Dell Optiplex 980 MT Upgrades

Cole S

New Member
I am going to upgrade a Dell Optiplex 980 MT. I am going to be getting a new power supply in the 450-600 watt range not sure exactly because I am bidding for everything on eBay. I will be adding 8 gigs of ram (2x4) which will total to 12 gigs. I am going to upgrade the CPU down the road or when a good deal pops up on eBay to an I-7-870. I do have an SSD that I am going to be putting in it, 120gb Samsung. Now this leaves me to the graphics card. I am looking for a graphics card that is a good bang for the buck but still powerful to play games ranging from Rocket League to GTA5. It can require a six pin connector or it doesn't have to put it MUST be able to run on the 75w video card slot if it doesn't have a 6 pin connector.
 

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
Randomly bidding on "everything on Ebay" is about the most impractical and worst way to buy parts for a gaming computer. Pick what you want, buy it from a vendor new or score it used at a set price. Don't just shoot at everything and cobble together whatever sticks.
 

Cole S

New Member
Okay thanks for the advice. I will keep that in mind. It doesn't matter really how long it takes within reason. I am going to be looking at a couple different vendors I will most likely buy the power supply new and ram but the others like the CPU is going to be kinda hard because it is an older cpu. And the graphics card.
 

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
Yeah power supply in particular is one thing you shouldn't leave to chance or luck. A quality 600 watt unit is more than enough for any single graphics card setup and can be had for around $60. A cheap PSU is a weak backbone to a system and can seriously limit your in upgradeability and flexibility when you might need that flexiblity in choosing other components.
 

_Kyle_

Well-Known Member
Careful buying parts on Ebay by the way. Got a faulty SSD once from a guy, turned out he had no return policy.
 
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