies. Without knowing your PSU's wattage, it’s hard to tell how much headroom you have for upgrades. It's likely that your options are pretty limited. If you're serious about gaming, I'd recommend salvaging what you can (like the storage) and building a new custom PC instead. A modern AM5 setup would give you way more flexibility and performance!
If you're unsure about your PSU specs, you might find the original configuration document helpful—it usually specifies the wattage. If it lists 360W or 500W, but you're not sure which one you have, just know that performance demands have increased significantly since your build.
Yeah, Dell indeed does not typically come with standard ATX parts, which can make upgrades more expensive and complicated. If your system is already five years old, selling it and investing in a newer custom build might be the best way to go.