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Started By
Message
Can someone answer some basic PC hardware questions for me please?
Posted on 7/24/15 at 6:06 pm
Posted on 7/24/15 at 6:06 pm
I have a Dell Inspiron 530S desktop. It's old, but it's what I got. I'm trying to upgrade it a little bit if it's possible to make some games run smoother for my son.
It has an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU
E6550 @ 2.33Ghz
2.00 GB of RAM
The video card is an ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO
My questions are:
- Slots #4 and #6 are open, can I just pop RAM into them? Will that help?
-What would be a good video card that would work with this PC? Is it as simple as unplugging the card that's in slot #24 and putting in a better one?
I really, really appreciate any input.
This is the schematic of the internals:
1 processor socket (CPU)
2 processor fan connector (CPU_FAN)
3 memory module connectors (DIMM_1)
4 memory module connectors (DIMM_2)
5 memory module connectors (DIMM_3)
6 memory module connectors (DIMM_4)
7 main power connector (ATX_POWER)
8 Floppy Drive Connector
9 battery socket
10 serial ATA drive connectors (SATA0)
11 CMOS jumper (CLEAR CMOS)
12 password jumper (CLEAR_PW)
13 serial ATA drive connectors (SATA1)
14 serial ATA drive connectors (SATA4)
15 front panel connector (F_PANEL)
16 front USB connector (F_USB1)
17 serial ATA drive connectors (SATA5)
18 front USB connector (F_USB2)
19 front FlexBay connector (F_USB3)
20 front audio (F_AUDIO)
21 PCI connector (PCI2)
22 PCI connector (PCI1)
23 PCI Express x1 connector (PCIE_X1)
24 PCI Express x16 connector (PCIE_X16)
25 audio connectors
26 2 USB and 1 LAN connector
27 2 USB connectors
28 chassis fan connector (CHASSIS_FAN)
29 video connector (VGA)
30 power for cpu (ATX_CPU)
It has an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU
E6550 @ 2.33Ghz
2.00 GB of RAM
The video card is an ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO
My questions are:
- Slots #4 and #6 are open, can I just pop RAM into them? Will that help?
-What would be a good video card that would work with this PC? Is it as simple as unplugging the card that's in slot #24 and putting in a better one?
I really, really appreciate any input.
This is the schematic of the internals:
1 processor socket (CPU)
2 processor fan connector (CPU_FAN)
3 memory module connectors (DIMM_1)
4 memory module connectors (DIMM_2)
5 memory module connectors (DIMM_3)
6 memory module connectors (DIMM_4)
7 main power connector (ATX_POWER)
8 Floppy Drive Connector
9 battery socket
10 serial ATA drive connectors (SATA0)
11 CMOS jumper (CLEAR CMOS)
12 password jumper (CLEAR_PW)
13 serial ATA drive connectors (SATA1)
14 serial ATA drive connectors (SATA4)
15 front panel connector (F_PANEL)
16 front USB connector (F_USB1)
17 serial ATA drive connectors (SATA5)
18 front USB connector (F_USB2)
19 front FlexBay connector (F_USB3)
20 front audio (F_AUDIO)
21 PCI connector (PCI2)
22 PCI connector (PCI1)
23 PCI Express x1 connector (PCIE_X1)
24 PCI Express x16 connector (PCIE_X16)
25 audio connectors
26 2 USB and 1 LAN connector
27 2 USB connectors
28 chassis fan connector (CHASSIS_FAN)
29 video connector (VGA)
30 power for cpu (ATX_CPU)
3
Posted on 7/24/15 at 6:19 pm to toosleaux
RAM will help some. Need to know the power supply rating. Honestly though, there ain't much you're going to be able to do.
Posted on 7/24/15 at 6:20 pm to toosleaux
Before I help with this, please tell me what games he's playing. Ask him for a list of his top 5 maybe, and a few games he's looking forward to. This is extremely important because hardware requirements are all over the map with PC games, and if he's wanting to play some newer and more demanding titles, upgrading this old machine is going to lead you down a disappointing and/or expensive path.
Posted on 7/24/15 at 6:22 pm to SG_Geaux
250w power supply per Dells website
Posted on 7/24/15 at 6:31 pm to UltimateHog
And it's possibly a different form factor PSU because this is a slim desktop, need to look (Edit: Yes, TFX). That also means GPU choices will be limited to half-length low-profile cards (which is the least of the problems here).
OP, unless your kid is just trying to play minecraft, my advice is to not put any money into this machine.
OP, unless your kid is just trying to play minecraft, my advice is to not put any money into this machine.
This post was edited on 7/24/15 at 6:36 pm
Posted on 7/24/15 at 6:32 pm to ILikeLSUToo
Fury Nano!!!
Posted on 7/24/15 at 6:41 pm to ILikeLSUToo
It's 250 watt. He plays Minecraft but would like to play World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV.
This post was edited on 7/24/15 at 6:42 pm
Posted on 7/24/15 at 6:45 pm to toosleaux
quote:
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU
E6550 @ 2.33Ghz
2.00 GB of RAM
Decent system in circa 2007.
quote:
Radeon HD 2400 PRO
I remember needing 8800GTX or Radeon HD 5750 to run Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007). With that card, I don't think you can't smoothly run any modern game.
This post was edited on 7/24/15 at 6:52 pm
Posted on 7/24/15 at 7:17 pm to toosleaux
quote:
It's 250 watt. He plays Minecraft but would like to play World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV.
Not super demanding, but does require some additional hardware.
Basically, all you can do is add 2GB of RAM (this is some dirt cheap white label 2GB DDR2: Komputerbay Brand $9.30) and a super-low-power video card like a GTX 750 or 750 Ti, which will still most likely require a new power supply. LINK
FYI, upgrading the RAM alone will not be enough to make games playable that were otherwise unplayable.
This post was edited on 7/24/15 at 7:18 pm
Posted on 7/24/15 at 7:24 pm to ILikeLSUToo
Thanks for the information.
Posted on 7/25/15 at 11:38 am to ILikeLSUToo
quote:
which will still most likely require a new power supply.
I'm not sure the Dell PS are straight ATX, either. I used to build up from old Dell tower "servers" (in the mid aughts) - that was to avoid the microsoft "tax" and they shipped with a disposable video card. They were also stupidly value-priced if you watched slickdeals.
The OP's may have been later, but I remember having to limit upgrade options because of this very specific issue. Good news, I don't think they skimped on the PS, so you got what you paid for.
quote:
FYI, upgrading the RAM alone will not be enough to make games playable that were otherwise unplayable.
Yeah - I'm thinking by the time he pops for new ram and a new video card (and PS) - he's about half or better the way to a new $500 build with integrated graphics that will be 3 or 4 times the computer he will end up with after upgrading.
I'm not against upgrading, I just don't put a lot of stock into it because of these very discussions. About all I will do, nowadays, is overbuy the initial PS, go with integrated graphics for a while - and if anything, add a card and/or ram in a year or 2. Then, ride the machine to it's sunset at year 5 or 6.
This computer seems to have had its day, IMHO.
This post was edited on 7/25/15 at 11:40 am
Posted on 7/25/15 at 2:06 pm to Ace Midnight
quote:
I'm not sure the Dell PS are straight ATX, either.
Yeah, I said above that it's a TFX, which makes the selection much smaller. Dell's standard midtowers are ATX, but this is a slim line.
quote:
I'm not against upgrading, I just don't put a lot of stock into it because of these very discussions.
The form factor creates complications, even if one were to gut the entire thing and start over. The PSU is limited to options under 400W, and the GPU limited to short, low-profile cards. Then there's the motherboard, which is essentially designed to support what's there and not much more, as is expected in OEM PCs.
Another issue is the timing. Prior to Socket 1156, it was a little more practical to upgrade processors. Now the pin-outs change every 2 years as Intel shoves more features on-die, which alters both data and power delivery requirements. And on top of that, the performance differences are incremental these days. 3-4 years after OP's core 2 duo was released, a similarly priced i5 had more than double the single threaded performance and, naturally, quadruple the multi-threaded performance. Priorities have shifted, so fast forward another 5 years, and we've seen maybe a 25% increase in raw CPU performance over 3 different sockets and 4 chipset upgrades.
quote:
I'm thinking by the time he pops for new ram and a new video card (and PS) - he's about half or better the way to a new $500 build with integrated graphics that will be 3 or 4 times the computer he will end up with after upgrading.
Pretty much. $200-250 to upgrade the Dell, or $500 for a brand new build with a G3258, 8GB RAM, R9-280 or similar, and SSD.
Posted on 7/25/15 at 2:46 pm to ILikeLSUToo
quote:
ILikeLSUToo
I could bump the other thread, where I was contemplating a new Haswell build or wait until Skylake, but since we're here what about an X99 for my solution?
Is it worth the juice to go X99? Or are the mainstream Z boards just the best combo of price/performance? Particularly as I'm not into heavy video processing, nor am I likely to double up video cards or drive 2 or more 4k monitors at max resolution?
Posted on 7/25/15 at 3:27 pm to ILikeLSUToo
quote:
$500 for a brand new build with a G3258, 8GB RAM, R9-280 or similar, and SSD.
Where is the best place for me to buy one like this?
Posted on 7/25/15 at 3:27 pm to Ace Midnight
I'd stick with Z170. As you mentioned, X99 CPUs offer two observable advantages: 3- and 4-way SLI, and better multi-threaded performance. The extra cores come with a disadvantage, though. They have lower base clocks, which means single-threaded performance will be lower (not in a significant way) than a quad-core i7 of equivalent architecture, and they don't overclock quite as well. The X platform is only for those who do heavy multi-threaded rendering/encoding, or the wealthy gamers who want to run 3 or 4 high-end video cards.
This post was edited on 7/25/15 at 3:28 pm
Posted on 7/25/15 at 3:31 pm to toosleaux
quote:
Where is the best place for me to buy one like this?
Not in any store, but if you live in the Baton Rouge area, I'd consider building it for you.
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