my computer is backwards

I am trying to do a simple upgrade on my computer, its not that great of a pc but a new video card would add a little life too it. after talking here on the forums i went with the a HIS ATI Radeon HD 4670 Ice-q for price and quality, here is the link:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161252

well i got it in today and well it doesn't fit. I have a Dell E521 and had never opened it until then. First thing i noticed was that it opened on the right side (my right hand side if i am looking at the front of the PC) where i am not used to seeing it open. so everything is upside down and backwards compared to what consider normal. well the card has a big fan on it that now did not line up with the slots because it was faceing up and the cpu fan and heat sink blocked the card from fitting. i just really wanted this to be simple, guess not.

Now I guess I would have to build a new pc to get any upgrade worth getting. sooo... what should I do? I have this card already and would like to use it, and I do have some parts I could scrap from this PC. What would be the cheapest and easyest way to upgrade, I would love to keep my hard drive intact (because i have alot of important files on it) I have a dvd rw drive, video card and 4 gigs ddr 2 ram. are the any barebones pc's that are good, with a good PSU that would let me use my parts for awhile maybe a year until i can do a big upgrade? I would like it do be better than my comp, worth the upgrade and as cheap as possible. like $500 dollars is way too much to spend. and i would like to go intel but I don't know whats better AMD or intel for games.

here are my specs right now:

Dell E521

AMD Athlon 64 X2 +5200 2.6 ghz

Windows XP media center

4 gig ddr 2 ram

nvidia geforce 7300le

integrated sound

DVD R/RW

Hmmm i'm not very good, at all, when it comes to dell's... however i am wondering if you can just transfer the whole thing to a new and cheaper case? However I am not 100% so hopefully somebody could correct me

yeah the motherboard is kinda inverted/backwards and with the heatsink in the way it wouldn't be possible to upgrade any sizeable card in there i guess what i would need is a new mb, cpu, case, and psu but i'm good enough to put parts in and know what they all are, but my tech skills are lacking if i got a new motherboad would my old dell hard drive still work in the new pc?evilmudbug

I'm guessing it's using IDE cables, which are those ribbon ones... I believe that most new motherboards only have one slot for an ide, however you can connect 2 devices to the actual cable (master/slave) so you may not have a problem... However i haven't hooked any ide cables up in around 8 years so im not sure

i'm just going to have to get something new mixed with my old parts. anyone got a clue on what a good deal would be?

i didn't see any IDE cables, the HD had a thin one i think thats the sata? the motherboard I have is the dell 0CT103evilmudbug

[QUOTE="evilmudbug"]i didn't see any IDE cables, the HD had a thin one i think thats the sata? the motherboard I have is the dell 0CT103mike4realz

mostly what i am asking is for someone to help me find out what i need to get that will work with the spare parts i have in a new pc for not alot of money

Just a new case, or you can try to keep the components on mid air without a case :)

edit: Yes, simply put the components outside and you will be fine, and it would look like a OCer setup without the fancy water or tubes for LN :P

Just a new case, or you can try to keep the components on mid air without a case :)wklzip

edit: my mothboard is 2 sided? i'm so confused

[QUOTE="wklzip"]Just a new case, or you can try to keep the components on mid air without a case :)evilmudbug

edit: my mothboard is 2 sided? i'm so confused

lol its was sort of a joke. I want to keep that card because its already in my hands. so i guess i have to build a new PC kinda but i want to keep what i can out of my old one to cut down on costs like the ram, dvd, video card... a new cpu, motherboard, case, PSU is what i need i gues but I am not up to date enough to figure out what i would need to upgrade from my old pc at a good priceevilmudbug

well if i'm goin for the case and mobo i might as well do the cpu now tooevilmudbug

less than $400 if i couldevilmudbug

Mobo: Asrock A780GXE $94.99

Case: CoolerMaster RC 690 $64.99

PSU: Corsair 620HX $139.99 -> $109.99 MIR

Total: $269.97

The mobo will support the upcoming AM3 Phenom II cpu's so you can upgrade to any of them when you wish. :)

That is a kickass case.

And Corsairs PSU = Super Reliable.:D

wow that looks good. :) i want my dell hard-drive to work in that without haveing to format (i don't have os disk, only recovery right now) there will be no problem with that?

what cpu do you recommend for a upgrade from mine i have now this is the one i found

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103272

wow that looks good. :) i want my dell hard-drive to work in that without haveing to format (i don't have os disk, only recovery right now) there will be no problem with that?

what cpu do you recommend for a upgrade from mine i have now this is the one i found

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103272

evilmudbug

not surprising.. dell has always been funky with how their cases and airflow has been designed... not upgrade friendly at all..comp_atkins

I think i may have found a cheaper solution to my problem. The card I have in hand is the http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161252

Now if i went with a slimer card like this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102804

do you guys think that would work ? I think my PC may give me that much room to work with if it was a slimer singleslot card. are there any better options than that? its only $10 more than the other, better than$400 upgradeing

I think i may have found a cheaper solution to my problem. The card I have in hand is the http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161252

Now if i went with a slimer card like this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102804

do you guys think that would work ? I think my PC may give me that much room to work with if it was a slimer singleslot card. are there any better options than that? its only $10 more than the other, better than$400 upgradeing

evilmudbug

lol don't feel bad about it, who would have known my computer was backwards.... oh wait i should have. heheh. but oh well now i know something for the future. I ordered this card and it should be here friday http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102792 someone in the customer reviews had a E521 and the card worked for them and they played GTA 4 on it so i'm going to keep my fingers crossed this one works. I really want my pc to be ready for dawn of war 2evilmudbug

the card came in today and i loaded it up. its great, i played the dow 2 beta on highest resolution on ultra no lag. now i'm ready woohoo!evilmudbug