Budget Buying
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Budget Buying
Ok for the length of my 'gaming life' ive been using an old dell pc, now this pc is unbelievebly useless, the one and only good thing about it is its gfx card. Currently Equipped with 1GB nVidia GeF GT 240 ( i think i havnt seen my pc in ages) its the only good bit about my pc and allows me to play some decent games like MW2, TF2 (laggy for some reason), FUEL and other games. So i also have a 450W power supply bought but unable to use it because of the dells case. Considering what i can take out of the dell and put into a difff computer i can take the RAM, Gfx card, Hard Drive and wireless card.
So here's my question, on a budget of £200 ish could i buy the other parts to make a pc? not much of a pc expert but i need a motherboard, a new case, dual-core processor and more. I would look for the parts myself but i wouldnt know what to look for so ill leave it to you , any links would be apreciated.
So here's my question, on a budget of £200 ish could i buy the other parts to make a pc? not much of a pc expert but i need a motherboard, a new case, dual-core processor and more. I would look for the parts myself but i wouldnt know what to look for so ill leave it to you , any links would be apreciated.
jt830- Posts : 54
Join date : 2009-05-08
Age : 30
Location : Japanese Dream World....
Re: Budget Buying
Are you only using new PC just for gaming or for other stuff as well? And if so, what for?
GFX seems fine, a little on the low end, but should handle most things.
In my experience Dell parts only like other Dell part i.e. the ones from the same PC, but you should get away with the RAM, HDD and wireless card. Your PSU is also on the low end side, I'd recommend at least 500W these days, also buy a good quality from the likes of Hiper, Enermax, Corsair etc.
I would rather worry more about getting a really good motherboard rather than getting a really good CPU, as the motherboard is going to be your limitation in the PC for it's lifetime. You can always upgrade the CPU at a later date. Also make sure you find out what the spec of the RAM is before going off and buying a fantastic motherboard to only find out, the RAM won't fit! Then either spending more money on new RAM or sending the motherboard back with an embarrass look upon your face.
They are many types of RAM, so what you need to do is tell us what model the Dell is. Now it should tell you on the case or put the service tag into Dell's website (click here) and that will tell you what model it is and also give you a spec list as well, which will help us a lot. Another important thing to consider is do you want a AMD or an Intel CPU? Which of cause will effect your choice of motherboard.
I'm taking you are going to use the same Windows licence for this PC that you are using for you Dell. If so then this is going to cause loads of problems. To do the job properly, you really need to format you HDD if you changing the motherboard anyway, so you don't cause any conflict. Which means backing up everything up first and getting all the required drivers before hand. Then you need to have a Windows XP/Vista/7 Disk to install Windows again. I can help you with a Dell XP Pro and a Vista disk which will install any version of Vista you like, as long you have the right Vista licence for the version, same goes for whatever version of Windows you have at the moment. If you can't get the disk or want a new licence then that's another expense to consider.
You haven't mention if you intend to used the same media drives e.g. DVD drive, multi card reader etc.
I know I can get you a good motherboard, an AM3 CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 500W PSU, a very, very cheap case for around £200 barring any problems. We need more info first, but at this stage, maybe, just maybe it's enough.
GFX seems fine, a little on the low end, but should handle most things.
In my experience Dell parts only like other Dell part i.e. the ones from the same PC, but you should get away with the RAM, HDD and wireless card. Your PSU is also on the low end side, I'd recommend at least 500W these days, also buy a good quality from the likes of Hiper, Enermax, Corsair etc.
I would rather worry more about getting a really good motherboard rather than getting a really good CPU, as the motherboard is going to be your limitation in the PC for it's lifetime. You can always upgrade the CPU at a later date. Also make sure you find out what the spec of the RAM is before going off and buying a fantastic motherboard to only find out, the RAM won't fit! Then either spending more money on new RAM or sending the motherboard back with an embarrass look upon your face.
They are many types of RAM, so what you need to do is tell us what model the Dell is. Now it should tell you on the case or put the service tag into Dell's website (click here) and that will tell you what model it is and also give you a spec list as well, which will help us a lot. Another important thing to consider is do you want a AMD or an Intel CPU? Which of cause will effect your choice of motherboard.
I'm taking you are going to use the same Windows licence for this PC that you are using for you Dell. If so then this is going to cause loads of problems. To do the job properly, you really need to format you HDD if you changing the motherboard anyway, so you don't cause any conflict. Which means backing up everything up first and getting all the required drivers before hand. Then you need to have a Windows XP/Vista/7 Disk to install Windows again. I can help you with a Dell XP Pro and a Vista disk which will install any version of Vista you like, as long you have the right Vista licence for the version, same goes for whatever version of Windows you have at the moment. If you can't get the disk or want a new licence then that's another expense to consider.
You haven't mention if you intend to used the same media drives e.g. DVD drive, multi card reader etc.
I know I can get you a good motherboard, an AM3 CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 500W PSU, a very, very cheap case for around £200 barring any problems. We need more info first, but at this stage, maybe, just maybe it's enough.
Re: Budget Buying
Okay, the old computer i have been using has been the Dell Dimension 8400, like u said dell parts only like working with dell parts and ive only changed the amount fo RAM and its gfx card, im not planning on upgrading the current pc, more-so, looking as to what i can take and put into a different computer.
As far as the OS it currently has p*****d version of windows becasue it xp was having issues which i got of a mate.
As far as really cheap goes £200 is a rough estimate, as i am expecting some money to be coming my way soon and i am considering what i could actually buy.
As far as the OS it currently has p*****d version of windows becasue it xp was having issues which i got of a mate.
As far as really cheap goes £200 is a rough estimate, as i am expecting some money to be coming my way soon and i am considering what i could actually buy.
jt830- Posts : 54
Join date : 2009-05-08
Age : 30
Location : Japanese Dream World....
Re: Budget Buying
You can get either a XP Home or a XP Pro disk & licence off eBay for under £30, so no excuses on that one. Just make sure you get a new one with a proper COA, because there are a few con artists on there dealing with fake and used ones.
According to the Dell website (click here) the Dimension 8400 can either take 400Mhz or 533MHz DDR2 unbuffered SDRAM. For serious gaming you need around 2Gb of the stuff these days, but remember that XP will only recognise 3.2Gb of RAM, even thought the motherboard may be able to take up to 4Gb, under XP after the 3.2Gb limit, the rest is redundant.
I can't find out at the moment the capacity of the HDD for that machine, but 200Gb upwards should see you in good stead.
Also tell us if your after an AMD or a Intel CPU, cos then we can start giving you links to good motherboards
According to the Dell website (click here) the Dimension 8400 can either take 400Mhz or 533MHz DDR2 unbuffered SDRAM. For serious gaming you need around 2Gb of the stuff these days, but remember that XP will only recognise 3.2Gb of RAM, even thought the motherboard may be able to take up to 4Gb, under XP after the 3.2Gb limit, the rest is redundant.
I can't find out at the moment the capacity of the HDD for that machine, but 200Gb upwards should see you in good stead.
Also tell us if your after an AMD or a Intel CPU, cos then we can start giving you links to good motherboards
Re: Budget Buying
Right, I've just found the HDD info. There's two in machine (my guess is one hard disk drive in 2 partitions) one at 80GB the other at 160GB.
Re: Budget Buying
sorry to take so long to get back, i wont lie, im no computer expert so i'd take a recomendation from you tbh.
jt830- Posts : 54
Join date : 2009-05-08
Age : 30
Location : Japanese Dream World....
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