In a pickle

OK keep in mind $200.

When i first got my dell demension 3000 3 years ago i was very happy, but then i learned about PC gaming. I only have PCI slot (NOT PCI-E) so i upgraded to a radeon 9250 then upgraded again to a x1300. Also i added 1 gig of corsair ram to it. But the PCI just doesn't give me the performance i want. I'm done with bad frame rates and figureing out I can't play a game because of my hardware setup.

I have 3 options here (please add any if you have a better option). I want to play games like CS:S, WoW, Oblivian and some others. I could use my $200 to try to bid on ebay to buy a used computer (but i doubt I'll have enough to buy a decent used gaming comp). I could buy a new computer with nothing but the desktop itself (no moniters, keyboards, speakers, since I already have that stuff), on the new comp it would have a PCI-E slot and I would by a PCI-E card for it. Or I could replace my motherboard so there is one with PCI-E. But I have never replaced a motherboard so it might be a mess. Please give me any suggestions you have, and remember I only have $200. Thank you.

Here is my PC specs

Windows XP Home Edition

Dell Demension 3000

Intel Pentium 4 processor 2.80ghz

1 gig ram

directX 9.0c

256mb Ati Radeon x1300 PCI

Sound Blaster Live! 24-Bit

OK keep in mind $200.

misterjoe100

I think that with a $200 budget it is going to be very, very difficullt to do better that you are doing now. I am not sure about the Dell Dimension 3000, but I am going to go out on a limb here and say it won't accept an off-the-shelf motherboard. I would suggest you head on over to Dell.com forums and ask there. Without being able to upgrade the motherboard, and with only $200, your best bet would be a X1950Pro AGP card (I assume when you said PCI it means you have one AGP slot for video). That will help a bit. Depending on the card you may even be able to get an extra GB of RAM.

it is my b-day. i got 200 dollarsmisterjoe100

My adivce. Get a wii.

I was once stuck in the same situation - only PCI slots, not even a friggin' AGP slot! Talk about major headaches.

I had to get a new PC.

With that said, you're going to need a new motherboard, new processor, (probably) new power supply, and a new video card.

My advice: Save up enough money so that you can afford a cheap PC if you can't afford one pre-built for gaming and upgrade it as you go. That's what I've done throughout my "PC gaming" career and it has worked. I usually just buy E-Machines computers that come with crappy video cards/power supplies and upgrade the PSU and video card afterwards.

With that said, best of luck .. hope you find a solution soon.

you could get a mobo+cpu with onboard video that has a AGPor PCI-E slot, and use the on board video for awhile till you can afford a video card.Random__Guy

EDIT - Nevermind, the RAM is fine. 1 GB will do for now ..to the OP: Do you know anything about your Power supply (PSU)?

I say shoot for a Motherboard/CPU combo if nothing else.

i pretty sure 200 or 250 wattmisterjoe100

In that case, a new PSU would be pretty much required for anything these days.

Luckily, you can find some decent ones that aren't even all that expensive ($50-100), so perhaps you can shop around and find a good CPU/Mobo combo for around $100 (maybe a bit more) and a PSU that fits in with the budget?

Of course you'd have to be sure your harddrive would work with the motherboard (it generally should), but once you get a new Motherboard/CPU and a new Power supply, all you'd have to do afterwards is get a video card and you're pretty much set.

Ideally, you should save your 200 bucks and wait to get a better rig. If you can't wait and are looking for FPS on the cheap, you'll want to reuse as much of your current system (drives, CPU, RAM, and such) as possible. Here's an option for ya...

MidTower ATX Case (With el cheapo 350Watt PSU) $30.99

Socket 478 MOBO with PCI Express (Fits your CPU and RAM) $44.99

Video Cards All $100 or less (Choose your flavor coolaid)

Total = $179.85 with some left over for shipping. I'm sure it's like nails on a blackboard to most posters here and I don't recommend doing this, but it's one way to go for immediate gratification... :lol:

I'm thinking this

P5L-Mx $77
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131041

E2140 $81
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116037

1gb kingston VR $46
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134216

Total = $204

If your PSU is powering a P4 right now I think it should handle that, Like the other guy said check to see if your case can fit a regular atx motherboard, i looked on google and it seems like a demension 3000 is just a regular old case it should be fine, the motherboard has on-board video you could use that till you could afford this.

8600GT $122

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127286R

(Or any other 8600gt with DDR3, I just picked that one cause it was the cheapest i could find)

The main reason i recomend that card is because of the low power consumption, I think all of that should work with a 250w

(I think)

I'm thinking this

P5L-Mx $77
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131041

E2140 $81
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116037

1gb kingston VR $46
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134216

Total = $204

If your PSU is powering a P4 right now I think it should handle that, Like the other guy said check to see if you case can fit a regular atx motherboard, i looked on google and it seems like a demension 3000 is just a regular old case it should be fine, the motherboard has on-board video you could use that till you could afford this.

8600GT $122
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127286R

The main reason i recomend that card is because of the low power consumption, i think all of that should work with a 250w

(I think)

Random__Guy

And here I assumed the Dell was a proprietary box... Nope, looks ATX compliant. You're right. :D

it is my b-day. i got 200 dollarsmisterjoe100

The P5L-Mx is probably better quality and better at overclocking (might even get 3ghz).

but this might be a better board for you.

ASRock 4CoreDX90

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157114

it's only $45

Plus you could use your old ram,

It's got 2 ide channels, instead of one, (might have been a problem)

Maybe get that instead plus the E2140 and you still got about $70 dollars left,

you only need $50 more for the video card.

(But i think you might be better off in the long run with the other combo)

Thank you every one for your help.

Here's what I'm thinking

Cheap case

Cheap mobo with pci-e

decent graphics cards

and can i some how reuse my processor?

Thank you every one for your help.

Here's what I'm thinking

Cheap case

Cheap mobo with pci-e

decent graphics cards

and can i some how reuse my processor?

misterjoe100

If you're planning to actually go through with the Dimension resurrection, reusing the case, RAM and processor is the way to go...mainly due to your limited budget. There are a lot of tutorials on the web to show you how remove a processor from a mother board socket (google search). You'll need a socket 478 mother board, that also uses DDR RAM, NOT DDR2. Don't get them mixed up. In researching your problem a number of applicable boards have been located (see above links/URLS). There are probably others available, so look around a bit. I don't doubt this project (if completed successfully) will produce a large increase in the frames per second you are getting currently in games. With that said, it won't be a serious gaming machine. The processor you have, a Pentium 4B, is limited by it's 533Mhz front side BUS and it lacks Hyperthreading technology. Not having a chip that can handle multiple threads won't hurt your game play much, as most games are still single threaded apps, but the narrow BUS architecture will be a choking point. In future, if you could locate a Pentium 4C, or Pentium 4E running at 3.0Ghz or better, your rig's performance would further improve...provided you've matched it with 1+ gigs of faster PC3200 DDR RAM.

aw I figured out dell makes custom cases for demensions so a standard atx motherboard will not fit. I'm going to try to sell this maxed out demension 3000 and get at least $100 off the peice of junk *crosses fingers*. With that said I am going to build a custom comp with $300.

POWMAX CP808PL-1 Beige Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply - Retail

case with 450 watt power supply $21.99

Foxconn 6627MA-RS2H LGA 775 SiS 662 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

cheap motherboard with 1 pci-e slot $48.99

Pentium 4 HT Cedar Mill at 3.0ghz $68.00

OCZ Value Series 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ26671024VDC-K - Retail

Corsair Value Ram 1GB $39.99

Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JB 80GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM

WD 80 GB HD at 7200 RPM $41.99

EVGA 256-P2-N541-T2 GeForce 7600GS 256MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

EVGA 7600 PCI-E X16 $72.99

SONY Beige IDE CD-ROM Drive Model CDU5225 - OEM

Simple CD ROM Drive $12.50

So what do you think? This comes to about $305. If there is anything that won't work togeather or you have a better suggestion please let me know. Thank you!

MOBO

CPU

Get these instead

and if you end up getting like 50 more for your comp you can get a x1950pro

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102061

So does anybody know if i have to buy windows xp again or can i just reinstall the one i already have?misterjoe100

If you still have the CD you should be able to install it .. I don't think you're allowed to have the same copy on two computers at the same time, though ... but you should be fine.

Seriously if you got the same windows running on two different computers,

your going to jail.

You could use linux until you can buy the OS.achilles614

thinking the same

Why not try to sell your computer for parts on eBay or selling it as a whole for a decent price... You're bound to get at least $200, and then if you can save up a little more, i'm sure you can build something decent for ~$400-500.. Just a thoughtBlackStalker

But if he sells his computer, how will he be able to order the parts? LOL :D

[QUOTE="BlackStalker"]Why not try to sell your computer for parts on eBay or selling it as a whole for a decent price... You're bound to get at least $200, and then if you can save up a little more, i'm sure you can build something decent for ~$400-500.. Just a thoughtTHA-TODD-BEAST

But if he sells his computer, how will he be able to order the parts? LOL :D

Well i'm sure $500 can get him a decent complete setup..

but anyways ill sell the dell, and buy all the parts for the new comp.

But back to the OS. I heard somewhere that if you uninstall xp from one comp. You can call up microsoft and get a new key and then install on the new comp. Is this legal?

u can call microsoft, i heard if u have a really good excuse they will give u a another one. You can also go to costco(any store that lets u return open products) install and return and it and say the key is reg.when they give u another copy(which will be closed) you come back 1 week later and return to get ur money :lol: worth a try. Whatever u do, try to get teh x1950 pro, if u go on zipzoomfly u can get a x1900GT for 104

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=327110

or the x1950Pro, which is a beastly card. you know whatever u feel the price is ok

so what your saying is it is legal to uninstall on one system then install on another?misterjoe100

Its legal if you bought the retail version of Windows. If you got Windows with your PC, its an OEM version, and no, it is not legal to install it on another PC. I am not saying its nice, or fair, or cool, its just a violation of the licensing agreement for the OEM version of Windows.

[QUOTE="misterjoe100"]so what your saying is it is legal to uninstall on one system then install on another?ZBoater

Its legal if you bought the retail version of Windows. If you got Windows with your PC, its an OEM version, and no, it is not legal to install it on another PC. I am not saying its nice, or fair, or cool, its just a violation of the licensing agreement for the OEM version of Windows.

ugh, well windows xp came with the system so I can't do it :(

aw I figured out dell makes custom cases for demensions so a standard atx motherboard will not fit. I'm going to try to sell this maxed out demension 3000 and get at least $100 off the peice of junk *crosses fingers*. With that said I am going to build a custom comp with $300.

misterjoe100

According to this thread, the Dimension is Micro ATX compliant. If true, reusing your case wouldn't be a problem. I would think, if your OS disk is an actual Windows install CD and you've only replaced the MOBO on your Dell, you would still be able to legally use it. Provided it's the only PC you use it on.

[QUOTE="misterjoe100"]

aw I figured out dell makes custom cases for demensions so a standard atx motherboard will not fit. I'm going to try to sell this maxed out demension 3000 and get at least $100 off the peice of junk *crosses fingers*. With that said I am going to build a custom comp with $300.

Sentinel672002

According to this thread, the Dimension is Micro ATX compliant. If true, reusing your case wouldn't be a problem. I would think, if your OS disk is an actual Windows install CD and you've only replaced the MOBO on your Dell, you would still be able to legally use it. Provided it's the only PC you use it on.

O thank you I never even thought of micro. But I still wanna sell it and get rid of all the bad memories that came with it. I'm hoping i get $200 for it. Here is my new list of parts. The total is $333 not including S&H.

Linkworld 437-01-C2229 Black/ Champaign Gold Steel MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply - Retail

MSI K9VGM-V Socket AM2 VIA K8M890 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+(65W) Windsor 2.0GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADO3800CUBOX - Retail

WINTEC AMPO 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 3AMD2800-1G1K-R - Retail

Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JB 80GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM

LG Black E-IDE/ATAPI DVD-ROM Multi Read Drive Model GDR-8164BK - OEM

looks good, how u planing on getting the OS ?SiKh22

use linux or just install xp anyways :)

how do uget linux? SiKh22

download from their website or i think they can send you an install disk

OK keep in mind $200.

When i first got my dell demension 3000 3 years ago i was very happy, but then i learned about PC gaming. I only have PCI slot (NOT PCI-E) so i upgraded to a radeon 9250 then upgraded again to a x1300. Also i added 1 gig of corsair ram to it. But the PCI just doesn't give me the performance i want. I'm done with bad frame rates and figureing out I can't play a game because of my hardware setup.

I have 3 options here (please add any if you have a better option). I want to play games like CS:S, WoW, Oblivian and some others. I could use my $200 to try to bid on ebay to buy a used computer (but i doubt I'll have enough to buy a decent used gaming comp). I could buy a new computer with nothing but the desktop itself (no moniters, keyboards, speakers, since I already have that stuff), on the new comp it would have a PCI-E slot and I would by a PCI-E card for it. Or I could replace my motherboard so there is one with PCI-E. But I have never replaced a motherboard so it might be a mess. Please give me any suggestions you have, and remember I only have $200. Thank you.

Here is my PC specs

Windows XP Home Edition

Dell Demension 3000

Intel Pentium 4 processor 2.80ghz

1 gig ram

directX 9.0c

256mb Ati Radeon x1300 PCI

Sound Blaster Live! 24-Bit

misterjoe100

well you should save up and get anew m/b cpu, ram, video card. semprons can be had for under $30 and are pretty decent, a gig of ram can be had for under $40 and a decent video card for $100 and a motherboard $50 (a buget motherboard is fine unless you plan on overclocking). Just pull you old m/b,cpu etc out and put the new stuff in and then sell them on ebay, maybe keep the sound card, but onboard sound is pretty good now.