Upgrade PC to this _ Is it possible or worth it.

detones

I currenltly have this old PC

Dell Dimension 5150
Intel(R)
Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80Ghz
2.79Ghz, 0.99 GB of Ram
Windows XP Service Pack 3

Was thinking of using it to run a Virtual Reality Cycling Trainer on it; however the PC requirements are this:

Minimum system requirements
Processor: Quad Core 2.5 Ghz (Intel i3 processor recommended)
Memory: 4 GB
Hard disc space: 2GB
Graphics card: DirectX9 compatible, dedicated 3D card with 512 GB of memory, resolution minimum of 1024 x 768 (Nvidia or Ati recommended)
Sound card: DirectSound compatible
Various: 1 free USB port; DVD player
Operating system: Vista SP2 or Windows 7 (32 Bit and 64 Bit-Version)

Recommended system requirements
Processor: Quad Core 3.0 Ghz (Intel i7 processor recommended)
Memory: 8 GB
Hard disc space: 20 GB
Graphics card: DirectX9 compatible, dedicated 3D card with 1 GB (ATI or Nvidia recommended)
Sound card: DirectSound compatible
Various: 1 free USB port, DVD player
Operating system: Windows 7 (64 bit)

Would it be possible to meet the Minimum requirements and would it cost a fortune, does the current processor match the minimum? I think I can get my hands on a copy of Windows 7, so I would have to upgrade the Ram/Graphics Card and possibly the Processor. Thanks for any feedback.

unseenfootage

You'll be able to upgrade to 4GB RAM but unfortunately the 5150 motherboard will not support quad core processors, which is a minimum requirement for the software.

Also you would need to install a graphics card.

marco_polo

As the minimum recommended spec is a fairly new i3 (which is actually a dual core ), it is highly unlikely that a 2005 Pentium D will be able to manage it. Also I am pretty sure (from what the google machine is telling me) that the old Dimension 5100 uses a BTX layout, meaning the case/PSU would not be compatible with an ATX motherboard, so even a partial motherboard/ram/cup upgrade is probably not a runner as BTX motherboards aren't really used anymore (and never really were by anybody except Dell).

Realistically you are probably looking at a new build (might as well get a modern HDD as well if the rest needs to go), which would come to at least €350 by my reckoning. This would certainly at least meet the minimum requirement, as the AMD APU integrated GPU is as good as a low end dedicated graphics cards, almost the equivalent of a HD6570 (~ -10%).

An i3 build is also a possibility, but i'd be less confident that the Intel on chip graphics (HD4000) would be up to the job.

Item|Price
BitFenix Merc Beta|€32.04
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€42.35
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws PC3-8500U CL7|€33.51
Gigabyte GA-F2A75M-HD2, AMD A75, FM2, mATX|€63.50
AMD A10 5800K Black Edition mit AMD Radeon HD 7660D Grafikeinheit, Box, FM2|€114.87
WD Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 3 6Gb/s|€52.49
Samsung SH-118AB schwarz|€13.05
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€370.80
(Note: the A8-5600K, has a slightly less powerful GPU, but still good enough and would knock about €20 off the price)

detones

marco_polo wrote: »

As the minimum recommended spec is a fairly new i3 (which is actually a dual core ), it is highly unlikely that a 2005 Pentium D will be able to manage it. Also I am pretty sure (from what the google machine is telling me) that the old Dimension 5100 uses a BTX layout, meaning the case/PSU would not be compatible with an ATX motherboard, so even a partial motherboard/ram/cup upgrade is probably not a runner as BTX motherboards aren't really used anymore (and never really were by anybody except Dell).

Realistically you are probably looking at a new build (might as well get a modern HDD as well if the rest needs to go), which would come to at least €350 by my reckoning. This would certainly at least meet the minimum requirement, as the AMD APU integrated GPU is as good as a low end dedicated graphics cards, almost the equivalent of a HD6570 (~ -10%).

An i3 build is also a possibility, but i'd be less confident that the Intel on chip graphics (HD4000) would be up to the job.

Item|Price
BitFenix Merc Beta|€32.04
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€42.35
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws PC3-8500U CL7|€33.51
Gigabyte GA-F2A75M-HD2, AMD A75, FM2, mATX|€63.50
AMD A10 5800K Black Edition mit AMD Radeon HD 7660D Grafikeinheit, Box, FM2|€114.87
WD Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 3 6Gb/s|€52.49
Samsung SH-118AB schwarz|€13.05
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€370.80
(Note: the A8-5600K, has a slightly less powerful GPU, but still good enough and would knock about €20 off the price)

Thanks for that marco appriciate you putting that together. Will consider it, but It is a bit more than i was hoping to spend. I have actually built or partially built pc's before but no for 8years or more so i'm a bit out of touch as to modern set ups. The trainer itself will cost around €600, it seems the VR software must be comparable to a modern PC game looking at the recommened spec. The graphics do look the business though. I do however have another option, i have a laptop which has a better spec, 3GB Ram not sure about Processor/Graphics Card. I reckoned it would be a lot more expensive to upgrade laptop than PC so decided against this initially. I will post spec later, maybe this could be upgraded if you could have a look. Thanks again.

detones

detones wrote: »

Thanks for that marco appriciate you putting that together. Will consider it, but It is a bit more than i was hoping to spend. I have actually built or partially built pc's before but no for 8years or more so i'm a bit out of touch as to modern set ups. The trainer itself will cost around €600, it seems the VR software must be comparable to a modern PC game looking at the recommened spec. The graphics do look the business though. I do however have another option, i have a laptop which has a better spec, 3GB Ram not sure about Processor/Graphics Card. I reckoned it would be a lot more expensive to upgrade laptop than PC so decided against this initially. I will post spec later, maybe this could be upgraded if you could have a look. Thanks again.

Ok heres my Laptop Spec:

Microprocessor 2 GHz Intel Pentium processor T4200
Microprocessor Cache Level 2 cache 1 MB
Memory 3072 MB (1 x 1024 MB + 1 x 2048 MB)
Memory Max Up to 8 GB DDR2
Video Graphics Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
Video Memory Up to 1309 MB
Hard Drive 160 GB SATA (5400 rpm)
Multimedia Drive Lightscribe Super Multi DVD Writer (+/-R +/-RW) with Double Layer support
Display 15.6" Diagonal High Definition HP LED Brightview Infinity Display (1366 x 768)
Network Card Ethernet 10/100BT integrated network interface
Wireless Connectivity 802.11b/g WLAN
Sound 3D Sound Blaster Pro compatible sound 16 bit integrated

So i'll do some googling and see what I can upgrade. Fairly clueless on Laptops not even sure if you can upgrade the processor. Not sure how the graphics card stacks up to the minumum requiremnts but I think the RAM should be easy enough to upgrade, change the 1gb in one slot for a 4gb and i'll have 6gb.

unseenfootage

It might be worth it to contact their technical support and ask them if the software will work with the old dell.

The laptop has integrated graphics so I don't think you're able to upgrade.

challengemaster

I'm betting it's running Windows Vista/7 32bit, in which case you'll only ever be able to use 4gb no matter what amount of ram you install.

detones

challengemaster wrote: »

I'm betting it's running Windows Vista/7 32bit, in which case you'll only ever be able to use 4gb no matter what amount of ram you install.

Yeah its running Vista Basic which is pure cr@p. Think i can get my hands on Windows 7, not sure if its the 64 bit. However the spec i quoted for this specific laptop says it can take a maximum of 8gb, I assume you mean then Vista and 7 will restrict the effective performance to 4bg somehow even if 6gb is physically installed?

detones

unseenfootage wrote: »

It might be worth it to contact their technical support and ask them if the software will work with the old dell.

The laptop has integrated graphics so I don't think you're able to upgrade.

I'm fairly sure the Dell wont do it, have checked on a forum dedicated to technical issues for the software. How would the integrated card I have compare to the required " DirectX9 compatible, dedicated 3D card with 512 GB of memory, resolution minimum of 1024 x 768 (Nvidia or Ati recommended)"?

unseenfootage

That would be 512 MB (Megabytes) actually. There seems to be a number of typos in that recommendation. You better check with technical support. Who knows what else they got wrong. You could possibly get away with the old Pentium 4 on the dell and 4gb ram or you could upgrade to a later pentium 4?

I don't know too much about graphics cards but generally they fare better than on board graphics.

marco_polo

detones wrote: »

I'm fairly sure the Dell wont do it, have checked on a forum dedicated to technical issues for the software. How would the integrated card I have compare to the required " DirectX9 compatible, dedicated 3D card with 512 GB of memory, resolution minimum of 1024 x 768 (Nvidia or Ati recommended)"?

Honestly from looking at the screenshots of the simulator, there is no prospect that the 4500MHD could run it. If you scroll down to the benchmarks here it is useless for even the oldest of games.

What is the most you could possibly stretch to budget wise?

detones

marco_polo wrote: »

Honestly from looking at the screenshots of the simulator, there is no prospect that the 4500MHD could run it. If you scroll down to the benchmarks here it is useless for even the oldest of games.

What is the most you could possibly stretch to budget wise?

Thanks for that but thats not good news. Maybe €200, but I'm starting to think of looking at an older version of the same software, though I still may not meet the requirements:

Hardware
Processor P4, single core 3.0 GHz
Memory 1024 MB for XP, 2048 MB for Vista or Windows 7
Free Disk Space 2 GB
Graphics Card DirectX 9-compatible 3D-card with 256 MB of memory (non-shared)
Brand: ATI or nVidia
See the Tacx Website for an overview of graphics cards that may cause problems.
Resolution 1024 x 768
Sound Card DirectSound-compatible
Various 1 free USB-port
DVD player


Software
Operating System Windows XP SP2, Vista SP1 or Windows 7 (both 32-bit and 64-bit version)


or another type of Vr Trainer altogether which has far less requiremnts:

Recommended PC characteristics:

Processor: Pentium 4 2,4 Ghz
Operative system: Windows XP, Vista or 7
Memory: 512 MB
Hard disc: 7200rpm
Graphic card: 32MB of memory
Various: 1 free USB port, DVD player (for use of Video-Races only)
DVD-ROM
An audio card is also recommended.
Monitor : 1024*768 min resolution.

marco_polo

The older version looks a bit more promising, CPU is ok for that and I'd be quite confident that a 30 euro pcie graphics card and an extra 1GB DDR2 RAM would get you on your way.

unseenfootage

This is from the software vendor's site:

Recommended system requirements: Processor P4, Double core 2.5 Ghz, Memory 3GB (X86), 4GB (X64) DDRIII, Free disk space 2 GB, Video card DirectX10 compatible 3D with 512 MB of memory (not shared memory) brand: ATI or Nvidia, Resolution 1920 x 1080, Sound card DirectSound compatible, Various 1 free USB port, DVD player, Operating system Windows 7.

http://www.tacx.com/en/products/software/tacx-trainer-software-4-advanced#tab_2

The specs that you posted (http://www.marreybikes.com/en/home-trainers/2307-tacx-i-genius-t2020-cycletrainer.html.) is from a retailer. So evidently their is a disparity.

Can you double check, detones?

detones

unseenfootage wrote: »

This is from the software vendor's site:



The specs that you posted (http://www.marreybikes.com/en/home-trainers/2307-tacx-i-genius-t2020-cycletrainer.html.) is from a retailer. So evidently their is a disparity.

Can you double check, detones?

Yeah your right, I copied spec form an Online retailer. The one you quoted is from Tacx directly. I need to look into this, Tacx seem to suggest the dual core would do, so even with my old PC if i upgraded graphics card, RAM & Opertaing system It "might" work.

Jonny7

detones wrote: »

Yeah your right, I copied spec form an Online retailer. The one you quoted is from Tacx directly. I need to look into this, Tacx seem to suggest the dual core would do, so even with my old PC if i upgraded graphics card, RAM & Opertaing system It "might" work.

Sounds like it's really going to chug along though.

The minimum system specs you first posted are far higher than any PC game I've seen so far, seems to be a real system hog of a simulator.

Maybe just buy a bike.. cheaper.. much better graphics.. realistic weather effects... sorry, couldn't resist

detones

Jonny7 wrote: »

Sounds like it's really going to chug along though.

The minimum system specs you first posted are far higher than any PC game I've seen so far, seems to be a real system hog of a simulator.

Maybe just buy a bike.. cheaper.. much better graphics.. realistic weather effects... sorry, couldn't resist

Yeah seems really demanding. These trainers are used with your real bike. They give you flexibility to train when the weather is like today or during cold winter nights. There are ones that don't connect to PC but the VR. Makes it much less boring!

ED E

I'm planning on getting a cheapish one myself when I can. Imo just set it up in front of a tv and get some noise isolating headphones. Boardwalk empire + cycling = sorted. You could even make a rule for yourself that every ad break you have to sprint