Upgrading Dell Dimension C521

[PhantomGamer]

the model and manu is in the subject.

ddr3 ram wont work. gddr3 ram is for graphics cards.

that cpu wont work

a stick of 1 gig ram goes for $15 - $20. an additional 2 might be helpful.

so, what may patch you over until you can afford a new system is:

upgrading the OS ~ ~$100

RAM ~ TBD $30

thats sort of on budget. The OS is a chunk of that. vista sp2 is not that bad. i think i would recommend getting a cheap gpu card for the ~$90 remainder budget. Can you tell us if you are using the vga plug out the back of the computer, or if you are using a vga or a different looking cable near the bottom of the case, further away than the vga plug that is situated in the middle of the case?

My bad, saw that wasn't paying attention xD
I was linking a CPU generally, not specifically and
Price's must've changed since i was out on the RAM market because i bought two sticks of 1gb RAM for 60 $ off newegg last year for my secondary build.
Vista sp2 is not that bad? Never heard that before xD It may not become noticably bad for the first month or so but once you begin using significant functions and opening up task manager to check CPU % and disk % youll see low 70s-mid 80s in contrast to windows 7's less than 20-30% even 3-5%

 

[PP Mguire]

The biggest problem with Vista was the amount of RAM usage and background processes which killed systems with less than 4GB of RAM. This essentially also made swap file usage (during a time of little to no SSD systems) quite high making systems incredibly slow. Especially laptops where the norm is a 5400RPM drive.

 

[jasonalwaysready]

Vista sp2 is not that bad?

 

[PP Mguire]

Suppose you ignored the comment after that. Vista SP2 is not that bad for machines with more than enough resources to handle the bloat.

 

[Joe C]

Vista with SP2 is about the same as W7
very little differences

 

[PP Mguire]

Fresh install RAM usage there is a huge difference. More so for somebody with 1GB of RAM.

 

[Joe C]

Placebo effect honestly. My sons laptop (P4 with 512MB) runs certain games (albeit old ones) better on 7 and with an SSD the overall feel is snappier. .

Honestly it definitely runs slower, and I do not have an SSD drive, I'm seriously considering putting XP back on it (XP was the original O.S. on this lappy)

 

[MrPuffles]

@jasonalwaysready Uhm.. There's a pretty big blue chord being connected to my computer by a white connector thingamabob at the bottom middle if that helps any q: And I'll get back to you on the ram stick(s) I have

@PP Mguire LOL. I'm kind of amazed myself And you mentioned upping my GPU.. what would you suggest?

Wow, thanks for the suggestions! After reading through them all, I'm thinking I'll get that CPU PP Mguire suggested if I can't find a nice dual core one, and get at least 3gb of ram and see if that makes it good enough. If not.. I guess I'll have to wait till I can get a new computer :/

I took a look around Newegg but I don't know my manufacturers and PC2 5300/PC2 6300 and all that.. so I gave up. Found this instead. 2GB kit (1GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-6400 upgrades for Dell Dimension C521 Desktop/PC, CT787952 from Crucial.com <- Look good?

 

[Joe C]

Without question if you can use a dual core and more memory do it. I see that you posted on Bleeping Computer too and someone there recommended a video card for you

 

[PP Mguire]

Honestly it definitely runs slower, and I do not have an SSD drive, I'm seriously considering putting XP back on it (XP was the original O.S. on this lappy)

Are you running aero at all? If so, turn it off.

@jasonalwaysready Uhm.. There's a pretty big blue chord being connected to my computer by a white connector thingamabob at the bottom middle if that helps any q: And I'll get back to you on the ram stick(s) I have

@PP Mguire LOL. I'm kind of amazed myself And you mentioned upping my GPU.. what would you suggest?

Wow, thanks for the suggestions! After reading through them all, I'm thinking I'll get that CPU PP Mguire suggested if I can't find a nice dual core one, and get at least 3gb of ram and see if that makes it good enough. If not.. I guess I'll have to wait till I can get a new computer :/

I took a look around Newegg but I don't know my manufacturers and PC2 5300/PC2 6300 and all that.. so I gave up. Found this instead. 2GB kit (1GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR2 PC2-6400 upgrades for Dell Dimension C521 Desktop/PC, CT787952 from Crucial.com <- Look good?

This RAM would be fine.
Newegg.com - Mushkin Enhanced 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996558

If you can find a used AM2 (can't be AM2+ or AM3) CPU it would help greatly. As for GPU, probably nothing in your budget would be worth it really as the RAM takes half of it.
If you can find something like an X2 5200+ it would be great. You can game anything on a 6000+ easy. It then comes to GPU lacking. For a new GPU that is actually worth it you would need to spend at least another 50-60 on a new PSU. Wanting to keep that case hampers a lot of things.