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"Beefing up the PC"

Right, as many of you may have seen I know pretty much nothing about computers.

A year and a half ago my parents got me a Dell Dimension 2400, mainly as it was quite good value for what I wanted it for. (Internet, writing essays and storing music/pictures).

However, I kind of want to play new games on it now but this system isn't that great for it... so I'm going to upgrade it as best I can. I probably should just use the money to buy a mac or something but my parents would go mental, probably.

Here it is here [URL]http://www.dealtime.com/xPF-Dell_Dimension_2400_Cel_2_20GHz_128MB_40GB[/URL]

I have only have one slot for memory, so I'm thinking of getting a stick of 512 RAM, plus I need a really good graphics card.

Erm, so please help tell me what I need and any suggestions. Plus, do I need a new motherboard?

Argh.

I just looked at [URL]http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1625714,00.asp[/URL] and it's a higher-spec 2400 that doesn't feature an AGP port. You'll need to visibly inspect your motherboard to confirm or deny the existence of an AGP port.

Assuming that your computer doesn't have an AGP port, you'll need to replace or upgrade the following:

Memory
Graphics card
Motherboard
Power Supply
And probably the case, too

You'll need a new power supply as DELL motherboards and PSUs are proprietary - if you replace your motherboard with an off-the-shelf component, you'll need to replace the power supply too (In actual fact DELL just switched around a few pins in the PSU->motherboard plug so that if a DELL PSU or motherboard blew up, the unlucky punter would be forced into buying a replacement from DELL. AFAIK plugging a non-DELL motherboard into a DELL PSU will instantly destroy said motherboard).

This is going to set you back just short of £450 for a decent combination of all those :0[

So many opinions.

On the upisde I got my manual... it's easy to open up unlike my last one. It has 3 PCI ports, which means it isn't all stuck together like somebody mentioned Dell did. I think.

Not so much cost is bothering me but compatibility with my PC (and my stupidity).

Probably looking at £300 then... my email is mynameiscraighunterathomaildotcom

And now you know my name

I doubt SR would be happy with me giving you advice here, so if you want me to email you with stuff which is cheaper, stick a budget here and I'll steer you right :D

You can get better stuff than that for the same money.

I got a Athlon 64 3000, a motherboard, a 256mb radeon 9800 and 512mb PC3200 RAM from ebuyer for £320.

By that I mean, your Celeron 2.2 is the main weakness in your current computer, Celerons suck :D. Athlon 64, or Sempron 3100 as the 3100 model is an Athlon 64 without 64bit support.

[URL]http://uk.special.reserve.co.uk/q_GG2405_ddr_dimm__512_mb_r.html[/URL] - 2 of those

[URL]http://uk.special.reserve.co.uk/q_GG1560_sapphire_ati_radeo.html[/URL] - 1 of those

[URL]http://uk.special.reserve.co.uk/q_GG8944_ide_hard_drive__se.html[/URL] - Possibly that too.

What's that come to then... £300ish I think. Plus a few games. Waheh

Might need a new controller too... sure I have a Microsoft Sidewinder somewhere, waheh.

See my edit thanks

I'm learning more here than I did at Computing in school.

But the PC3200 will work.

"PC3200 is listed as an option for this system and will either operate at 266MHz or 333MHz depending on the FSB setting."

See, it'll work, but at a slower speed...


"The system is not capable of operating with an 800MHz FSB so it cannot operate the PC3200 at 400MHz. "


...and not at full speed.

I might, don't want it going wrong.

EDIT: Though DDR memory was designed to be backward compatible (meaning you can use PC3200 DDR in a computer designed to use PC2100 DDR or vice-versa),

Ahhh, so a better version at a lower cost? 3200 it is then.

well you can just buy PC2700 if you want.