Upgrade

[mavman]

Hi everyone,

new to the board and not really up to date on all things computery, but do enjoy gaming (FPS), which brings me to the point of this tread. Have some spare cash, for once, and was thinking of getting some additional memory and a new graphics card. Have about 450 dollars.

My current system is a dell dimension 8300, P4 3.0mhz, 512ram, radeon 9800 graphics card, ultra ata/100 hard drive, 800mhz fsb, intel 875p chipset.

Most of the above i've figured out from searchs on net.

Also from ireland and hope to buy this stuff cheaper is US (good exchange rate) is there any issues of power or other compatibility problems.

Anyone any suggestions as to what i should do or get (even where to look in New York!!).

Thank you for any advise.

 

[DonNagual]

It's borderline on the CPU, but with $450 as a budget and gaming as your main priority, I'd say get up to a gig of ram and a get a new graphics card would be the best way to spend your money.

Something like this 7800gs would be a huge upgrade
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130273

The problem is, your Dell appartently uses a proprietary PSU
(source: http://www.devhardware.com/forums/c...wont-fit-into-dell-dimension-8300t-24007.html)

and I'm afraid that your current (what appears to be) 250w psu would not be able to handle the newer graphics cards that are being put out today. This is your limiting factor for upgrades as you will need a PSU that is specially designed to fit in a dimension 8300 system.

 

[zephead]

i wouldn't try to upgrade that dell system. your best bet is to save up until you have enough to buy a new standard PC. even if you feel uncomfortable building your own, a local PC repair shop should be able to make you an affordable gaming rig.

 

[mavman]

Thanks guys,

both of you considered aspects I would never have thought of, however buying a new psu from dell (i'm guessing i can do this) might be a bit cheaper than a new system , and if i get a newer card and an extra gig of ram sure can't i use them again if i upgrade the system later on.

Thanks again, chat soon.

 

[SueK]

Hi everyone,

new to the board and not really up to date on all things computery, but do enjoy gaming (FPS), which brings me to the point of this tread. Have some spare cash, for once, and was thinking of getting some additional memory and a new graphics card. Have about 450 dollars.

My current system is a dell dimension 8300, P4 3.0mhz, 512ram, radeon 9800 graphics card, ultra ata/100 hard drive, 800mhz fsb, intel 875p chipset.

Most of the above i've figured out from searchs on net.

Also from ireland and hope to buy this stuff cheaper is US (good exchange rate) is there any issues of power or other compatibility problems.

Anyone any suggestions as to what i should do or get (even where to look in New York!!).

Thank you for any advise.

Newegg.com is one of cheapest on the internet. The shipping is fast,At least in the states it is! Are you going to New York? Well if you are, Order from there and Newegg will have it for you for cheap shipping in like 2 or 3 days.

 

[nickc]

mavman, if u are going to get new ram I would advise buying that from Dell direct as they will have mem. that will work in that computer,.

 

[CrossFire851]

Dell uses basic Kingston, wich can be purched on any computer hardware site.

The thing at that I don't like is high end AGP cards. They are limmited in performance to price ratio, and I think it's pointless as it is ageing technolgy.

 

[SueK]

Dell will charge you alot for one stick of 512 memory. For the same price you could get 1gig at Newegg.com. Just read the reviews for a certain brand of memory. Most of the time someone will post that it works in their brand of machine and they'll say what kind. My notebook is a Dell and I bought memory from Newegg.com and it's fine. I read the buyer reviews and found out what worked pretty well in other Dell notebooks. Alot of brands put their name on something and it's just a well known brand like someone said above. It could be Kingston,etc. Do a search on the internet. Don't give in just yet to paying Dell alot for something you could get cheaper somewhere else. Unless money is no object for you,Then do it.

 

[zephead]

a regular stick of DDR ram should do the trick, but because you have an OEM build there's a good chance that the replacement memory will cause instability. but you won't know unless you get some ram...