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[Realmfighter]

My computer sucks. Like, "Sorry, your computer is unable to play this game because it suck" bad.

And because of this i want to buy a new computer.

I currently have a Dell Dimension 3100, and i need a new graphics card, more RAM and a new motherboard to put all the parts on. What would i need to buy.

[John Hopoate]

How much money do you want to spend, $300? $3000?

[KaelGotDwarves]

Yeah, it's kind of hard to help without a baseline price suggestion, also, what country do you live in? - Since availability and prices will vary.

[Realmfighter]

I'm in Canada, and i have 150 dollars.

I understand that this is more than likely physically impossible to do, but i would be good with buying a new part or two and then buying other things that i need later. (I'm going for keeping as many things from the Dell as i can)

[sneakey pete]

If your computers as crap as you say it is, then buying a part at a time isn't the way to go. Save your money, come back when you have 500 or more, is my advice.

[Realmfighter]

If your computers as crap as you say it is, then buying a part at a time isn't the way to go. Save your money, come back when you have 500 or more, is my advice.

I'm fine with everything on my computer but the graphics card, and for that i'm okay with only buying a cheap one.

What i'm really wondering is, what i would need to buy in addition to a new motherboard.

[Googolplexed]

Yeah, um if I read the service manual right, your computer doesn't support PCIe 16x, only 1x which won't work with a new graphics card

If you wanted a new computer then you would need more then you can afford
you need a case, dell ones aren't  standard
Motherboard, with integrated GFX if you are going to cheap out. You would probebly want one for i5s/i7s as the older ones are going out of date. If you did then your old ram wouldn't work. And you would need a new CPU
you would need a new power supply, probably one with the case but I can't recommend that.

[Eagleon]

According to this he does. It'd be better to check first. It isn't 2.0, I don't think. A little bit of research tells me he's got socket 775, which is ok for an upgrade usually. Might not get a blazing new monster out of it, but there's no reason to toss it to the curb just yet if it's working well. Just be careful installing a cpu. No, better, get a professional to do it if you're not well-coordinated. It's incredibly easy to damage the mobo with 775.

If you do get a new card, try to make sure what you're getting isn't worse than what you have already. If you're upgrading from integrated, just about anything will be an improvement now, but newer is not necessarily always better for graphics. There's a lot of showmanship involved with selling video cards, and if you listen to someone at Best Buy or the like you're probably going to get swindled. Go with benchmarks! http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/ or http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/graphics-cards,1.html should get you started

The problem I can see here is the power supply. 230 watts might barely support a newer processor, but it's almost certain to choke on almost any of the newer cards out there. Something like this would be needed. Check the requirements first, and avoid upgrading past that capacity. Power shortage = random crashes and frustration. It's not really something you can squeeze past unfortunately.

[Muz]

Heh, yeah, get a midrange card and more RAM. If you're using Vista, downgrade to XP. Then wait for some office guy (preferably someone in management) to throw away a brand new midrange comp.

That's my cheap, easy solution, and it's kept me supplied with almost every game I've wanted to play for about a decade now. Not at maximum quality, but hey, I can play what I want, just gotta use my imagination for the graphics a bit.

[Googolplexed]

There are no 1x cards, and that doc only says PCIe 1x

And most Dell motherboard BIOSs don't support newer processors, And Dell almost never issues upgrades for them.

My pentium D Dell computer won't take a C2D.

Dells are pure crap if you want to upgrade them, I have a box sitting next to me with all the hardware needed for PCIe, but Dell couldn't spend $2 for the connector on the motherboard

[redacted123]

-

[Realmfighter]

It's because they don't want you to upgrade them. They'd rather you just bought another Dell.

That doesn't make much sense, as i never want any of my money to go to the greedy bastards again.

[Googolplexed]

I know that, I got it for free anyway.
All I'm saying is that the OPs box is probably not easily upgradable. I had to go through a few sticks of ram before I found something my box would recognize.

[Googolplexed]

It's because they don't want you to upgrade them. They'd rather you just bought another Dell.

That doesn't make much sense, as i never want any of my money to go to the greedy bastards again.

Most people wouldn't try to upgrade their computer, and would just buy a new dell if someone said they couldn't upgrade.

Btw double post, but this is separate

[John Hopoate]

$150 won't be enough for a gaming PC

$30 for the 400w Dell PSU Eagleon linked to
$60 for a cheap LGA 775 micro ATX motherboard
$55 for a Celeron 3200 dual core
$40 for 2gb of DDR2
$70 for a GT220 or a HD 4670

Total ~$255


But you really want something more along these lines

$30 for the 400w Dell PSU Eagleon linked to
$60 for a cheap LGA 775 micro ATX motherboard
$75 for a Pentium Dual-Core E5200
$70 for 4gb of DDR2
$140 for a Radeon HD 5750

Total ~$375