Upgrading my PC - worth it or a waste of time.

[dogz111]

Hi guys,

First post !!

I am looking to upgrade my Dell 8400 as top end games struggle.

Currently the PC's spec is - P4 3.0Ghz, 3GB RAM, ATI X300SE

I was thinking of putting in a nVidea 8800 GT 512MB graphics card which will also require me to upgrade the PSU to something over 500w.

The question is - Am I flogging a dead horse and would I be better off putting the cost of a new graphics card and PSU to the cost of a new PC or will the P4 3.0 Ghz with the new card and PSU future proof the PC for the next year or so ?

Any comments appreciated.

Cheers

 

[zedman3d]

If you can upgrade your cpu then yes, its a good idea.

 

[Vaanish]

No, dont bother upgrading that system. You may as well get a whole new one.

 

[thirdshiftdj]

Cpu is a bottleneck

 

[veg1992]

if the thing uses Socket 779, sell of the board and GPU, and get a good Core 2 Duo e2200 and an 8800gt, if not scrap the build and start fresh

 

[BiGyLiLuPdAmIdL]

you need a betetr cpu and gpu that's all. if your motherboard supports core 2 duo then get a cheap one and the 8800gt and you should be cool.

 

[dogz111]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Not being a computer whizz like you guys are a couple more questions:

1) How do I check what CPU (i.e. How many pins) is in there and what will fit if I change it ?

2) Will a faster CPU run hotter and mean I will have to upgrade the CPU heatsink + fan also ?

Cheers

 

[veg1992]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Not being a computer whizz like you guys are a couple more questions:

1) How do I check what CPU (i.e. How many pins) is in there and what will fit if I change it ?

2) Will a faster CPU run hotter and mean I will have to upgrade the CPU heatsink + fan also ?

Cheers

1. Try a program called CPU-Z
2. Depends, if you go Core 2 Duo its actually gonna run cooler, if you go with a faster Pentium D or Pentium 4 (but C2D trounces those) then it'll run warmer

 

[dogz111]

1. Try a program called CPU-Z
2. Depends, if you go Core 2 Duo its actually gonna run cooler, if you go with a faster Pentium D or Pentium 4 (but C2D trounces those) then it'll run warmer

Thanks for the info.

I have run CPU-Z and it says that the package is Socket 775 LGA with an Intel P4 530 3.0 Ghz.

The main board is a Dell 0U7077 with i925x chipset.

I guess that a C2D will fit in the board then ?

Which chip would you recommend ?

I guess it is a straight forward job to remove the old chip and replace with the new one ?

Cheers

Dave

 

[Peter.Cort]

a c2d won't fit into the board. only single core chips will work on the board
but you could bump up to a faster cpu, like a 3.8ghz P4 if you wanted and a either a mid range card or a 8800gt and have that bottleneck.