Computer Upgrade Advice

EireEV

Hi Guys,

Suppose I better start with current comp spec:

Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz
1GB DDR2 RAM
Radeon x300

Basically I play quite a lot of games and lately a lot of the new releases are just too powerful for specs listed above.

Question is what video card should I go for (have a PCI Express x16 slot) and do I also need to updgrade processor and memory accordingly.

My motherboard can only run DDR2 modules having 400 or 533 MHz but when I go on to crucial.com and enter in make and model (Dell Dimension 5000) it gives me the option to buy 667 and 800MHz modules?

Any help on all of this would be much appreciated.

EireEV

Blazer

Let me check it out tomorrow in work. The d500 is able to take 667Mhz as far as I can remember but not the 800mhz. The most you could up the video to would be X1900XTX or a 7800/7900GTX as your PSU wouldn't be powerfull enough to power the latest 8800 series from Nvidia.
I'd up the ram to 2gigs at least.
I'll also check out the processor for you.
Hope that helps/

astrofool

You can generally buy higher rated ram without problem, but not lower rated. i.e. you could probably use PC1066 without problem as well. Older Dell's were picky about RAM types, in that it would need to be a certain RAM chip on the stick, but you'd be as likely to run into this problem if you were buying generic PC533 RAM.

EireEV

Thanks for this guys - much appreciated.

I was on to a Dell representative and he maintains that the D5000 can only take 400 or 533MHz totally contradicting what is listed on the Crucial web site - be interested to hear your feedback on this Mathew.

The graphics cards you list below - would they be good enough to run the latest games or would it be better to get a new more powerful psu and go for one of the Nvidia 8800 series cards? Is a new psu expensive?

EireEV

the_syco

EireEV wrote:

The graphics cards you list below - would they be good enough to run the latest games or would it be better to get a new more powerful psu and go for one of the Nvidia 8800 series cards? Is a new psu expensive?

EireEV

A decent PSU will set you back about €100 but be warned: Dell cases are weird, and thus the hole where you'd plug the power cable in may be blocked. If you look at some of the online pictures, and look at the back of your machine, you'll see what I mean.

daveharnett

EireEV wrote:

Would it be better to get a new more powerful psu and go for one of the Nvidia 8800 series cards?
Is a new psu expensive?
EireEV

1: An 8800 GTS or a 2900 Pro are the minimum i'd recommend to make new games playable. If you want them playable at high resolutions (>1200x1000), then a GTX becomes necessary. Nothing on the market will really allow you to turn on all the bells and whistles. Basically, the games are 6 months ahead of the hardware.

2: You gan get a decent 600 W PSU to power these cards for about €100.

astrofool

EireEV wrote:

Thanks for this guys - much appreciated.

I was on to a Dell representative and he maintains that the D5000 can only take 400 or 533MHz totally contradicting what is listed on the Crucial web site - be interested to hear your feedback on this Mathew.

Never ever listen to a Dell rep, and I know a few of them. They are salesmen, and know very little of the technology, bar the buzz words and meaningless specs, I dread to think how the training went when Intel went from the 3.8ghz P4 to the 2.8ghz Core 2 Duo.

Also, Crucial are guaranteeing that memory will work (barring a system fault).

Blazer

Yes..you should be good to go for the 667MHz memory..wouldn't chance the 800mhz since Dell have never tested it as far as I know since this system was end of life before dell started with 800mhz ram.
As regards the cpu the Dim 5000 does not support dual core processors so it would not be worth your while getting a 8800 series video since your cpu would be a bottleneck for the card.
There's a 305w psu in these which is good for 350watts as Dell always go by mean wattage not max.
The X1800/1900XTX---7800/7900GTX will work fine in these systems and will still give you good quality gaming without AA+AF enabled which you're not going to notice too much.

If you still wanted to upgrade your system you're better off selling it and buying a new one or building one yourself as you'd also need to change your motherboard to upgrade to the core duo processors etc.
It all depends on how much gaming you do and how much you have to spend.
If you can spare a grand you can build a very nice system with this and the money you get from flogging the dim 5000.

Hope this helps.

EireEV

Thanks for all this Mathew.

Could you have a look at the item below - Is this one of the graphics cards you were talking about? If not could you recommend the best one available to me and send me the link.

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=326957

How do I know looking at the cards specs whether or not I can run it with a 350W PSU.

See Repsonse from CRUCIAL agent below:

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Hello, Thank you for your email. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page once you find your make and model from our memory advisor tool, you will see the faster speed modules are our Ballistix line of memory that is only to be used by high end users, people who are big gamers. Our standard memory for this system, the speed we offer is only the Pc2-4200 nothing higher. Also please keep in mind that Crucial tests every part for the system's that we recommend them for to make sure that they will work before we put them on our site. I would recommend just ordering this part CT448401 listed in the link below. http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=7C8355B2A5CA7304 If you have further questions, please contact our sales and support department. Try our online chat service at http://www.crucial.com/company/contacts.asp. Our hours are Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Mountain Time). At Crucial, we are committed to providing high-quality products and reliable service and support. DARCY DAWSONDirect Sales and Support RepresentativeTel: (800) 336-8896Fax: (208) 363-5501mailto:crucial.service@micron.com Talk to an Expert Onlinehttp://www.crucial.com/company/contacts.asp Crucial Technology -- The Memory Experts(SM)3475 E. Commercial Ct. Meridian, ID 83642http://www.crucial.com

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Original Message

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From: Irelandian007@hotmail.comSent: 10/08/2007 09:29:29, MondayTo: cruwebprog@micron.com; crucial.service@micron.comSubject: Crucial System Scanner Customer Inquiry Comments /Questions:I was on to a dell representative today and they maintain, as does the suppport documentation, that my model can only run memory modules having speeds of 400 or 533MHz - On your web-site you have 667 and 800 MHz listed as compatible with my machine. As you van imagine I'm totally confused now. What should I do? Crucial System Scanner Customer Inquiry This question submitted by: Name: Email: Irelandian007@hotmail.com Customer's Scan ID: 472C20C831D926C3 Customer Entered Manufacturer: Dell Customer Entered Model: Dimension 5000 Customer Entered Platform: desktop
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What you think?

sebastianlieken

if i were you, id just get an entirely new rig, itl be worth it in the long run, and its gonna be easier aswell

EireEV

I know I'd love to - just don't have the spare cash at the moment doh!!

sebastianlieken

EireEV wrote:

I know I'd love to - just don't have the spare cash at the moment doh!!

my advice in that case is to wait till u do then...ul jus be pissin ur money away into a black hole if u upgrade ur rig. wait until u have a grand or so to spend, or get a ps3 or (and i rlly cant beleve im saying this)....get an x-box 360...(that was painful)

Blazer

EireEV wrote:

Thanks for all this Mathew.

Could you have a look at the item below - Is this one of the graphics cards you were talking about? If not could you recommend the best one available to me and send me the link.

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=326957

How do I know looking at the cards specs whether or not I can run it with a 350W PSU.


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What you think?

Yep..that card would work fine..it's not going to give you all the bells+whistles but it will play the latest games if you turn off AA+AF and run at 1280x1024 thereabouts. As for the memory I'd definitely only order the 533MHz then from crucial judging by their answer to you.

You could always upgrade your power supply. The below website make psu's for dell pc's etc that are more powerfull than the oem model. For example they make a 470watt psu for the Dim 5000.

Going by what you're spending on your pc would you not better off picking up a cheap 2nd pc? See the one for sale on boards below.
He's looking for €500 for it but you might get it cheaper plus if you flogged your own one you'd probably get about €200 or so for it leaving a balance of €300 thereabouts.. looks to be a better option for me.


http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=34421&cat=8

There's a good cpu/video card in it plus it's current technology so you'd be good to go for a while yet. You could always pick up a 8800GTX in another 6 months when they're a lot cheaper but the 7950GX2 is still a great card.
There's 2gigs of ram but you could always install XP on it instead of Vista...2gigs is loads in XP..no game benefits from more than this under XP unlike Vista which really needs 4 gigs for gaming.

EireEV

What's AA+AF?

So Mathew what card would you recommend I go for (based on my comp specs) and leaving aside the fact that everybody thinks I should go for a new rig?

Thanks.

EireEV.

daveharnett

EireEV wrote: »

What's AA+AF?

AA = Anti Alaising
AF = Anisotropic Filtering

Both improve image quality at the expense of higher framerates. The latest Nvidia cards implement both more efficiently than rival ATI cards (ie less of a performance hit.)