Upgrading my Dell, 600$ spending limit

[Tweeter0830]

Ok, So here's the deal. I have a Dell Dimension 8300 and I'm sick of it's inability to play any new games so I'm planning an upgrade. I'd like to be able to play Battlefield 2 at a reasonably high graphics level. I have about 600$ to spend and I was thinking about getting a Nvidia 6800 GT, maybe a little more ram, but I don't know what else I would need to replace to make that work. My power supply if only 250 W So I think I'd need to replace that. Here are my specs, tell me if you need anything more any help would be greatly appreciated.

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.60GHz
Speed : 2.59GHz
Performance Rating : PR3450 (estimated)
SMT Support : 2 Unit(s)
Type : Standard
L2 On-board Cache : 512kB ECC Synchronous ATC (8-way sectored, 64 byte line size)

Mainboard
Bus(es) : X-Bus AGP PCI IMB USB i2c/SMBus
MP Support : 1 CPU(s)
MP APIC : Yes
System BIOS : Dell Computer Corporation A05
System : Dell Computer Corporation Dimension 8300
Mainboard : Dell Computer Corp. 0M2035
Total Memory : 1023MB DDR-SDRAM

Logical/Chipset 1 Memory Banks
Bank 0 : 512MB DDR-SDRAM 3.0-3-3-8CL 1CMD
Bank 1 : 512MB DDR-SDRAM 3.0-3-3-8CL 1CMD
Channels : 2
Speed : 2x 200MHz (400MHz data rate)
Multiplier : 1/1x
Width : 64-bit
Refresh Rate : 7.80µs
Performance Acceleration Technology : Yes
Power Save Mode : No
Fixed Hole Present : No

Chipset 1
Model : Dell Computer Corp 82875P,E7210 Memory Controller Hub
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 200MHz (800MHz data rate)
Total Memory : 1024MB DDR-SDRAM
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 200MHz (400MHz data rate)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : Default Monitor
Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200

Physical Storage Devices
Removable Drive : Floppy disk drive
Hard Disk : ST3120026AS (111.8GB)
CD-ROM/DVD : SAMSUNG CD-R/RW SW-248F (CD 48X Rd, 48X Wr)
CD-ROM/DVD : SAMSUNG DVD-ROM SD-616T (CD 48X Rd) (DVD 6X Rd)

Logical Storage Devices
1.44MB 3.5" (A : N/A
Hard Disk (C : 111.7GB (29.9GB, 27% Free) (NTFS)
CD-ROM/DVD (D : N/A
CD-ROM/DVD (E : N/A

MultiMedia Device(s)
Device : Creative SB Live! Series (WDM)
Device : Game Port for SB Live! Series

Operating System(s)
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP/2002 Professional (Win32 x86/IA32) 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 2)

 

[Geoff]

I think you have enough ram for gaming, although you would need a better psu for a 6800GT, but im not sure if Dell's require a special type for there mobo's, if they use a regular ATX psu, then i would upgrade that, i would get a dvd burner since your dvd-rom is fairly slow (also if your getting games that come on dvd), but i would either get a 6800 or 6800GT, there is a fairly big price difference there. ANd i would consider getting a new sound card and larger hard drive.

 

[jjsevdt]

6800gt is a good choice. You don't need any more memory. If you were to get more you'd have to buy in pairs to use the ddr, but get a psu and dvd burner and you'd be good. You don't have a bad computer. Have you already tried to play BF2?