Need help with my system

[undeadsac]

I'm running an older Dell Dimension 8200 (I think its a 8200, its about 3 years old)
P4 2.0Ghz
512 MB RDram
80GB Maxtor 5400 Rpm
120GB Western Digital 7200 Rpm
Nvidia GeForce2 440MX
Sound Blaster Live!
USB 1
IEEE 3ports
19" Dell CRT
TDK INDIDVD 4x multi-format DVDR/RW
DELL 48X CDR/RW
Dell keyboard
Logitech optical mouse

The comp obviously needs a new Video card and more ram for games and video editing, but the ram is outrageous and lately the comp is getting to be really slow doing anything and for some reason when I pull up task manager the CPU, at times, is at 100% usage when only 222MB more/less of Ram is in use? WTF is up with that?

What I'd like to do ultimately is upgrade this comp but Dell's cases refuse anything other than their motherboards as far as I know and I would love to build another rig besides for gaming/general purpose, but I don't have a whole lot to spend. Any ideas on what I should do?

 

[unhappy_mage]

IIRC you can still put dell mobos in standard cases (anyone?) so I'd get a case and PSU right now (buy a good PSU!!!) and save up for a different mobo/proc/possibly ram.

For right now, try reinstalling. I know it sucks, but I have to do it every 6 months (to windows machines, linux boxen take a year+) or it gets all crudded up. That's one good reason to get a seperate gaming and working machine.

 

[OldMX]

I bet your computer needs a bios upgrade, a clean install of windowsxp with sp2 slipstreamed and latest drivers for all your stuff, directly from dell.

I did that to my father in law's dell dimension and the computer is running great now

good luck on whatever you do with it

oldmx

 

[heero884]

I'm running an older Dell Dimension 8200 (I think its a 8200, its about 3 years old)
P4 2.0Ghz
512 MB RDram
80GB Maxtor 5400 Rpm
120GB Western Digital 7200 Rpm
Nvidia GeForce2 440MX
Sound Blaster Live!
USB 1
IEEE 3ports
19" Dell CRT
TDK INDIDVD 4x multi-format DVDR/RW
DELL 48X CDR/RW
Dell keyboard
Logitech optical mouse

The comp obviously needs a new Video card and more ram for games and video editing, but the ram is outrageous and lately the comp is getting to be really slow doing anything and for some reason when I pull up task manager the CPU, at times, is at 100% usage when only 222MB more/less of Ram is in use? WTF is up with that?

What I'd like to do ultimately is upgrade this comp but Dell's cases refuse anything other than their motherboards as far as I know and I would love to build another rig besides for gaming/general purpose, but I don't have a whole lot to spend. Any ideas on what I should do?

from your specs it doesnt your pc is too bad. since you dont have a whole lot to spend you should try reformatting the pc to see if it gets any better (make sure your 120gb drive is the boot drive!). if you do decide to build a new machine the only salvagable pieces i see that could be of use are the processor, dvd burner, hard drives, keyboard, mouse, and monitor.