[Race Bennon]

Hi All,

I am new to "Geeks To Go". Apologies if I fail any of the rules while writing this post. Well as my title states, I have a Dell Optiplex 320 with the following specs,

Processor: Pentium D 3.0 Ghz Dual Core
RAM: 1GB (2x512MB) DDR-2 RAM
Video Display: 128MB ATI Radeon X1300
Hard Drive: 160 GB SATA HDD

I know, I know, you all must be thinking that this is a really old crappy obsolete system, well I got it for £20 so I dun mind keeping it and spending a lil' to make it perform a little better.

Well I was thinking of upgrading my system, I know with RAM I cam go upto 4GB but not really sure which type of RAM is required and also what is the best upgrade for my Graphics card that I can do? I know there are issues of the wattage required by graphics card and wattage provided by the system. So any help in this regards would be greatly helpful.

Looking forward to all of your replies and a very Thankyou to all in advance who will be able to help.

Thanks,
Race

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Race Bennon

Use the Crucial system scanner tool to find the best recommended Ram for your system, no need to purchase from there, write down the details and shop around for the best deal http://www.crucial.c...ner/?click=true let us know what is suggested and we can also look for you.


Which model do you have http://www.northwood...20techspecs.pdf
Whichever model you have you will need a more powerful PSU to power a decent add on video card Im afraid.

[phillpower2]

Race Bennon

Use the Crucial system scanner tool to find the best recommended Ram for your system, no need to purchase from there, write down the details and shop around for the best deal http://www.crucial.c...ner/?click=true let us know what is suggested and we can also look for you.


Which model do you have http://www.northwood...20techspecs.pdf
Whichever model you have you will need a more powerful PSU to power a decent add on video card Im afraid.

[Race Bennon]

Thanks a lot phillpower2, well the tool worked wonders and well it came up with the following results,


Supported RAMs

I have also attached the results image below ...

Well I guess, what I can get is 4GB RAM (DDR2 PC2-5300)

As for the system, mine is the Mini Tower with Intel Pentium D (9000 series) Processor. But yes, I get your point for a more powerful PSU ... but if I keep this PSU, any ideas whats the maximum I can go to with my Graphics Card (Keeping in mind, if I do not upgrade my PSU) ...

Thanks a lot again

Attached Thumbnails

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[phillpower2]

Two deciding factors here;
1: If you are not a gamer then stick with the present video chip and PSU.
2: If you want a card capable of decent gaming** then a budget card is no good so a better card is needed which will require a better PSU.

**Many modern games are very demanding graphics wise and the box will state what the minimum system requirements are.

[Race Bennon]

Well to be honest, used to be a gamer but for some reason, left games ... the maximum graphic stuff I do is sometime 3D Modeling (which I love doing) but that is rarely and also I go to SecondLife which do require somewhat a better graphic card and strong RAM ... even my low budget X1300 works fine with medium graphics on Secondlife, so was thinking that if i increase a lil more, I might go to High or Ultra high graphics without getting my computer into a stall state hehehehehe ... but hey thanks for the tips ...

[phillpower2]

I will look for a better card than the X1300 but don`t expect to be doing heavy 3D work with it though

NB: Note that a 300W PSU is the Minimum power supply requirement; http://www.dabs.com/...7W9W.html?src=3

Edited by phillpower2, 01 March 2012 - 12:28 PM.
Link added.