Upgrading an old computer on a strict budget.

[99tollap]

Wow i havent posted here for years!

Right, I have a dell dimension 5 something. BTX case, P4 530 (3ghz), 1.5gb ram, 7600gt and a lowly 305watt psu.

Im looking to beef it up a bit for the next gen games. It already surpasses min specs for eg crysis but i dont want to be running minimum graphics.

As im poor, im upgrading on a very strict budget. My plan is:-
3.6ghz P4 (£60)
Ati X1950 pro (£70)

I think my ram should be sufficient. Im very worried about my psu though. I know that as my case is btx it doesnt need to be as big but i think these upgrades may be too much. It handled a power hungry 6800 and an x800 xl fine so might i be alright as it is?

What are my options involving btx psu's? Ive heard you can buy 'psu boosters'. Are they a good option?

Comments and help would be appreciated.

 

[4fingerninja]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116196

 

[Juice1]

OK well first of all, glad you have returned to the forums. Could you download CPU-Z (google it) and take a screenshot of the main page, so I can know what socket type your computer has?

I think your CPU is good, your ram is good, and your graphics card should be fine for most games... over all it's actually not that bad of a computer. If you want to upgrade for games you should probably get a new graphics card, becuase gaming = graphics. Since you aree on a budget, get a nicer graphics card instead of a somewhat nice cpu and somewhat nice graphics.

 

[dude_se]

yea. id personally go for a new graphics card and maybe some ram if you have money left over (lets face it, ram isnt as expensive as it used to be, and having 2gb or more would be great).
the processor is fine for now, just upgrade it later on.
as for the psu problem im not too sure. id do some research, after all if its not powerful enough your pretty screwed, which is not a good plan

 

[99tollap]

Here's the screenshot. It is a 915p/915g chipset.

Here's the cpu im considering

http://www.gladiatorcomputers.com/ProductDetail.aspx?StockCode=CPUINTP4661OEM&Link=SearchResults

 

[Juice1]

Hm... it's a socket 775. Can you go into SPD tab and go to one of the ram tabs and take another screenshot? thanks.

I would say upgrading ram would be best, maybe we can teach you how to overclock some

 

[99tollap]

Here you go.
The computer came with 2x 256mb ram. I then added a further 2x 512 1 1/2 years ago.
Thanks for the help!

 

[Juice1]

OK well I don't know what country you are in... but

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145527

Find the exact same thing. If you are in canada, tigerdirect.ca. if you are in the UK, I think ebuyer is a good site. It should be £30 for it, all you have to do is take out the 2x 256 and put the new ones in. That should speed your computer up tons.

 

[CompMan]

I think he's in the UK, it says it on his profile. So ebuyer should be fine, maybe if you want upgrade to a C2D? A low budget one.

Do you have any experience in overclocking?

 

[lhuser]

He's in the UK. Personally, I believe these Dell series has a support for a Pentium D. Try to get the 900 series if you can. They're not as cheap as the P4s, but not really a huge difference either. You can grab the Petnium D 805.

As for the P4, you won't really notice a huge difference, but personally, I believe there is another P4 clocked at 3.8GHz. I don't remember which model though.