Dell Dimensions 4500 - Upgrade

[bobsmith88]

I am looking to upgrade some components....

From memory it's a Pentium4 (2.4Ghz), 256K ram (might be 512K L2 but can't recall), 80 Gb hardisk, dvd+cd

I am thinking of upgrading a LCD-TV Widesreen display. Any good suggestions? Looking for 19" - 23"

What type of grahic card do you recommend? I currently have a nvidia GeForce4 MX420. Should I upgrade this to a 128 or 256 display card?

I will use my PC for internet, general PC, World of Warcraft.

Should I upgrade to 2 x 512mb DDR 400 or 2 x 1Gb mb ram DDR 400. Will my PC be able to support this?

Thanks,

Bob

 

[Ian]

1GB of RAM will be about right to play any game (go for 2 x 512MB). I'd also suggest a 256MB Graphics card, although the type of card is most important. It all depends on how much you have to spend.

You can pick up an ATI 9800 Pro for around £100 nowadays, and that will give you pretty good performance for the price. However, there are some very, very nice cards for around £200 (it all depends on what sort of system you want).

Your 2.4Ghz CPU will be a bit of a limiting factor when it comes to the high end graphics cards, but it isn't too old so paired with a reasonable graphics card and a bit more RAM you could have a very nice PC.

 

[bobsmith88]

i just bought 2 x 512 mb (400mhz) Samsung Ram for GBP30 each

Still shopping around for a display card.

The dell 4500 runs intel 845e chipset.

Do i have to buy an AGP graphic card?

Would you recommend the ATI9800 Pro or maybe GF 6600gt

Thanks

 

[psd99]

i
Do i have to buy an AGP graphic card?

Would you recommend the ATI9800 Pro or maybe GF 6600gt

Thanks

yes u need to buy a AGP card otherwise it will not fit.

I do think the 9800 is a great card choice and good value for money

 

[bobsmith88]

The 9800 pro is only a 128mb. The X800Pro has 256mb.

The 6600gt or 6800gt are both 256mb.

How much difference (speed) is there between 128 / 256 mb?

Given my current config is the 9800 the best choice?

 

[KGB-911]

is your motherboard 8xAGP Compatable?

If it is 4x, it will be avery limiting factor...

 

[KGB-911]

Where did you get the RAM from?

 

[bobsmith88]

I'm currently live in Hong Kong. The ram cost HK$430 which is just under GBP30. Exchange rate for GBP : HKD is quite good as HKD is linked to USD. The USD has been quite weak against most currencies.

My Dell 4500 Dimensions runs on the intel 845e chipset. I understand from PSD99 that i need a card which fits to AGP.

I currently have a nvidia GeForce4 MX420 (64mb)

Thxs

 

[KGB-911]

Yeah, you need an AGP card, but a 4x or 8x?

 

[bobsmith88]

Can I change the CPU? I currently have P4 2.4 ghz.

Can i change this to maybe a 2.8 / 3 / 3.2?

Is there any real benefit to upgrade the cpu? Will prob cost approx to upgrade cpu to 3 Ghz.

Do i need to change the motherboard?

Thanks

 

[Reefsmoka]

You wont notice a great difference between a 2.4 and a 2.8, i think you might feel abit more if you put something like a 3.0Ghz in though.

You'll have to find out more about your motherboard in the Dell instructions manual or on the Dell website.

If your looking for a new graphics card, the 6600GT is priced at just a tiny amount more than the 9800pro, but its alot more modern than the 9800pro and will outperform it in a lot of games.

More modern games are taking advantage of 256Mb of video ram so try and get a 256Mb version of the 6600GT, hopefully you wont have to upgrade it for a while then .

I think your boards should take at least 2gig of ram, so you would be safe in upgrading to 2gig. The more memory you have, the more smooth games will run. I think 1 gig would do the job, but if its cheap i would definalty go for 2gig then.