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Solve : Considering upgrade; Please Help? |
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Answer» I am looking for more oomph in my desktop computer and I have limited funds, and some difficult choices to make. My first reaction is to upgrade my PSU and get a more powerful graphics card, but i'm not sure if that's the best, considering my weak processor, and older mobo. I think a more powerful graphics card would be severely hindered by the dated parts, thus making the investment a waste, but I don't really know for sure how that works. Yes, you may benefit from a new PSU (power supply unit) . But why do you think so? Apparently you put in a graphics card and did not upgrade the And why do you have 8GB? And how do you measure oomph anyway? Are you using a 64 bit OS? And do you have 64 bit games? When your machine was new out-of-the-box it already was a major player in the store-bought computers. Apparently Dell though is was good enough to support more drives in a RAID. So the PSU must have been enough for that. RAID would have increased performance overall. Only a few extreme games benefit by a 1 GB graphics card. You wanted an answer, so there it is. One does not need a better PSU until there is proof that it is failing.Bigger is not better. And lthe are not bigger anyway. Same size. These are switching PSU;s. A lot of the ____ people write about PSUs have nothing to do with switching PSUs. They don't understand how they work. If the PSU is getting AIR flow, it will work and work until there is a PERSISTENT overload, at which time it will turn you computer off. That is how there a e made. When a PSU does shut down, it is often due to some component the in system fairing, not the PSU itself.Going to a bigger PSU, in such a case, is not the right answer. As you can tell, I get really ticked off when people say 'you need a new PSU well there is not proof that it is the issue. If you want more power, unplug the floppy and the DVD drive and any USB powered gadgets while playing a intense game. IMHO.This is an old pent 4 computer and undoubtedly would have performed well with the games that existed then.However games have advanced and require more current components to be able to play them to obtain the optimum performance. So in my opinion you should stick to playing the games that are likely to perform the best with that computer and if you desire to play more demanding games your best bet is to save your money until you have a computer capable of the games you desire. That being said it is somewhat akin to watching a dog chase it's own tail as both technologies are constantly "advancing" and there will always come a point when seeking to do something that is more current than the computer that a diminished ability will occur. As Geek has observed i am curious as to why you have 8gb of ram in a computer that specifies max of 4gb (with qualifications even on that)? If you want a Lamborghini don't start with a Chevrolet and try to make one out of it.truenorth Quote from: Geek-9pm on May 16, 2012, 12:09:56 PM Yes, you may benefit from a new PSU (power supply unit) . But why do you think so? Apparently you put in a graphics card and did not upgrade the And why do you have 8GB? And how do you measure oomph anyway? Are you using a 64 bit OS? And do you have 64 bit games? Geek, I need a new PSU because the current one cannot support higher watt graphics cards. If I put in a 500W power supply, I can pop a higher powered graphics card in there. As far as I know, 305W is not enough for most mid-range graphics cards, the ones I'd be looking at. It's not failing and it runs fine, I just don't think it's pwoerful enough. I have 8gb because I got a good deal from my cousin who bought 8gb ddr2, not realising he needed ddr3. So I got it for 50 bucks instead of 75+ I would have spent. Plus, I have a 64bit system, so the full 8 gigs is recognized and used. Quote from: Geek-9pm on May 16, 2012, 12:09:56 PM If you want more power, unplug the floppy and the DVD drive and any USB powered gadgets while playing a intense game. IMHO. Unplugging things will not give me more raw gaming power. That's the kind of advice my mother would give me, and she's not exactly a computer person. Quote from: Geek-9pm on May 16, 2012, 12:09:56 PM Only a few extreme games benefit by a 1 GB graphics card. I don't see how this is the case. Most modern cards come with 1GB or more anyway, and with things like triple buffering, and multiple monitors becoming a norm it's almost necessary. I'm really just trying to find what kind of upgrade I should be looking at. I have an idea of what I need, -PSU, and graphics card- but I'm unsure whether I could benefit more from a better processor, motherboard, or some other combination. My comp STRUGGLES with newer games, and I just want it to work well. I don't have 600+ bucks to sink into an entirely new system so I'm working off of what i have now. Thanks for coming back. After breading over your reply, it seems that you want to be a gamer. If so, I have to AGREE with truenorth. Anymore upgrade to you current PC is only going g to bring marginal improvements. In gaming. incremental improvements are not worth the effort. Going form 300 watt to 500 watt is meaningless if you are going into very high performance gaming. You go at least 700 watt and think about water cooling. And yes, water cooling does help the PSU. It takes heat out of the box. As soon as you can, find buyer for you PC. And make some money and get what your really want. And once you get it, enjoy nit and revel in it. Is horrible to do something g half-way and forever wonder what you missed. My first computer I had to build myself. Had to borrow a lot of money to do it right. It was great. I learned a lot. Had that machine for years. I think it was three or four years. Which is a long time to have a PC. After that I went so tore-bought. By then I had the cash from a good job in Silicon Valley. Be patient! You can dot it! That's what a friend suggested, as well as some guys on another forum. I suppose I'll do that, however I could use some help figuring out how much this computer is worth. I've never really sold anything before, apart from a garage SALE or two. Quote from: Matt8D on May 17, 2012, 03:27:02 AM ...I could use some help figuring out how much this computer is worth...http://www.dellauction.com/ |
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