*HELP!* Need advice, want to get a 8800GT for my Dell 8400/Acer T180

[Lslarry876]

Hey everyone, I've been a long-time lurker and finally joined because I need advice on getting a 8800GT! My current gaming system is a dell 8400, P4 3.4, 1gb ram, 128mb X800 SE. I recently bought an Acer T180 (AMD X2 4000+, 1gb ram, integrated graphics) from the CC deal for my office, and am wondering if the 8800GT will be a better fit for the Dell or the Acer?

I think either way I'll need to upgrade the power supply, and I'm worried about cooling. The Dell 8400 has a 350w PS, and from what I hear, is underrated and might be able to handle the 8800GT. The Acer only has a 250w PS so I'm sure I'll have get a new one. Any good bang for the buck recommendations?

I'm also considering just biting the bullet and do a whole custom build from scratch, but was hoping I could use one of my existing systems. I've been stuck playing older games and finally want to play new stuff like Bioshock, Crysis, etc. I have a Dell 2405 as well so want to start playing at native res lol. Thanks in advance, would appreciate any advice.

Larry

 

[happy medium]

Grab the Acer with the duel core cpu ,and a new power supply. 450watts, 30 amp 12 volt +rail and your set.

 

[s44]

Only good "cheap" (under $50) PSUs are the Earthwatts that go on sale all the time at CompUSA and Fry's (and currently at the Egg). At a slightly higher price point you can get the Corsair VX450 or the Enhance 5150GH. The Dell should handle the GT though.

DDR2 is cheap, so pick up some more RAM while you're at it...

 

[Lslarry876]

Thanks for your replies guys, I'll check out those power supplies. I actually just jumped on 2 gigs of crucial ram for $20 AR, so they'll be going into both systems. I think I'll end up putting the 8800GT in the Acer because of Vista and DX10, the 8400 is still using XP. One thing that I miss from using brand name PCs is overclocking, which I'm pretty sure is impossible for both systems. Would it be feasible to get a bigger custom case with better cooling and just move all the components from the Acer over? I've read that the 8800GT is pretty long, and when I installed the x800se in the Acer case it barely fit, so that might be a problem. Thanks again guys.

 

[Lslarry876]

Hey guys, had another question and wanted some more advice. I decided against the 8800 GT for now because I think it will be overkill for the games I want to play. I'll be getting Hellgate London from the very generous KeithTalent on the forums, and wanted to play it smoothly. I don't think I'll be playing Crysis but I would still like to play Bioshock, World in Conflict, the Witcher, Oblivion, and other RPGs/Strategy games. My systems are still the same, however I upgraded both to 2 GBs of RAM. I've also picked up a Coolermaster Extreme Power 600W PS for the Acer. I might be able to pick up a PNY 256 MB 7900 GS for $75, and throw it into the Acer as well. I don't mind turning down the settings, as long as it's playable and looks good. Does this make sense, or should I wait for the new mid-range cards to drop in price, like the ATI HD 3850 or 8800 GS? Or should I consider other last generation cards like the X1950 Pro? I'm so confused lol, thanks in advance for the help.

 

[gpse]

I had a Dell 8400 (gave it to my brother), the Power supply wont support anything higher than a x1950Pro. I also had a P4 3.4GHz in mine, 2GB DDR2, and x1950Pro. After about a month with the x1950Pro I started to get issues with startup, turns out the power connector that goes into the mobo to provide the CPU with extra juice (4 pin) was going downhill. The connectors looked burnt, I guess the PSU didn't have enough power and it started to melt the wiring. If you want to upgrade the PSU in the Dell it isn't a standard PSU so you will need to modify the case and I think the actual connector to the mobo is physically different.

 

[Lslarry876]

Hey gpse it's funny you mention the PSU problem, I had the infamous blinking amber light of death in the 8400, I replaced it with another Dell PSU and it works fine now. I'm going to give up the 8400 as my gaming machine and switch it to the office, I think the Acer with the 4000 X2 would be better for gaming anyways. The other problem is that the Acer has Vista on it, and I HATE it, its so much slower and I've read that gaming performance suffers when compared to XP. Since I don't really care about DX10 I might just dual boot XP on here. I wish I could put more cooling as well, the Acer case is tiny and over-clocking is pretty much out of the question. Thanks again guys for the help and comments.