convert workstation to gaming dell 470

[Vaulter]

I have a dell precision workstation 470, and was wondering if i could turn this into a low quality gaming rig to play left 4 dead 2 and modern warfare 2 when they come out.

Current specs
SINGLE 3.2ghz/2mb L2/800fsb xeon (will be adding another hopefully)
4 GB pc2-3200 reg ecc RAM
80 GB SATA HDD (will be adding a 250gb harddrive soon, to be added to later)
PCI-E 16X & PCI-E 4X slots
128 mb ATI video PCI Express (comes next b4 pocessor)
has 6 DIMM slots, 16GB capable

another question is can i designate my redundant ram to the video card, making a lower quality one useable? Im not going to be playing crisis on high over here.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
See above

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
i dont have much money right now, just some simple upgrades till more, tell me how much i need to spend.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
USA

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
DGAF

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
See above

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
cant find much on the workstation aspect

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
can xeons be overclocked? if yes, then i will be overclocking them.

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.
Medium? Im not really a hardcore gamer at all.

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
between now and christmas.

 

[theevilsharpie]

I have a dell precision workstation 470, and was wondering if i could turn this into a low quality gaming rig to play left 4 dead 2 and modern warfare 2 when they come out.

Sure. You can use a modern video card, and the fact that the system is capable of support two dual-core Xeons means that fully loaded, it will be on par with a low-end quad-core. It will obviously never be a super-fast gaming machine, but it won't be slow either.

The big thing I'd be concerned with is power. Netburst Xeons consume a lot of power, and the power requirements of two Xeons with a mid-range to high-end video card may exceed what the PSU is capable of putting out.

Also, overclocking the system will be difficult. Not only do OEM workstations not have BIOS overclocking options, overclocking an SMP system and keeping it stable can be tricky.

another question is can i designate my redundant ram to the video card, making a lower quality one useable? Im not going to be playing crisis on high over here.

If the video card is PCI-e, it will already use system memory if the video card's onboard memory isn't sufficient. I doubt the performance will be acceptable to you, though.

 

[Vaulter]

Theres no way i can afford to put in 2 dual cores, i was just gunna let it be with 2 single cores. Like i said, i dont game much, i just wanna play left 4 dead and left 4 dead 2 with some friends. will this be sufficient?

 

[mpilchfamily]

Get a better video card in there and possibly a new PSU and your set.

 

[Vaulter]

Whats the cheapest graphics card i could get away with to play these games on about a medium quality. and ima want to play diablo 3 as well =] also, do you guys think i need more ram?

Edit: what about psu-s? i dont know anything lets say. Can i just drive down to frys and pick up this bad boy? http://www.frys.com/product/5086545 or what?

 

[mpilchfamily]

Your choice of video card will be what determines the PSU. If you get a low power card you may not need a new PSU. As for PSu selection just have a look at the games your playing. On the box or in the readme file will be a list of GPUs it supports. Pick one of the mid to high end ones in the list and your all set.

 

[eggrolls]

http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/precn/en/spec_precn_470_en.pdf

You have a 550W PSU. It's probably good enough.

 

[theevilsharpie]

http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/precn/en/spec_precn_470_en.pdf

You have a 550W PSU. It's probably good enough.

Dual-socket Netburst Xeons can easily take half of that.

 

[Vaulter]

Alright, truth is i havent actually bought the rig, but it seemed like a highly customizable, decent rig if later i wanted to turn it into a dual dual core system. Its for sale for 150, and need your guys opinion even moreso. i dont have much money as ive stated, so this is a jumping off point. buy it, yes or no.

Current computer
HP slimline mini tower thing (s7421c)
1 gig ram upgradeable to 2 i think, maybe 4?
1.7ghz "mobile" processor, cd/dvd burner
250gb hdd

i was going to take the burner and drive and put them in the new computer. another good thing is the pws470 takes really really cheap server ram, so i can easily bump up the amount, even though i heard ecc slows down loading times.