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Upgrade on the cheap

E

Erasmian

n00b
Joined
Oct 28, 2011
Messages
2
I'm looking to get a couple of components to put into an existing machine to extend it's life as a Christmas present to a friend.

1) What will you be doing with this PC?
Gaming exclusively (it won't have internet connectivity). All of the games are going to be 2+ years old (Oblivion is one of his newest games)
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$100 total budget
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Corvallis, OR
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?
I'm thinking RAM and Video card
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Its a Dell GX 280,
0Y5638 motherboard (www.ayagroup.com/product.php?productid=19438)
P4 3.60 Ghz (Prescott) processor
2 gigs of DDR2 (4 sticks of 512).
Radeon X600 w/256 meg
350 Watt Dell generic power supply
A couple of SATA platter drives (5400 RPM)
DVD drive
6) Will you be overclocking?
I'm not opposed to it and its in a barn so its ambient temperature is lower than indoors.
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
19" Dell with 1280x1024
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
This week
9) What features do you need in a motherboard?
The current mainboard has sufficient features.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
XP 32 bit

RAM and Video Card jumped out at me as the most obvious upgrade choices, but I'd be open to different suggestions if I can get more bang for the buck. Another option would be monitor but I couldn't find a reasonable upgrade for my budget.
 
The problem is that PSU. The Dell PSUs from back then weren't all that good nor had the necessary PCI-E power cables. Not to mention that it's proprietary as well. So an upgrade is out. Even if you use a GPU that doesn't require PCI-E cables, there's still no guarantee that that Dell PSU is still strong enough to actually provide even 2/3rds of its rated power. With that said, if you want to chance it, grab this GPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127611

As for RAM, since Windows XP 32bit limits you to anywhere between 3.25GB and 3.75GB of RAM depending on the hardware, just go for a single 2GB stick of DDR2 RAM to bump up the total to 3.5GB of RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231203
 
Unfortunately, adding more RAM to that old rig will not make any worthwhile improvement in performance: You see, 32-bit Windows OSes will limit the total amount of addressable RAM (this means RAM that's addressable by the OS) to barely over 3GB total. Worse, DDR2 RAM now costs twice as much money as current-generation DDR3 RAM on a per-GB basis. This, combined with the fact that support for Windows XP will go EOL in March 2014 (less than a year and a half from now), make any upgrades to system RAM a total waste of money at this point.

Second, almost all GPU upgrades will be seriously limited by the low-performance (by today's standards) CPU. You might be able to squeeze out a little extra life with a relatively low-end GPU like a GeForce GT 640 or a Radeon HD 77xx series, but either upgrade at this point now costs as much as or more than the rest of that old PC combined is currently worth.

Put all three of those together, plus the fact that that old Dell is outperformed by a PC that's powered by even today's entry-level CPUs and GPUs, and I came up with the recommendation to save your money towards a complete new PC build at this point.

Otherwise, I second Danny: Adding a single 2GB stick of DDR2 RAM is the only upgrade that you can make to that system that's anywhere close to being cost-effective.
 
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Thanks for the input guys, I'm going to talk to the guy to see if he can scrape up some cash and just build fresh.
 
Erasmian said:
Thanks for the input guys, I'm going to talk to the guy to see if he can scrape up some cash and just build fresh.
Click to expand...
Or buy a console. A $200 Xbox 360 will provide a better gaming experience than a $200 poorly built gaming PC.
 
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