Need Help Upgrading My Dell Dimension

[PokéPunk]

Okay.....

My family bought this DELL Dimension 4550 about 2 to 4 years ago. It's a great home computer, but now it can't play basic games on the lowest settings and my parents say I can upgrade if it comes out of my own pocket. Anyway, I'm 15 and not much of a computer genius, and I need some help. I found some nice graphics cards (NVIDIA GeForce 8400) for only about $40 or $50. I've wasted enough of your time already, here's what I need help with:

How can I tell if a graphics card is compatible with my computer or motherboard?

What other steps do I need to take to determine a decent GPU and possibly a new CPU (I've got about 2 GHz now) for my computer to play games like Call of Duty 4, Half Life 2, and the like. I'm not trying to trick it out to play Crysis, but at least handle some new games without constant lag.

Thank you, and if I need to give any more info I'd be happy to.

 

[Gerri Shin]

ah yes, the Upgrade query.
ok to see if a graphics card is compatible with your computer, first you need to know what slots are available within the computer. and what slots it has. most graphics cards nowadays are PCI Express. however older computers may still need an AGP or stright PCI card, see what you motherboard has.
A 2GHz CPU if fine for games, however you may want to upgrade the RAM (if you have a Gb great, but on XP 512Mb will work), though you may have to wait as this can be a little more pricey.
there is a program out there called GPU-Z that will tell you everything about your current Graphics card.

 

[PokéPunk]

Okay, thanks a lot.

I found out I have 2 DDR memory slots supporting up to 1 gig. Is 2 DDR slots the same as DDR2, or just 2 of the single DDR slots?

Besides the graphics card update, I'm upgrading from 728 mb of ram to 1 Gig of it. With these upgrades, you're saying I can play a game like Call of Duty 4 (which says it requires a minimum of 2.4 GHz) with my regular 2.0 GHz cpu, or should I upgrade that too?

Thanks much.

 

[Jesus Freak Josh]

I found out I have 2 DDR memory slots supporting up to 1 gig. Is 2 DDR slots the same as DDR2, or just 2 of the single DDR slots?

DDR2 is the slot. If you have 2 DDR slots that means it's just plain DDR.

CPU speed is often not an issue these days, so long as it's about 1 GHz or higher. The CPU can often be at least 500 MHz lower than the minimum speed.

 

[Gerri Shin]

Okay, thanks a lot.

I found out I have 2 DDR memory slots supporting up to 1 gig. Is 2 DDR slots the same as DDR2, or just 2 of the single DDR slots?

Besides the graphics card update, I'm upgrading from 728 mb of ram to 1 Gig of it. With these upgrades, you're saying I can play a game like Call of Duty 4 (which says it requires a minimum of 2.4 GHz) with my regular 2.0 GHz cpu, or should I upgrade that too?

Thanks much.

ok lets start with RAM. DDR and DDR2 are very different unlike USB drives DDR2 is Not backwards compatible. now since your doing these kinds of upgrades, I'm assuming your doing them on a desktop which I would guess takes DDR PC-3200 type RAM (you can find this info out by using the RAM scanner found on Crucial.com) I found some good prices on RAM at Newegg, tigerDirect, and ZipZoomFly.com.

now as for the CPU, 2GHz is usually fine for gaming, you could possibly play COD4, but I will warn you now that you may experience game lag if you do. however for most games 2GHz is fine.
If you want to upgrade your CPU you may end up having to upgrade your motherboard as well. If I were you I'd stick with upgrading just the RAM and Graphics Card, save your money for a couple more years and get yourself a really good new computer, who knows what they'll stick in them then.

 

[PokéPunk]

DDR2 is the slot. If you have 2 DDR slots that means it's just plain DDR.

CPU speed is often not an issue these days, so long as it's about 1 GHz or higher. The CPU can often be at least 500 MHz lower than the minimum speed.

Alright, thanks for clearing those up for me. I almost wasted my money on a DDR2 card.

ok lets start with RAM. DDR and DDR2 are very different unlike USB drives DDR2 is Not backwards compatible. now since your doing these kinds of upgrades, I'm assuming your doing them on a desktop which I would guess takes DDR PC-3200 type RAM (you can find this info out by using the RAM scanner found on Crucial.com) I found some good prices on RAM at Newegg, tigerDirect, and ZipZoomFly.com.

now as for the CPU, 2GHz is usually fine for gaming, you could possibly play COD4, but I will warn you now that you may experience game lag if you do. however for most games 2GHz is fine.
If you want to upgrade your CPU you may end up having to upgrade your motherboard as well. If I were you I'd stick with upgrading just the RAM and Graphics Card, save your money for a couple more years and get yourself a really good new computer, who knows what they'll stick in them then.

Alright, I'll add some RAM and get a new card, maybe a new NVIDIA 6600 or something (I have an AGP and it's all it can handle). I'll save up for maybe a gaming desktop or laptop like the XPS for the future, though.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[liketoys0000]

I think 8800 is the way to go for gaming, I just got my new MSI NX8800GT 512M OC GeForce 8800GT 512MB GDDR3 for $200, just upgraded from my 8600 to it, i'd say this is one of the best deals for the 512 8800gt.