ninjatutle
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA
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| 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
Canada
edit:
April 17th, @08:17PM
| 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 | reply to ninjatutle
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
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA
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| reply to ninjatutle
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
Canada | 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
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA | 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
Canada | Check what version that PCI-E slot is. |
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Mustang
Premium
join:2005-06-27
Fort Lauderdale, FL | reply to ninjatutle
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
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA
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| 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: 
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| 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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jouno53
You just lost the game
join:2006-03-04
United State | reply to ninjatutle
You'll probably need a new PSU |
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ninjatutle
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA
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| 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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Grief
join:2004-04-05
Chapleau, ON
|  the upgrade from hell....I've had a few of those
This is where Dell helps,either installing your new bios(not sure what bricked means  ) 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).
 I was going to say your processor was a little weak |
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jouno53
You just lost the game
join:2006-03-04
United State | reply to ninjatutle
Aw man, that stinks. I hope Dell will help you out, let us know how it goes |
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Boogeyman
Drive it like you stole it
Premium
join:2002-12-17
Panama City, FL
·Comcast
| reply to ninjatutle
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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ninjatutle
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA
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| reply to jouno53
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
Canada | Wouldn't hurt to try. |
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ninjatutle
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA
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| 
loot | 
lemon |
The last of my bounty arrived today. So now the only old thing I'm using is the HD, DVD drive, case and AMD chip. Not what I intended |
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The Flash
You don't win friends with salad
Premium
join:2002-10-17
Canada | Next time, don't buy a Dell. |
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signmeuptoo
Mike Bloomberg 4 President
Premium
join:2001-11-22
Tardis in TN
clubs: | reply to ninjatutle
Another reason to build your own I suppose. |
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