Worth upgrading PC further?

spannerzone

I'd agree about not investing in an SSD hard drive, it's not worth it on a machine of that age.... the Pentium D is some of the problem but i wouldn't bother upgrading unless your machine can take a Core2duo CPU (I can't remember if the 5150 can accept one) and even if it can take a core2duo, it'll only take one of the same era of the machine and will likely need a bios update. The Pentium D's were ok but slow compared to any new CPU, even a newer core based 1.6Ghz celeron can thrash a 2.8Ghz Pentium D in many tasks.

The best thing you can now do having upgraded the ram (and XP can only really 'see' about 3.25gb of ram and not the full 4Gb) is to reload the operating system from scratch, update it (there'll be at least 101 windows updates after installing SP3,

A fresh install of XP can make a dog of a machine feel like new... don't forget to back up everything first though.

Edit: looks like this model can't take a Core2duo CPU so you're stuck with the Pentium D which at least helps warm the house in the winter

ste_coxy

stilltheone wrote: »

Really no need to spend that much on a GC. Inno3D 8600GS 1GB SDDR3 VGA DVI HDMI PCI-E Graphics Card £27.68 with Super Saver delivery. Can't find the card on their website, so don't know from where eBuyer has sourced it.

how will i know if it is compatable with my PC though - I think I have read something about you needing a PCI-E compatable motherboard in order for you to use these type of cards?

stilltheone

If you start looking a more powerful cards with onboard fans, you might need to look at the PC power supply. Inno3D GT 520 1GB SDDR3 DVI VGA HDMI PCI-E Graphics Card. Also, look at the space available to fit the card. I chose a low profile, fanless design.

If you are into gaming than find a balance that fits with your machine. Don't spend extra if you are not going to see any benefit.

stilltheone

ste_coxy wrote: »

how will i know if it is compatable with my PC though - I think I have read something about you needing a PCI-E compatable motherboard in order for you to use these type of cards?

I'm sure that yours is, even though I haven't checked.

ste_coxy

spannerzone wrote: »

I'd agree about not investing in an SSD hard drive, it's not worth it on a machine of that age.... the Pentium D is some of the problem but i wouldn't bother upgrading unless your machine can take a Core2duo CPU (I can't remember if the 5150 can accept one) and even if it can take a core2duo, it'll only take one of the same era of the machine and will likely need a bios update. The Pentium D's were ok but slow compared to any new CPU, even a newer core based 1.6Ghz celeron can thrash a 2.8Ghz Pentium D in many tasks.

The best thing you can now do having upgraded the ram (and XP can only really 'see' about 3.25gb of ram and not the full 4Gb) is to reload the operating system from scratch, update it (there'll be at least 101 windows updates after installing SP3,

A fresh install of XP can make a dog of a machine feel like new... don't forget to back up everything first though.

Edit: looks like this model can't take a Core2duo CPU so you're stuck with the Pentium D which at least helps warm the house in the winter

When you say my model can't accept it is that even if we upgraded the motherboard? would it be possible then? if so how much is a Core2duo CPU likely to cost?

texranger

Well i had a dell dimension 4800 for 10 years, in that time i maxed out the memory, upgraded the GC twice along with SC and processor and a combi DVD drive.

this is still used by the kids for games and browsing and homework, but for my business i purchased a new machine which ive had 3 yrs and just upgraded the memory

closed

Why are you asking the question?

If it's slow, post a hijackthis log and either turn off teatimer, or uninstall spybot completely

S0litaire

ste_coxy wrote: »

how will i know if it is compatable with my PC though - I think I have read something about you needing a PCI-E compatable motherboard in order for you to use these type of cards?

i just did a quick google check,
your motherboard has 4 slots:
1 X PCIe x16 (Dark long slot)
1 X PCIe x1 (Very shot slot)
2 X PCI (old style White or Green slots)

So just about any Graphics card you can get should fit.
Only thing that might be a problem is the Power supply, you'll need to make sure the card does not need too much extra power from the PSU (depends how big your PSU is, it might not have enough power to power the whole system...)

getmore4less

Since you are sharing this with others I would try to source a second PC

plenty of free monitors on freecycle and sometime a base unit.

Games may benifit from some graphics upgrade

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim5150/en/om/WD846A02.pdf

for those in the know graphics is

Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (GMA950)

spannerzone

ste_coxy wrote: »

When you say my model can't accept it is that even if we upgraded the motherboard? would it be possible then? if so how much is a Core2duo CPU likely to cost?

Not easy - your current motherboard cannot accept core2duo, and uses the BTX motherboard design which while superior to the common ATX design is pretty much a dead motherboard design (size, shape, location of sockets et it's pyhsically different in shape to common ATX boards) so you can't just replace the motnerboard as BTX are rare, you'd need a new case to put it in and Dell also used their own variation of BTX so another non Dell BTX motherboard likely won't line up the ports on the rear and let alone the fact that any recent motherboard is ATX, requires newer type memory (DDR3) which is physically different and incomptible with yours sadly.

basically stick with what you have, it's pretty much as powerful as it can be and the only real upgrade is the graphics card (if actually needed)

As I said before, reloading Windows XP from scratch will likely give the impression of a new PC.... especially with that new memory you got. Otherwise it's time to buy a new spec PC.

You've found out that most PC's aren't very upgradeable after a couple of years as technology changes making most previous designs obsolete. The exception being if you build your own PC using bog standard parts that have 'some' upgradability such as newer motherboards (although memory and cpu may not be compatible etc)