New guy here. Looking for advice

[VTJosh]

Hello all. I'll start out by stating that I'm not too smart when it comes to PC's but I'm pretty mechanically inclined. Anyway I'm looking to upgrade my regular old Dell desktop into something more. I'm mainly looking to do some gaming and what not but don't really know what to start with. I've got a Dell Dimension B110 with 512mb RAM, 80GB harddrive and Intel Celeron D 2.53GHz. Basically a stock low end Dell. Originally I was going to build this from the ground up but figured I could use this Dell as a starting point. So far I've taken all the Dell's internals and swapped them into this case.
Newegg.com - XION II XON-101 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply - Computer Cases
This helps out with space because the Dell case is pretty small and it also helps keep it all cooled down with the 2x 120mm fans and single 80mm fan. I ditched the 450w included PSU with a more reliable Rosewill 500w PSU.
Newegg.com - Rosewill Stallion Series RD500-2DB 500W ATX12V Power Supply - Power Supplies
This has dual fans as opposed to the stock single. Plus it's a good boost over the stock 250w PSU.
Now this is where I need the help. The mobo can't take a graphics card. If I was to get a new mobo and maybe a proccessor too. Then get a graphics card will all the other stock parts be able to work with it? Any suggestions? Will the memory, CD-Rom, Harddrive, etc. be able to just plug and play so to speak? I was originally looking at some AMD Dual core PSU's because there farly cheap. I'm only looking to play games like BF2,COD4, etc. As well as be able to upgrade even further down the road for future games. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

 

[stalin90]

it helps alot mroe to tell us how much u can spend, and it would have saved u alot of money just to build it originally by the way.

 

[VTJosh]

See that's the thing. I bought it off a friend for only $70. I really don't want to go over $1000 but I'm looking more for if I could do it one piece at a time. Like will the stock parts work with a new mobo and processor so later on when I need more memory be able to just buy more then if I need more storage be able to get a larger harddrive.

 

[Elitist]

If I understand correctly, yes it should transfer over to a new case fairly easy, but you need to worry about more RAM and a larger HD before a new processor. It is not 1/2 bad anyways, but with the resource intensive way games are going, your 512 RAM is already obsolete. IMO

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Based off my experience trying to reuse old parts I recommend starting from scratch using the cd drive, case, and power supply you have. You can get a great gaming system for allot less than $1000.

These parts are $565 before mail in rebates and will max out those games without a problem.

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GV-R485ZL-512H Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TForce TP45HP LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

 

[philbar71]

yes 1000 will get you a very good gaming pc.

 

[VTJosh]

Okay but what if I was going to go with a quad core processor? Like this one
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
What would be a good mobo to go with that? I was looking at this, but it's kinda pricey.
Newegg.com - Intel BOXD975XBX2KR LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
Is it worth it or not?

 

[Ethan_Kaizer]

That motherboard seems overpriced to me. It's got similar specs to that of a 100 Asus or Biostar. Also, if you really want a quad core, it's not a bad choice, but a top of the line dual core is probably better at the moment because very few games utilize all 4 cores.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Okay but what if I was going to go with a quad core processor? Like this one
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
What would be a good mobo to go with that? I was looking at this, but it's kinda pricey.
Newegg.com - Intel BOXD975XBX2KR LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
Is it worth it or not?

That motherboard is based on the very old 975x chipset. A biostar TP45HP is allot better.

Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TForce TP45HP LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

 

[VTJosh]

I'm not 100% dead set on a quad, it's just that it's not much more of a price increase over a dual core. As long as current games will work fine, I assume that future games would take more advantage of it. I'm looking at it as it might be a better start for the long run.