Upgrading old computer.

[Greenpwnage]

I have a 3 yr old dell xps 420. Currently with specs:

CPU: Q9400
Mobo: Dell... I think it has the x38 chips, socket 775, does NOT have pcie 2.0
PSU: 500w BFG tech. Put this in recently.
Graphics: evga GTX 460 1gb. Put this in recently.
RAM: weird setup that came with the xomputer.2x2gb, 2x1gb, all at 800mhz


Standard dell case...

I'm wondering what would be worth it to upgrade. I already am building an all new computer, this one is going to be used occasionally for wow, and a lot pnce diablo 3 is out. Hoping to only spend like 2-300 upgrading what I can.

Thanks.

[vesseblah]

Cant really upgrade from that, would need new cpu+motherboard+ram which goes way over your budget. Q9400 is already pretty close to top of the line in old socket 775 cpu's, and since it's a Dell, it's probably locked anyway and wont accept other CPUs.

[Greenpwnage]

Can I get a new motherboard or is the processor locked? Don't really know how dell stuff works, I've always made my own

[recoilCoC]

Some of this might be worth considering.......

MOBO - IOSTAR A770E3 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard ($59.99)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138179


Ram - GeIL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model GV34GB1066C7DC ($38.99)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820144262


Processor - AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDX945FBGIBOX ($134.99)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103675


By NO means is this stuff the greatest at all BUT, it should possibly help and play WoW at about (and I'm TOTALLY guessing here (correct me if I'm mistaken)) High graphics settings and do okay. I'd recommend running a clean OS, either reformat and start over with nothing but WoW, Mumble or Vent (or Skype if you pvp), and maybe a web browser (IE, Firefox, Safari, Opera, etc.). I'm building my GF a new rig because she just started WoW and her POS Dell laptop won't cut it. Minus the keyboard, mouse, monitor, and OS....it comes out to about $411.43 for the rig itself (with heatsink / thermal paste / cords / etcs). Again, not the best but a clean OS with it and it should run fine. I HIGHLY encourage you if you yourself are not comfortable with installing the chipset and heatsink to seek help from a friend or take it to a near by IT business. Small "mom and pop" shops are usually better. Places like BestBuy / Microcenter / Fryes are going to rip you off (I know because I used to work at some of those places and it makes me sick how they rip people off). If you're in Europe (or anywhere not in the US / Canada lol) then I'm not quite as familiar as some of the options you might have sorry! I don't know your comfort level with that stuff but def. ask around. I'd recommend posting on other sites too (not just WoW) and get second and third opinions. GL!

[Greenpwnage]

Looking at toms hardware the Q9400 is higher in their hierarchy. Would it make any sense to upgrade the board to accommodate 8gigs of 1600mhz RAM? Also, ill be installing a fresh oem Windows 7 home premium 64 bit.

I also have a spare brand new hard drive. My current one seems to be getting really sluggish, even after I wiped it and started fresh with a installation of Vista....

Will any of this help?

[recoilCoC]

Ahhh yea, good call on the Q9400, I didn't even look at it before I posted (minus points to me (fail!)). I just seen you said a couple years ago and assumed the worse lol, my bad. Umm as far as the 8 gbs....do you actually own the RAM already or would be buying it (I'm assuming you have it)? I mean...depending on the price of the RAM and the mobo (depending again which you go with) ...that might make a difference of whether it will be worth it (I know that's a vague statement and doesn't help much lol >.<). That fresh install of 7 will be sweet! And hopefully help a ton too. I'd say go with the new HDD, maybe there is some weird or bad sectors on the current one (maybe...I'm not sure). This is probably going outside your desired budget but, maybe think about getting a SSD to have as the boot disk / JUST running WoW on..... use an external or a cheap (or even the extra HDD you already have) as the storage drive. Here is the cheapest I could find for a 64 GB SSD (by crucial) that is decent (it's $129.99 (again, I know this is probably outside of your desired budget but oh well lol)):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148358

Sorry I've been typing this quickly at work lol.

[megabeat]

im not sure, but some dell models have their motherboard the wrong side (mirrored) so you cant upgrade the mobo, or even the ram because some models requires a code from a stock memory stick or it wont boot

btw normally the mobo is on the right if you are in front of the pc, if yours is on the left then you will find problems i mentioned

[vesseblah]

Looking at toms hardware the Q9400 is higher in their hierarchy. Would it make any sense to upgrade the board to accommodate 8gigs of 1600mhz RAM? Also, ill be installing a fresh oem Windows 7 home premium 64 bit.

I also have a spare brand new hard drive. My current one seems to be getting really sluggish, even after I wiped it and started fresh with a installation of Vista....

Will any of this help?

Adding RAM will not do any good for you, also I'd be surprised if you even can find a socket775 motherboard that supports DDR3 RAM anyway. Win7 is slightly faster than Vista, but in games the difference is minimal, around 1-2fps, so it's not really worth the $100 either imho.

Hardware locking on Dells and similar computers usually works so that the BIOS has a list of components that will work, and nothing outside the list can be used. On processors it means you can only put new Q9400 in if old one dies, but you cant put any other model. The amount of locked features vary so I can't give any exact details, but googling for the exact Dell model number + upgrade might give some insight one way or another.

[Greenpwnage]

Does pcie 2.0 make any difference?

The main reason I mention windows 7 is I feel like the stability of the system with my dell version of Windows 7 is going downhill. I can't really explain it other then my system is getting sluggish quicker and quicler after installations of windows Vista... my hard drive is 3 years old and I've used my computer nearly everyday, mostly for gaming. Is it possible the hard drive is goin bad?? Or the mobo? Or even processor?

---------- Post added 2011-02-04 at 05:15 PM ----------

I meant dell window Vista version

---------- Post added 2011-02-04 at 07:22 PM ----------

anyone?

---------- Post added 2011-02-05 at 01:52 AM ----------

Bump! Thread got lost!!

[megabeat]

windows vista
old pc
dell

all that makes a pc slow, try some basic performance tools like defragging and select what windows have to boot every start up i msconfig, i have only my antivirus started and the rest 25 programmes manuallt started.

best performance increase is just fresh windows install

[vesseblah]

I can't really explain it other then my system is getting sluggish quicker and quicler after installations of windows Vista... my hard drive is 3 years old and I've used my computer nearly everyday, mostly for gaming. Is it possible the hard drive is goin bad?? Or the mobo? Or even processor?

Viruses is most likely explanation. If hardware breaks, it either works or don't work.

Also, don't bump, because it a) doesn't work here, and b) after 4 times in few hours makes you look like 8 year old.