MAJOR upgrade

M

MrAustinFTW

New Member
It really may be closer to a build because I am starting with my Mom's old Desktop. It's only from 2007, but it has 512MB DDR2 RAM, Vista, an AMD Sempron in a AM2+ socket, a 64GB hard drive, a DVD+/-R either player or burner (Haven't tested), and I have no references of whats in it since there are many, many different models of the Dell Dimension E521. This may be one of the worst. I'm trying to stay relatively cheep, but I'm also kind of thinking of scrapping all but the case and the fans. It currently can support up to 4GB of RAM. Do you think it would work relatively well for some gaming with 4GB DDR2, AMD Phenom X4 9600, a hard drive of 500GB or more, Windows 7, and possibly a new DVD drive depending on this one's functionality?

Also, I didn't plan to buy that processor from Newegg but wherever I could find it, or I'd buy a similar one.
 
Just my opinion.....

First off, i would take the panel off and look to see any hardware tags to know what you got. If not, a cool thing to download (might be better ones out there but i like this one) is PC Wizard 2010. It will do a nice scan of your computer and give to detailed information of exactly what you have. Won't give you any info on the PSU though (or so i can't find it).

If you have the money to do a new build, i would just go ahead with it. You can actually do a decent computer build for a decent price. If the cash flow is the problem, I'm not too sure how far you are going to get.

Number one i would look at your motherboard, what up grades you can do to it. Such as what type of chip-set you have, search for compatible processors. If there is available slot for video card. Ram is ok, you can get some pretty decent DDR2 ram. PSU might need to be upgraded to accommodate the amount of power consumption added. Not to mention cooling will have to be concidered (higher grade parts need more cooling).

From the Dells i have seen, they usually don't come with very "upgradable parts" (but then again maybe i have just seen the crappy ones lol). Budget is key, in which will give you the options of the road in which you are better off taking.





EDIT: sorry forgot you took a look at the socket type, disregard my comment about socket.
 
I have an old Dell machine. Actually considerably older than yours. Around 2004 I believe.

Dell likes to use cheap quality parts so that their computers aren't really upgrade-able. Like in mine for instance it's not a Micro - ATX, it's a completely different size then anything else and PSU isn't a standard size. It's all kind of messed up and a real hassle.

If you're not planning on spending more than about $500 then it's generally cheaper to buy a pre-built rather than building one yourself. Of course these machine aren't very upgrade-able either unless it's one of those iBUYPOWER or a similar brand, rather than HP, DELL, etc.

If you go the pre-built route be sure to check out refurbished computers. If they had any problems they're normally fixed and have a lower fail rate then a brand new computer.
 
Denther said:
If you're not planning on spending more than about $500 then it's generally cheaper to buy a pre-built rather than building one yourself. Of course these machine aren't very upgrade-able either unless it's one of those iBUYPOWER or a similar brand, rather than HP, DELL, etc.

If you go the pre-built route be sure to check out refurbished computers. If they had any problems they're normally fixed and have a lower fail rate then a brand new computer.
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Hmm, from what i have read on this forum, you can build a 'gaming' computer yourself for right around the $500 mark. I even seen this one guy post one up for $400. Don't know how these guys find these amazing deals, but they do.

People are always selling their used gaming rigs. I'd search for those too. I might be selling mine in the near future (after i build my new one). I was going to sell it to my buddy for 300 bones.
 
well when buying a gaming computer on ebay, you have to know what the parts are, as i've seen an old athlon 64 x2 with a 8800gt or something like that in a nice case being bid on ine the 500+area, people see gaming and don't know about clock to clock performance or any of the new gpus or anything, so they just bid for 2x the value of a computer.
 
sometimes you can find a very decent computer (with a few minor upgrades) not even classified as 'gaming' in your search of a computer. So don't just limit yourself to searching for 'gaming' computers, take a look at all low priced computers. Some have decent hardware.
 
all depends on what you're willing to pay. would prob check ibuypower and cyberpowerpc to see whenever they have specials, i know newegg caries a decent gamer of theirs for 500
 
Yeah. You can build one for around 4-500 but iBUYPOWER and cyberpowerpc have some gaming rigs on newegg that are decent for the price. The real savings really start after around 500 dollars if your building.

You can probably build a capable 500 dollar rig but make sure to check prebuilts before you start.

Also agree with Jonny. Some non gaming computers with a few upgrades can game quite well.
 
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