Upgrades for REALLY OLD Dell Dimension 4300S

[ds1495]

Hi, so I have this Dell Dimension 4300S (yes, I know, its really crappy and really old) I would really like to be able to play some games (nothing intense, just maybe something newer that 1999 )

So, I was wondering what kind of upgrades would be possible on this PC?

The current specs are:

CPU- Intel Pentium 4 @1.4ghz
GPU- ATI Rage 128 PRO w/16 mb vram
RAM- 512 mb
HDD- 120 GB (I think)

Would I be able to upgrade the CPU, RAM, maybe video card? (Please don't give me this answer: WOW!!! Just go and buy a new compute already!!! This one sucks!!

Thanks in advance,
Dylan :happy:

 

[Muffin Man]

WOW!!! Just go and buy a new compute already!!! This one sucks!! ........jk

the upgrades possible are very limited. first, you should say how much your looking to spend, because spending too much on this pc might not be worth it.

Documentation
from there, it says you have one agp slot but you have a slim case, so youd be looking to buy a low profile agp card. but something else youre limited by is your powre supply, it is only 180w it might not be enough for a new card. you might have to contact dell to see if theres something better that will fit that case, and who knows how much theyll be charging you.

 

[Hefemeister]

I would not want to spend more than $100 on it unless it is for something that could be used in a later build.


For instance:
You could get a nice cheap case like the antec 300
Then you could get a nice psu so you can power a better gpu later.

These are both upgrades that could be used later.

Besides that you are looking at adding some RAM
512MB 168-pin DIMM

* Module Size: 512MB
* Package: 168-pin DIMM
* Feature: SDRAM, PC133

Looks like you have 2 ram dims with a max of 1gb total. Are both slots populated at the moment with 2x256mb?

If so you could get 2 of these:
Newegg.com - WINTEC AMPO 512MB 168-Pin SDRAM PC 133 Desktop Memory Model 3AMSD133-512M-R - Desktop Memory
$23 each. If you just have one dimm filled with a 512mb stick than you could just get one.

You could get a vid card like this:
Newegg.com - XFX PVT44AWANG GeForce 6200 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 AGP 8X Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards $50
But it needs a psu of at least 300w to run. So most likely a case as well in less you can find a slim psu but they are overpriced at best.


If you reused hard drives, keyboard, mouse, monitor and dvd drives from your Dell for another $300 to $400 you could get a nice system.

So upgrade route you are looking at $100ish for ram and gpu. Another $80ish for a case and psu. More than halfway to a new computer by then.