help with upgrading Dell Dimension 4600

[Phate]

im sort of a newb with upgrading PCs, but i have been reading/some posting on these forums for a while... so i have a question.

i need to INSTEAD of building a new computer, upgrade my off-the-shelf Dell Dimension 4600.

here are the things im thinking about buying for it:

2 GB (2x1gb) Patriot Sig. RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820220079

EVGA GeForce FX5500 265 MB Video Card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130197

Fan - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811999113

Speaker System - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16836121118

Keyboard - http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/input/7a71/

Mouse - http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/input/73d3/

i picked that video card cuz my crappy mobo is AGP 4x/8x

also, whats better, Patriot Signature RAM or Corsair ValueSelect?


will all this work with my Dell Dimension 4600?


thanks in advance,
Phate

 

[æArchOAngelæ]

well depends what you do with your dell, are you upgrading for games?
if so i would lessen the ram and get a 6600GT agp card instead of the 5500

 

[Brtnboarder495]

Nah, AGP really isn't that bad for a Dell. The only thing that usually stumps the Dell's is that the cases are poor in air movement and typically aren't cool, but I see you adding a fan which should help. I'd really suggest only one gig of memory, two really won't do much for that system. Also, for your video card, I'd suggest the 6600GT or 6800GS. You have the 7800GS as an option too, but I think your systems too weak for it and would therefore bottleneck. Speakers, keyboard and mouse will work reguardeless of important internal hardware, so they don't matter.

But I'd really help if we had more information on your system, so go here and figure out which other hardware your computer contains. You'll most likely need to upgrade your PSU as well.

 

[Phate]

why would i need to upgrade PSU?

i mean i know in the box psu's tend to suck, but its worked fine so far, so why replace it?

also, im playing World of Warcraft with this, it IS for gaming. my video card seems to do fine, i have the resolution pretty low, but im pretty used to it... refresh rate is fine, but one question.

does youre video card affect lag in-game?

i always thought it was mostly ram, and having 512 of it, the minimum for the game, i assumed that was the problem.

my friend experienced the same thing, upgraded to 1.5gb of ram, and said it was perfect, so i decided to get a pack and go 2gigs... also, my budget for this is around $350 to $400, like 415 being the max w/o shipping.

 

[macdude425]

why would i need to upgrade PSU?

i mean i know in the box psu's tend to suck, but its worked fine so far, so why replace it?

The PSUs shipped with proprietary computers are NOT designed to handle power-hungry video cards and tons of RAM. It is very likely that, if you get the upgrades we suggested, your PSU will blow, and it may well take some important components down with it.

 

[Phate]

ok, so what do you think, this for the PSU?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104952

 

[macdude425]

Installing that in your Dell would very likely be worse than not upgrading at all. Dell uses special PSUs that have the pins on the PSU's plug arranged differently, which means that if you hook up an off-the-shelf PSU (like that one) to your motherboard, you can kiss your mobo (and processor, most likely) goodbye.

You'll have to find a place online that sells special Dell-compatible PSUs (there are a few out there...)

 

[Phate]

then what would you recommend?

any links (newegg if possible)

to a PSU that will work for this computer??

thats really stupid that dell puts different pin configs...

 

[Brtnboarder495]

Yea I wasn't aware Dell did that. Reasearch it on google though.

 

[Phate]

well any links?

i kinda want to order these soon, but do you think i could really fry my PSU from these items?

im really surprised by that.

also, keeping in mind my budget (350-400) do you think i should skip out on some upgrade (maybe speakers) and get a better video card?

will it affect how much lag i get in WoW? or will it make it faster or something?