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Turning a Dell 530N into a gaming machine

R

Raybdbomb

Senior member
So I see all these deals on a Dell Inspiron 530N, preloaded with Ubuntu (http://dell.com/linux). I'd like to buy one and trick it out to play some games.

I plan to buy it with the base system, with these exceptions:
cheapest graphics card graphics card as possible.
no display
low amount of RAM
upgraded CPU to Core 2 Duo (E4300)

The price is $400.

I have $1000 total, so I have $600 for the rest.

What I need (please provide examples if you answer):
4GB (2x2GB) RAM (what kind am I looking for?)
A good 19" LCD
A good graphics card (what's my best option here?)
Speakers

Any help or speculation is appreciated.

TIA!
 
Link needs fixin.

Using current Newegg prices $600 budget might not allow an 8800gts 320mb vid card (considered the current best value gaming card) with the rest of the system as it will put you down ~$250-$300.
4gb of RAM ~$200
leaving you $100-$150 for a monitor + speakers.

Consider the speaker deal stolen from Hot Deals, it used to be $30 AR, but it's now $50 AR:
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm...m/ccd/productDetail.do

Haven't been in the loop with monitors so I'll leave that hole to be filled.
 
You might be better off just building the whole thing from scratch. It will give you better value since you can OC the processor if you buy a decent motherboard.
Gigabyte S3 $70
E4400 $115
PSU $70
Case $50
Mouse/KB $50
Total: $355 plus stuff I might've overlooked
This will allow you to OC to 3ghz easily though. You can always go up to the DS3 or higher mobo if you want.

4GB DDR2 $150-175. You will need a x64 OS to use this though. I would stick with 2GB RAM and get a 320MB GTS. Anything higher is kinda wasted on a 19" LCD.
 
From the looks of the system, I would bet the Insp 530 will NOT fit dual slot video cards.

If you want to do this, I highly recommend you pick up a refurb XPS 410, especially if you want to play games. The XPS 410 supports (and fits) dual slot video cards. Their mid-level systems do not, they only fit single slot video cards (7950 GT, 8600 series). The XPS 410 also has a better stock power supply, dual 12V rails at 18A. Its enough to power an 8800 GTX.

Edit: Yeah...

http://support.dell.com/suppor...530/EN/OM/bristo86.jpg

Remember this is like a BTX design, and the video card is installed with the HSF up. A dual slot card won't fit in the Insp 530.
 
I'm ok building it from scratch, but not for purposes of overclocking.

Yea that Dell is pretty ugly too.

So OK I'll build it from scratch. Now I need some specifics with those price quotes you gave. 🙂
 
Case is pretty much your choice and depends on how much you want to spend. You can't go wrong with a nice CM Stacker or Antec 180/Nine Hundred cases. As for PSU, pick up a 500-600w Seasonic, PCP&P, Enermax etc.
 
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