ninjatutle
Premium
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| Can I upgrade or do I need a new system... I am trying to game on a Dell E521.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Dual Core Processor
160GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
Integrated AC'97 Audio
• Looking to add 8800GT 500MB ($210)
eVGA e-GeForce 8800 GT 512MB DDR3 Superclocked
• 4GB RAM ($75-$100) from Newegg
If I buy a 8800 GT 500MB and 2x2GB DDR RAM, will I be able to play the current games ok on this? Maybe replace the PSU and sound card if it is needed as well. With upgrading I’m looking to spend around $300-$400. New system would be around $1k I think. I’m also trying to replace my laptop so I would like to go with the upgrade process.
The single slot video card should fit and I would probably add some fans somewhere.
So can I get away with playing the latest games with my intended upgrades? Types of games I will be playing are located in this thread : »Do ppl still play BF 2142? If not, what FPS are ppl playing | |
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The Flash
You don't win friends with salad
Premium
join:2002-10-17
Toronto, ON
1 edit | Re: Can I upgrade or do I need a new system... 8800GT is cheaper than that, you really need 2 gigs of ram.
Current specs? | |
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eX_NihiLo
Here's Your Something For Nothing
Premium
join:2003-08-05
Louisville, CO | What size monitor are you using? You probably don't need a 8800GT, a 9600GT is more likely up your alley for ~120 after MIR. | |
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ninjatutle
Premium
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| Currently it is stock, I bought it a year ago.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Dual Core Processor
1 GB Ram
160GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
Integrated AC'97 Audio
Integrated Video
LCD: 19" Samsung 931c
Mouse: Logitech MX Revolution
Headset: Plantronics DSP 500 USB | |
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The Flash
You don't win friends with salad
Premium
join:2002-10-17
Toronto, ON | Re: Can I upgrade or do I need a new system... wow anything is better than Integrated Video...
how can you even play games? Do you have a PCI-E slot? | |
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ninjatutle
Premium
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA | Re: Can I upgrade or do I need a new system... PCI-E slot and no gaming currently thats why I need to upgrade  | |
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The Flash
You don't win friends with salad
Premium
join:2002-10-17
Toronto, ON | Re: Can I upgrade or do I need a new system... Check what version that PCI-E slot is. | |
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Mustang
Premium
join:2005-06-27
Fort Lauderdale, FL | A BIG concern will be your power supply....the 8800 GT sucks power and I believe it comes with minimum requirements (450 watts) comes to mind.
Its also a big card, make sure you have the room to physically put it in your computer.... | |
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ninjatutle
Premium
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| Re: Can I upgrade or do I need a new system... I just ordered 2 GB of ram and the video card. I read somewhere that XP or Vista will not see 4 GB unless you had the 64bit version which I don't.
Hopefully the card will fit, its a single slot card I did measure the length I had. I would have gone with a dual slot card if there was space for it.
Looks like I could drop in any powersupply with this MB. Its a non proprietary one. If the PS is too weak, I'll order something. | |
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poppster
Tell the truth and then run.
Premium
join:2003-12-23
Midwest
clubs: 
| Re: Can I upgrade or do I need a new system... I would look to upgrade the PSU, 450+ watts. ZZZ has a good deal on this thermaltake psu, with active PFC.
»www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe···e=371258
Dual, and Quad core ready. | |
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Boogeyman
Drive it like you stole it
Premium
join:2002-12-17
Huntsville, AL
| I have 4gb in my 32 bit Vista and the only problem I have is that my mem usage apps wont read the mem usage correctly due to the OS not wanting to see all 4gb at once. Right now I am using 1.12gb of ram, but my ram usage only says 123mb used.
Anyway, my point is that you can still make use of all 4 gb, its just that most apps that try to look at total ram and total ram usage wont recognize a gig of it. They will still use it, but wont report what they are using correctly sometimes. (On my system, the first gb used is ignored, so most of the time my system says I am using 0 ram) | |
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jouno53
Palin 2012
join:2006-03-04
United State | You'll probably need a new PSU | |
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ninjatutle
Premium
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| Re: Can I upgrade or do I need a new system... I ordered a new one already. A Corsair 650TX - a 650W one @ $99 total 
I wish I would have never upgraded and gone with a full build instead or drop the whole gaming idea altogether. I flashed the bios yesterday and bricked the Dell. I didn't even get to play anything except for 10 mins of the COD 4 demo. Now I will wait until Monday to see if Dell will give me a new MB or I will have to order one. | |
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jouno53
Palin 2012
join:2006-03-04
United State | Aw man, that stinks. I hope Dell will help you out, let us know how it goes | |
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ninjatutle
Premium
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| Re: Can I upgrade or do I need a new system... I'm not going to even bother calling Dell. I am 2 months out of warranty. I read the Dell support forums and there are pages and pages of other people who have done the same. If I was still under warranty, they might send one out but in my case they wont. A new motherboard will cost $80-100. I'll just cough up the dough even though it wasn't fully my fault. I ran the bios updater from within Vista, there was an error. I reran the update, same error. Rebooted, now the bios is shot. Same problem others have ran into. | |
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The Flash
You don't win friends with salad
Premium
join:2002-10-17
Toronto, ON | Re: Can I upgrade or do I need a new system... Wouldn't hurt to try. | |
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The Flash
You don't win friends with salad
Premium
join:2002-10-17
Toronto, ON | Re: Can I upgrade or do I need a new system... Next time, don't buy a Dell. | |
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join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL | I don't think the dell bios let's you get the full use of ram with good timings | |
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| Grief
join:2004-04-05
St John'S, NL | Re: Can I upgrade or do I need a new system...  good job pulling it all together | |
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The Flash
You don't win friends with salad
Premium
join:2002-10-17
Toronto, ON | Next get a Phenom or 6000+  | |
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ninjatutle
Premium
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| I added a Razer Barracuda sound card today. A few more items and I'll be able to dump the Dell and have a different stand alone system. I just need a CPU, MB, HD and case. I'll go for a Phenom and Raptor hard drive. Probably will do this before the end of the year. I'm buying an HD camcorder so all of this is also good for video editing as well as gaming. | |
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The Flash
You don't win friends with salad
Premium
join:2002-10-17
Toronto, ON | Re: Can I upgrade or do I need a new system... Might as well get a new monitor while you're at it. lol | |
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ninjatutle
Premium
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA | Re: Can I upgrade or do I need a new system... I like my monitor. It's a 19" Samsung 931c 4:3 panel. The colors are very nice. | |
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the upgrade from hell....I've had a few of those 
) or supplying the operating system cause I'm not sure your hard drive will accept a motherboard switcharoo so you may need to repair your OS or reinstall(I'm assuming Dell didn't give you a cd of your OS).
