Help

[Magicfan1423]

I need some help, i have a Dell Dimension 2400 desktop and i need to upgrade it. I've looked at other forums and the general consensus is that i shouldn't even try to upgrade it, that it's not worth it, but im on a budget of at the most, and its stretching it of about 400$. I need it to run games like Nascar Sim Racing and games of about that caliber. I can't run that game as it is its way too choppy. I ran the system scanner on crucial.com and i have 384 mb Ram right now, with an Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 2.60GHz and an FSB of 400mhz. So im wondering is it worth upgrading the ram to maybe 1 or 2 Gb and then adding a PCI graphics card cuz thats all it will take.. or is there somewhere i can just get a new CPU capable of playing these games and for under 400$. write back please.. thanx

 

[PC eye]

There are two main things that would help with your current system without spending a fortune that will run most of the games out without too many issues coming up. The new lineup of good shooter games love "memory"! as well as a need for a good model video card. Presently running a custom built with a Socket A mobo and 2gb of Kingston performance dimms the newer games like Half Life 2 and some others actually run better then many older style games with far less lockups and other annoyances. With a fsb of 400mhz here a good pair of 512mb to 1gb dimms can be the investment for a reasonable price along with a better video card for around $200-220 US. Your current cpu will handle the games. But if you are running a 350w psu you would want to step that up a little to a 430-480w model for gaming. That would give you a boost there for $100- less then your budget.

 

[Magicfan1423]

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Well, im not computer savvy at all, so in translation, it would be best to get more Ram.. 1gb (2x 512mb?), a new video card.(i have a dell and heard it only takes PCI cards), and whatever the psu is what u mentioned, i don't know what that is. That's why i came to this forum.. lol. I need expert advice on this. w/b plz.

 

[PC eye]

With the two dimms there(a 128mb added to the 256mb to total the 384mb total) most newer games will expect the 512mb minimum due to the demands they place on system resources as well as on the graphics, sound, and processor. A boost to a good pair of 512mb(1gb total) will certainly see a better running system especially for gaming and other large programs. If you shop online at all look around for the best price on a good name brand memory to save money there. There's usually some good deals to find.

With a prebuilt system you will probably find the power supply total around 350w to 400w is the usual. Most systems see a 350w recommendation for the board on a basic model with the usual 40, 60, even 80gb drive and a cd/dvd combo drive as a plus. Newer complete builds average 256mb or 512mb only for memory. For a good AGP card for gaming if you have an ATX type case you will want to look at 450-480w supplies there. When you get into building your own at some point then you can go with a powerhouse setup. Hopefully this will give you some ideas to work with since all of us have to start somewhere. When I started you wrote your own programs and later finally saw 5 1/4" floppy drives with 20mb or larger hard drives. Now SATA and RAID arrays see close to 1 terabyte(oh my gosh! ).