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    Newbie Needs Some Advice

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Joe07, Oct 9, 2007.

  1. Joe07

    Joe07 Notebook Enthusiast

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    i was looking into buying a new graphics card for my dell xps gen 5,but was told its maybe not worth spending that kind of money on,time for a new pc?now heres where you guys come in :D i was thinkng about upgrading the processer and mother board but is it worth it.your opions on my pc please,i dont know whats really involed in this so any help advice would be appreciated.


    my xps details are:

    3.20 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
    16 kilobyte primary memory cache
    2048 kilobyte secondary memory cache

    Drives
    316.95 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
    266.14 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

    PHILIPS DVD+-RW DVD8701 [CD-ROM drive]
    TSSTcorp DVD-ROM TS-H352C [CD-ROM drive]
    3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]
    ARRAY [Hard drive] (319.99 GB) -- drive 0


    Main Circuit Board b
    Board: Dell Inc. 0GC068
    Serial Number: ..
    Bus Clock: 800 megahertz
    BIOS: Dell Inc. A02 05/24/2005

    Memory Modules c,d
    1024 Megabytes Installed Memory

    Slot 'CHANNEL A DIMM 1' has 512 MB
    Slot 'CHANNEL A DIMM 3' has 512 MB
    Slot 'CHANNEL B DIMM 2' is Empty
    Slot 'CHANNEL B DIMM 4' is Empty

    NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Series GPU [Display adapter]
    Samsung SAMTRON 5Ei [Monitor] (13.8"vis, April 1998)

    p.s the pc is mostly used for gaming
     
    Joe07, Oct 9, 2007
    #1
  2. Gilliann

    Gilliann Notebook Consultant

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    what is your budget?

    You could probably just get a new video card and see new life out of your system provided you have pci express. An 8800gts comes to mind. From my experience swapping the mobo out in a dell case is a pain in the ass, so I donno if I would try thats. If you have 500-700 to spend you could get a new box that would blow that one away.
     
    Gilliann, Oct 9, 2007
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  3. jojoinnit

    jojoinnit Notebook Consultant

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    Dell mobos and power supplies are proprietary so you cant swap just one without an entire overhall. If you want a short term fix to keep you going pick up a 7 series geforce for cheap.
     
    jojoinnit, Oct 9, 2007
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  4. Joe07

    Joe07 Notebook Enthusiast

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    not really thought about a buget at the moment,just trying to get some information first.i phoned dell and they said its pci express but only 460 watt so i couldnt get the best cards,he also said theres space to change the mother board etc.a friend said if i was wanting to keep this pc then try this card
    http://www.cclonline.com/product-in...ory_id=497&manufacturer_id=0&tid=pv-t84j-ydf3 what you thimk?will it run games like crysis.500-700 from that it sound like my xps it no good lol
     
    Joe07, Oct 9, 2007
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  5. Gilliann

    Gilliann Notebook Consultant

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    that would be ok but consider a gts.

    My guess is crysis would be fine at around 1024x768 with med settings
     
    Gilliann, Oct 9, 2007
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  6. Joe07

    Joe07 Notebook Enthusiast

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    ok thanks,i know my processer is old but is it still decent enough?sorry if these question seem a little stupid :D
     
    Joe07, Oct 9, 2007
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  7. Joe07

    Joe07 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Joe07, Oct 9, 2007
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  8. Gilliann

    Gilliann Notebook Consultant

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    that's the one :) also look for a 8800gts 320mb.... in the us they're about $300 sometimes a little less and its a lot better then the 8600.
     
    Gilliann, Oct 9, 2007
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  9. Joe07

    Joe07 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Joe07, Oct 9, 2007
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  10. Joe07

    Joe07 Notebook Enthusiast

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    bump,sorry just trying to get it orderd tonight but not sure what one to get,opinons please
     
    Joe07, Oct 9, 2007
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  11. wolfraider

    wolfraider Grand Viezir of Chaos

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    one of them(expensive one) has dual dvi while other has only one so is it usefull for you to have two dvi outputs ask yourself..
     
    wolfraider, Oct 9, 2007
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  12. Joe07

    Joe07 Notebook Enthusiast

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    ok mate thanks,alot of those stats dont mean much to me.thats why am posting here.any idea what psu will be needed cheers
     
    Joe07, Oct 9, 2007
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  13. wolfraider

    wolfraider Grand Viezir of Chaos

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    i think you will need at least 450W
     
    wolfraider, Oct 10, 2007
    #13