Newbie Upgrade Advice

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ajkates

Weaksauce
Joined
Jul 1, 2008
Messages
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Hey all, I'm looking to put a little more oomph into my old box so that I can play games at better framerates and just improve the general performance in everyday tasks (photoshop, media, etc.). I was thinking about getting a new one, but I'd like to extend the life of my PC for at least another year or two. I have a once top-of-the-line machine that's more than 3 years old now. I don't know much about specific components and compatibility but I was hoping to get some advice as to what should be upgraded in order to get the best bang for the buck. I don't want to shell out a good bit on a single component only to have a minimal performance increase due to some bottleneck. Here's what inside:

Proc: 3.6Ghz Pentium 4 660 (2MB L2, 800Mhz FSB)
RAM: 2x 1GB DDR2 (PC-4300 533Mhz most likely)
GPU: Radeon X850XT Platinum Edition (PCIe)
HDD: 2x 74GB WD Raptors
PSU: 460W (probably dell proprietary brand, "36 watts total output")
Sound: SB Audigy 2 ZS

Not sure about the power supply or motherboard, but it's a late Dell XPS Gen 4, so whatever's standard for those is what's in there. I was thinking of putting one of those nifty Radeon HD 4850 cards in there to help things out, but I'm not sure if I'll be bottlenecked by the other components. My PC is attached to a 37" 1080P LCD and it would be nice to run games at 1920x1080. I definitely don't want to spend more than $400 or so though.

Oh yeah, I won't be upgrading until mid to late august, as the PC is up at school, and I'm working in the city this summer, so if there's anything new coming out in the next 6 weeks I can make use of it. Please let me know if there's any additional information that might be helpful. Thank you.
 
for 400 you could do okay. cheap mobo and an e4400 or something, plus a new vidcard. if you absolutely must save money you'd probably do "okay" just throwing a new vid card in there (though with a cpu that old you would be a little cpu limited) and then upgrading the rest later.

also, you'll want to make sure your power supply can handle all this.
 
Hmm...is the proc really that bad? I mean, is a new $700-$800 box going to run faster than this thing? If so, I guess i should save my money and get a new PC sooner? No sense in beating a dead horse.

So you're saying a new GPU will maybe help a little, but I'll need a Mobo/CPU replacement to get any significant gains? Is this worth it?
 
ajkates said:
Hmm...is the proc really that bad? I mean, is a new $700-$800 box going to run faster than this thing? If so, I guess i should save my money and get a new PC sooner? No sense in beating a dead horse.

So you're saying a new GPU will maybe help a little, but I'll need a Mobo/CPU replacement to get any significant gains? Is this worth it?
Click to expand...

A New GPU would help out a lot but a mobo/CPU replacement will net some significant gains since that P4 might be a bottleneck.

And yes a new $700 to $800 PC will outperform your current Dell setup.

Also, download and run CPU-Z to find out the speed of your RAM. You might be able to reuse the RAM if it is DDR2 667 RAM.

And what power supply does your Dell rig? Can you take a pic of it or at least tells us what's the TOTAL wattage or amps available on the +12V rail? Don't add up the rails.
 
OK, I see. I don't have the PC with me (becuase it's up at school) so I don't know if the RAM is definitely 667Mhz or the PS wattage. What should I look for when I get back to know if my new hardware will be supported? Also I have a few more questions, if you don't mind.

If I were to do a GPU upgrade and nothing else, what would be a good choice that would improve performance but not be bottlenecked by my CPU? If I choose to do this, I'll probably get a new PC entirely in about 1 year.

Also, if I decided to replace the motherboard and CPU as well, what combination should I go with that's cost-effective but wouldn't cost me more than $400 or $500. If I do this, I'd like the new machine to last me as least 1.5 to 2 years. Thanks!

Edit: I've updated my specs in the original post based on stuff I found on the net about my system.
 
533MHz DDR2 is what you want for Core 2 @ stock clocks. A P4 660 draws more power than most C2Ds so you should be fine with that as long as it's got a standard pinout (which you should be able to tell by colors).
 
ajkates said:
PSU: 460W (probably dell proprietary brand, "36 watts total output")
Click to expand...

That 36W total output doesn't make sense. Do you mean 36A total output? Also total output for what? All the rails total? Just the +12V rail? In fact, can you please link to a site/pic of your PSU?

Though if your Dell PSU does have 36A on the +12V rail, then it'll be fine for a HD4850.

And to answer your questions:
Just a GPU Upgrade: Probably the 9600GT won't be back by your CPU.

Mobo, RAM and CPU upgrade:
Intel Pentium Dual Core E2180 CPU - $70
Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L Intel P43 Motherboard - $96
G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ 2 x 1GB DDR2 800 RAM - $45
---
$211 Plus tax and shipping.

The above setup should last you a year or so. Then you can buy a new PC. Unfortunately since your RAM is DDR2 533, it is not support by the P35, P45, X38, or X48 chipsets.
 
ajkates said:
...My PC is attached to a 37" 1080P LCD and it would be nice to run games at 1920x1080. I definitely don't want to spend more than $400 or so though.

Oh yeah, I won't be upgrading until mid to late august, as the PC is up at school, and I'm working in the city this summer, ...
Click to expand...

The HD4850 would be better for your resolution. Those are typically $200, and Danny's build is $211... so thats around $400. The longer you wait, the more you'll get for your money, with regards to the CPU. IIRC, Intel plans on replacing the E2000 series all together by July.

Since you won't be buying this until later, revisit this thread a week or two before you plan on buying.

dandragonrage said:
533MHz DDR2 is what you want for Core 2 @ stock clocks. ...
Click to expand...

Not all Core2's. The Core2 E4000 series needs DDR2-400 to run at stock clocks; while the Core2 E8000 series needs DDR2-667 to run at stock clocks... ;)

As Danny mentioned, Bearlake and Eaglelake don't support RAM speeds lower than DDR2-667. However, you DDR2-533 RAM may be able to run at DDR2-667 if you feed it a bit more voltage and relax the timings... just FYI.
 
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