new to PC's and my new computer

T

Thunderdome

New Member
I am somewhat new to PC's, I grew up on DOS, Win 3.1, 95, 98, then switched to Mac and have not looked back since OS X was first released. I am no stranger to Windows, I run Windows 7 ultimate on both my MacBook Pro and iMac.

I just purchased a new Dell XPS 8300 as I dabble a bit in SecondLife with some rp sims, as well I am curious about getting into WOW or League of Legends. The specs of the computer i am waiting for:

Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64Bit, English
Intel Core i7-2600 processor(8MB Cache, 3.4GHz)
6GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz- 4 DIMMs
1TB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
ATI Radeon HD 5670 1GB GDDR5
Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
Standard USB 2.0 + 10/100/1000 Ethernet

How well do you think this computer will stand up with the above mentioned games?
 
The PC is rock solid except the video card and HDD.

you can upgrade the video card very easily.

just get better video card, when PC is off and unplugged, open it up unplug and unscrew the old video card, put new on and screw it and plug it up and install the drivers and you are good to go.

if you need help just post picture and someone will be able to point you in right direction.
 
scbjmshpv said:
The PC is rock solid except the video card and HDD.

you can upgrade the video card very easily.

just get better video card, when PC is off and unplugged, open it up unplug and unscrew the old video card, put new on and screw it and plug it up and install the drivers and you are good to go.

if you need help just post picture and someone will be able to point you in right direction.
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Thats what I was hoping to hear. I did not want to spend alot of money, and this seemed like a good price for the specs.

Whats wrong with the hard drive? I will only be using this computer for the above mentioned, thats it. I have my Mac's for everything else that I love and prefer and use for work.
 
Benny Boy said:
Your power supply could be a vc upgrade determining factor.
What's the model and the wattage spec?

EDit: Looks like it has 460w. Probly lucky if it really has that, because oem's use whatever they can get by with for ps.
If your going with a bigger gpu, you'll need a good brand power supply with more, (real) wattage.

Re-edit: Read->http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19367087.aspx
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Are these things pretty easy to install? Are they standard sizes to fit in specific spots or will every computer be a bit different?

What would be a good power supply to upgrade to for the cheapest amount that would allow me in the future to upgrade to a better gaming card?


thanks
 
Thunderdome said:
Would this work? And be enough for higher end cards?
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3276567&Sku=ULT-LSP750

Again, complete noob to all this, with my Mac's all I do is upgrade the ram and hard drive when I need to.
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Don't buy the ultra. They are not that good. You won't need that much wattage unless you plan on using two video cards. A quality 550W unit will be more than enough: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207013&cm_re=xfx_psu-_-17-207-013-_-Product

It has Seasonic internals, meaning it's very high quality, has good efficiency, regulation and so on. It's just well built compared to the ultra unit.
 
One last question. I was looking at the ATI 5770 video card, its a nice step up from the card I have in the machine now. Power requirements say 450 w. The power supply in the machine now is 460 w. Does this mean I could just drop the 5770 in with no problems?
 
the requirements arent really meant to be read that way, you need amperage on your 12v rail and determine the power requirements of your card, i would not recommend nearly maxxing your psu with a gpu upgrade, i would recommend upgrading your psu as well.
 
FuryRosewood said:
the requirements arent really meant to be read that way, you need amperage on your 12v rail and determine the power requirements of your card, i would not recommend nearly maxxing your psu with a gpu upgrade, i would recommend upgrading your psu as well.
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Thanks for the info, good to know.

I am curious to what issues would come with just plugging this in with the current psu? Would this be a cause of crashes to the system? Or damage other components?
 
wolfeking said:
Maxing the PSU could cause an overload, which could fry any or all of your system.
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That definitely doesn't sounds like a good thing :D

Before I do anything I am going to see how the video card that it comes with handles what I do. I am not a hard core gamer or anything, so it might be good enough for me.
 
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