graphics card update for dimension E520

Scaffman

Hi, apologies in advance for limited tech information in relation to this thread.

My son has just got into gaming. He has an xbox but prefers pc gaming. He mainly plays Minecraft and steam games like portal and garrys mod. very fustrated because the games either lag or crash. playing on old Dell Dimension E520.

I was wondering can the graphics card be updated on the E520.

Don't really want to go down the route of spending 1000 euro plus for gaming computer just yet as he is only doing basic gaming at the moment.

As noted above I'm not tech savy so would not be able to build a pc, but was wondering if newer PCs would play Minecraft etc. without the lag.

Would only have 400 - 500 to spend on a new PC. Any advice on the cheapest and easiest way to upgrade/ solve the problem would be greatly appreciated.

TerrorFirmer

It can be upgraded but it's not worth it as it's an old machine with fairly outdated specs. You could upgrade it cheaply enough but if he's getting into games now you might as well build a new gaming machine and he'll be set for the future.

€400-500 is a fine budget for an entry level, high quality gaming machine that would run those games at maximum settings smooth as butter as well as more demanding games down the line.

Go to the building and upgrading forum and they'll set you up with what you need. If you don't want to build yourself, several companies will put it together for you for a small fee (20 euro or so) - and you get double the value what you'd get if you bought from a bricks and mortar store like PC World.

Scaffman

Thanks for the advice and pointing me in the right direction for the best thread.
will pop onto the pc build thread and hopefully get sorted there.

Scaffman

Got lots of useful information of the basics I need for my build on the Budget PC guide in the build forum. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.