Dell Dimension 9100

C

christofudge

New Member
This is a very, very old pc and been in my house for many years. However, it is the only desktop I own, otherwise I'm stuck with my laptop.

I don't want to play every brand new game coming out, because I know thats very unlikely with the processing power on this desktop, but I do wish to play some older games, which includes Guild Wars and various others.

So I just wanted to know, should I purchase a new graphics card and more RAM for this, just to save some money, and if so which should I buy...
Or should I just save up and build a whole new computer, which would take months of saving.

Thank you for your time to read this :) Any suggestions will be helpful.

Specs:
Intel Pentium 4D 3.0Ghz 2.99Ghz
2Gb RAM
375W PSU (I think might be more might be less)
 
Upgrade to 4GB of RAM, get a Corsair CX 430 power supply if it will fit in your case, and then get a GeForce GT 430 or 440 graphics card. Should be OK.
 
vistakid10 said:
Upgrade to 4GB of RAM, get a Corsair CX 430 power supply if it will fit in your case, and then get a GeForce GT 430 or 440 graphics card. Should be OK.
Click to expand...

Is there a difference between the 430 and 440?
And if the PSU doesn't fit, does that means it wouldn't be possible to upgrade?
 
The CX 430 should fit in the case, if it won't fit then upgrading the video card is going to be very hard or impossible, but upgrading to 4GB of RAM should be fine.

The GT 440 is faster than a 430, probably not by that much. You can see the benchmarks here http://www.hwcompare.com/7243/geforce-gt-430-vs-geforce-gt-440-1-5gb/ don't forget there are also other low end cards to consider such as the Radeon 67xx cards.

What operating system are you using?
 
Thanks for the PSU advice and the link :)

I have Linux Ubuntu on it at the mo, but I'm debating on Windows 7, or just to getting back the old Windows XP, seeing as its faster, so it might help with the gaming and stuff.
 
If you get Windows 7 and an extra 2GB of RAM to make 4GB, you want to install a 64-bit copy of 7, your processor should support 64-bit. If you stick to XP, you can install 4GB of RAM, but bear in mind that as XP is only 32-bit, only 3.25GB will be detected and used by XP.
 
OK no probs.

So get Windows 7 64-bit (Home Prem will do), an extra 2GB of RAM to make 4GB, Corsair CX 430 PSU and a GT 430 or 440. :)
 
hehe :) Will that help me play slightly older games and stuff? I mean I know I won't be anyway near running the likes of borderlands, crysis or battlefield xD
 
Should play the older games fine, what monitor/resolution are you planning on using?
 
I only have my tv in my bedroom, which has a VGA port on it, and I figured I'd use the highest resolution I could :')

Do you think there could be a better option?
 
At the higher resolutions, the GT 430/440s may start to struggle a bit, but hopefully they'll be OK with the older games. Can you find out what resolution your TV is and what sort of settings do you want to play these games on?

I'd say you should be ok though...
 
When I've had Windows 7 on my tv in the past, I've been able to select fairly high resolutions, so I'm unsure.
Do you know how I'd find out what resolution my tv is? I mean its HD :P if that helps any.
 
So it's either 1920x1080 if it's 1080p or 1280x720 if it's 720p. The GT 430/440 won't be able to run games at 1920x1080 that's for sure, but if you lower the resolution of the games down a bit they should play it fine. Lowering the resolution shouldn't have a massive impact on appearance, especially if the games are older - chances are the games can't even run at 1920x1080 in which case the GT 430/440 will be fine.

I'd probably go for a GT 440 over a GT 430.
 
Yeahh it can go as high as 1080p, but I used to have my playstation games and stuff on 720p, so tbh it wouldn't really bother me at all to lower the resolution.

If I wanted to play new games in the future, like in a year, maybe two years, would I go about investing in a whole new machine do you think? Because the processing power seems kinda slow for newer games out there, or would an upgrade in psu and graphics be enough again?
 
To play more modern games you'd need a new PC mate. An old Pentium D, DDR2 RAM and a GT 430/440 just won't cut it.
 
Yeah I thought as much, thanks for all your help anyway man :) I'm thinking of becoming a pc gamer in the near future, so we should play or something :P
 
Would be cool, but I'm not really a gamer myself. I only play Dirt 3 and some older games on the PC.
 
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