Upgrade/Compatability Help

Snow713

Beta member
Messages
3
Location
United States
Hello All

I am looking to upgrade my PC and am a little unsure of what I need and if it will be compatible with everything else inside my comp. I have some general knowledge but not enough to feel confident in my choices. I will start by listing my specs and then go into what i am looking to upgrade with. I purchased an Alienware maybe 5-7 Years ago and have not upgraded since I will also be inside the Alienware shell so hopefully that doesnt cause any problems.

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8400 @ 3.00GHz
Manufacturer Intel
Speed 3.0 GHz
Number of Cores 2
Video Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
Manufacturer NVIDIA
Chipset GeForce GTX 260
Dedicated Memory 1.7 GB
Total Memory 3.5 GB
Memory 4.1 GB
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition Service Pack 1 (build 7601), 64-bit
Service Pack 1
Size 64 Bit
Edition Professional
Display Maximum Resolution 1920 x 1080
DVD HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GH22NP20 ATA Device
CD HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GH22NP20 ATA Device
Drive 1 (External)
Size 931.4 GB
Free 816.7 GB
Drive 2
Size 220.9 GB
Free 22.4 GB

I am looking to upgrade Graphics, RAM and processor.

Graphics I was looking at Geforce GTX 960 2/4GB?
Ram 8/16GB
Processor , not really sure probably Intel Core i7

Any help or suggestions, maybe pointing in the right direction would be fantastic. My main concern is, will what I am looking at work with motherboard am I missing something that i should get?
 
On my phone so tough to really get into it but to upgrade the processor you will need to upgrade the Motherboard which will also need newer ram, duel core duo most likely has the DDR2 ram and the I5-I7 chips will have DDR3 or DDR4 ram so your basically looking at a new build to upgrade what you want.
 
On my phone so tough to really get into it but to upgrade the processor you will need to upgrade the Motherboard which will also need newer ram, duel core duo most likely has the DDR2 ram and the I5-I7 chips will have DDR3 or DDR4 ram so your basically looking at a new build to upgrade what you want.

And with that, may need to end up getting a new case (and maybe PSU?) depending on if his system has the old proprietary stuff that Dell (and Alienware) used to do.
 
Yea you're basically looking at a complete overhaul. You need a new motherboard, RAM, CPU, the GPU you want, and 90% sure you'll need a new PSU as well since that era of PSU didn't usually come with the ends you need.
 
I kind of figured I would need an overhaul, but was hoping. With what I am looking at the only other major price jump would be on Motherboard? What about Hard Drive? What price range am i looking at 700-800?
 
I'd keep that and just build another to your specs. You could take what you have and make it a media server.
 
I kind of figured I would need an overhaul, but was hoping. With what I am looking at the only other major price jump would be on Motherboard? What about Hard Drive? What price range am i looking at 700-800?

That all depends on what you wind up buying and what your budget is. I'd go with the above advice honestly.
 
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