Upgrading my old pc, any suggestions please

cronos

:)I'm looking to upgrade the following spec dell pc. I dont know much about copatability. Can anyone make any suggestions on what parts I should upgrade and what would be compatable.

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Here are the parts

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Operating System System Model
Windows XP Media Center Edition Service Pack 3 (build 2600)
Enclosure Type: Tower
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
3.40 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
16 kilobyte primary memory cache
2048 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Hyper-threaded (2 total) Board: Dell Inc. 0YC523
Serial Number: ..CN708215CLF023.
Bus Clock: 800 megahertz
BIOS: Dell Inc. A03 01/03/2006
Drives Memory Modules c,d
314.94 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
76.06 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

_NEC DVD+-RW ND-3530A [CD-ROM drive]
TSSTcorp CD-RW TS-H292B [CD-ROM drive]

ARRAY [Hard drive] (319.99 GB) -- drive 0
TEAC USB HS-CF Card USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 1
TEAC USB HS-MS Card USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 3
TEAC USB HS-SD Card USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 4
TEAC USB HS-xD/SM USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 2 1024 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory

Slot 'DIMM_1' has 512 MB
Slot 'DIMM_3' is Empty
Slot 'DIMM_2' has 512 MB
Slot 'DIMM_4' is Empty
Local Drive Volumes

c: (NTFS on drive 0) 314.94 GB 76.06 GB free


Controllers Display
Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 27DF
Primary IDE Channel [Controller] RADEON X600 256MB HyperMemory [Display adapter]
RADEON X600 256MB HyperMemory Secondary [Display adapter]
DELL E196FP [Monitor] (17.1"vis, s/n FC9985CO1CNM, December 2005)
Bus Adapters Multimedia
Intel(R) 82801GR/GH SATA RAID Controller
Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27C8
Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27C9
Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27CA
Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27CB
Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 27CC SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC
Unimodem Half-Duplex Audio Device
USB Audio Device
Virus Protection [Back to Top] new Group Policies
McAfee VirusScan Version 99.9.99
Realtime File Scanning On
None discovered
Communications Other Devices
Intel(R) 537EP V9x DF PCI Modem

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Thanks for reading

lmimmfn

what do/will you use it for? how much do you want to spend?

Solitaire

If you need any major improvement in performance you're probably sunk. Its most likely a BTX-era Dell with custom motherboard, custom cooler and a custom PSU in a custom case... all fit for the bin

mgadget

What is it exactly? A Dell Dimension? XPS? What is the limiting factor of your current PC? Dog slow? Not enough storage? Not up to the latest games?

In theory all is not lost. That chipset should* support the older Core2Duo chips, such as the Intel e6300, e6600 or e6700. Only available secondhand now though but a decent upgrade over a Pentium 4 HT. The e6600 or e6700 would be the best buy. It looks like quad core CPU's aren't compatible with the Dell board.
*It's a Dell so it might not support Core2Duo's. Need more system info.

First on the list should be a RAM upgrade, you should be able to get 2 x 1GB sticks of DDR2 RAM to add to your existing 1GB for around €50. You would need more info on your existing RAM as it has to match it's frequency, most likely it is DDR2-553.

You have a PCIe 16x graphics card slot so upgrade recommendations here rely on more information on the wattage rating of your power supply, most likely looking at a single slot nvidia 9800GT at about €100 or its ATI equivalent. Only worth doing if you do play games.

So potentially a new(used) CPU and some RAM for about €120 and a second hard drive typically a 500GB for €50

marco_polo

Google is telling me that an 0YC523 Motherboard is likely to be either a Dimension 9150 or an XPS 400?

EDIT: Had a quick check looks like socket 775 pentium 4 chips only. I think something like the E5300 might be ok. Can anyone think of any reason that the board couldn't take one of these? (45 nm process any problem?) 800MHz FSB speed is a match.

lmimmfn

marco_polo wrote: »

Google is telling me that an 0YC523 Motherboard is likely to be either a Dimension 9150 or an XPS 400?

EDIT: Had a quick check looks like socket 775 pentium 4 chips only. As a CPU a pentium dual core should be an improvement if you can find one?

Do intel's dual core's even support DDR1? i doubt it, but could be wrong and havnt got time to check here at work

marco_polo

lmimmfn wrote: »

Do intel's dual core's even support DDR1? i doubt it, but could be wrong and havnt got time to check here at work

Should be DDR2 if my model guess is right I think (around 2005 or there abouts). Will see what OP gets back with.

lmimmfn

marco_polo wrote: »

Should be DDR2 if my model guess is right I think (around 2005 or there abouts). Will see what OP gets back with.

maybe, my old POS P4 Dell was DDR1 back in 2002/3 on an 895 mobo( i think lol )

Solitaire

I think its one of the more recent ones. i945P chipset, which means DDR2 dual-channel memory support. No scope for a CPU upgrade though - theoretically the i945P supported all 65nm Core2s, although very few OEMs made Q6x00-compatible BIOSes. But Dell strikes again - they have a dodgy non-legal power setup on their proprietary mobos and the weird-ass arrangement of VRMs means they detonate when you try to use a C2D on them. So Dell "helps" you by preventing you from even trying with some precision BIOS-rape :mad:

marco_polo

So it would seem either throw a few sticks of RAM into it or else throw it on the scrapheap.

Leman_Russ

Heh, yeah thats what I "love" about dell.

Can't wait till my bro trys to fiddle with his one that I begged him not to buy, but he knows better of course.

Then I can gouge him for all my crap spare parts to build a new rig

swirlser

Flog it... 100-150

Start over.

lmimmfn

i would completely ditch it, waste of time spending money on that crap when you can buy a core 2 setup for 300euro second hand

slave1

suggestions for this pc