Video card for 1280x1024

[gmaster456]

What do you need SB for? A Pentium D should be fine for general computer use and those games. I have a Dimension E521 with an X2 5200+ with a 9600GT and it does me fine.

9600GT/GT240/4670/5670//6570/6670 should all work.

As I recall, Athlon X2 was also a lot faster than Pentium D.

 

[Magic Carpet]

it takes like 5 minutes for word to load up.

90nm tech is old af.

time to upgrade

I have a Pentium 3 box (130 nm tech) that loads up Word in a second. Your point? ;-p

Pentium D is decent for general computing tasks, when set-up properly.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I have a Pentium 3 box (130 nm tech) that loads up Word in a second. Your point? ;-p

Pentium D is decent for general computing tasks, when set-up properly.

its in a dell soooo.

and plus the HDD is slow af

 

[gmaster456]

Pentium D is decent for general computing tasks, when set-up properly.

Its still a pain in the ass to use for even mild multitasking. Its also hot and even a bit power hungry.

 

[stahlhart]

If it's a retail Dell build, could you provide a model number?

 

[toyota]

If it's a retail Dell build, could you provide a model number?

Dell could have numerous configurations on the same model number.

 

[Magic Carpet]

its in a dell soooo.

and plus the HDD is slow af

Dell? so what? -

Your system just needs some maintenance, perhaps a hard-drive upgrade could solve all your issues. Maybe add some RAM. OS reinstall is a must.

And you want it on the cheap?

There is no other option my friend. Points at eBay and / or friends garage/basement.

 

[tweakboy]

Buy a 8800 GT or 9800 GT for like 50 bucks. At that resolution you can pump up all the graphics settings,, and get 100fps , at all times,,,, enjoy,, check ebay for dat,, gl

As long as I get 30 fps

edit: AS CHEAP AS POSSIBLE XD

Sorry for the lack of text.

I got a pos computer and I'm gonna upgrade to a sb build. Just wanted to know what I'd be needing to run some casual games. Ex: tf2 mine craft. Etc
Sent from Galaxy Nexus

 

[gmaster456]

Buy a 8800 GT or 9800 GT for like 50 bucks. At that resolution you can pump up all the graphics settings,, and get 100fps , at all times,,,, enjoy,, check ebay for dat,, gl

With a 305w OEM PSU?

 

[toyota]

Buy a 8800 GT or 9800 GT for like 50 bucks. At that resolution you can pump up all the graphics settings,, and get 100fps , at all times,,,, enjoy,, check ebay for dat,, gl

why do say such silly things? for one thing a Pentium D is not going to let him get 100 fps in modern games no matter what gpu he gets. and an 8800gt most certainly cannot get 100 fps in newer games with all settings cranked unless you are only referring to Minecraft.

 

[stahlhart]

Dell could have numerous configurations on the same model number.

True -- but "pos computer" doesn't tell me if a GPU slot is even available, and if it is, whether it's AGP or PCIe. Isn't Pentium D right about 2005/2006 vintage, right around the time the slots started changing over?

Oh, wait -- 2005-2008. Never mind.

Looks like this one: http://www.ascendtech.us/dell-dimension-e520-motherboard-wg864_i_mb4delwg864.aspx

 

[peonyu]

Ebay is your friend in these situations.

A HD 4850 can be had for as little as $20 [more commonly 30-40 though] on there these days and it will *smoke* other cards in the same price range easily. If your lucky you might even snag a 4870 for that price.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Ebay is your friend in these situations.

A HD 4850 can be had for as little as $20 [more commonly 30-40 though] on there these days and it will *smoke* other cards in the same price range easily. If your lucky you might even snag a 4870 for that price.

ill look into it

 

[frozentundra123456]

Didnt he say the graphics card is for the new SB build? If by this he means an i3 or up, I would think it would be a waste not to have at least a 6770. Why limit yourself in such a nice rig?

But yes the GT240 or 5670 would be good recommendations for the requirements he stated. I also agree with the 9800 GT option. I have one of the low power versions running at 1440x900 and can play most any game I have tried at med to high settngs. in fact I think most games now are CPU limited by by E4500.
If he got a low power 9800GT he could use it in the Dell if it is PCI-E until the new build is ready.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

i might do a slight upgrade

add new PSU
add GPU
EDIT: i need more monizzzzze


current specs of this pos is:

 

[Magic Carpet]

You have a kick-ass computer, Yam. No pan intended.

Dual channel DDR2 should be plenty for general computing. How much RAM there is? You want at least 1 GiG. Depending on your BIOS, you could drop-in a cheap Core 2 Duo / Quad.

But cheapest for now:

OS Reinstall.

I don't see a problem why it takes you 5 minutes to fire up Word ;-p

 

[T_Yamamoto]

You have a kick-ass computer, Yam. No pan intended.

Dual channel DDR2 should be plenty for general computing. How much RAM there is? You want at least 1 GiG. Depending on your BIOS, you could drop-in a cheap Core 2 Duo / Quad.

But cheapest for now:

OS Reinstall.

I don't see a problem why it takes you 5 minutes to fire up Word ;-p

512mb x2 LOL
JUST 1 gig of ram

i did an os reinstall. didnt do jack

i think my hdd is slow af.

probably gonna upgrade to sb.
with no gpu

 

[stahlhart]

i think my hdd is slow af.

Yeah, they typically don't put the fastest ones in at the factory. You've got extra SATA ports, so you could probably throw an SSD that supports garbage collection in and make that your boot drive -- though I think you start getting into good money after bad at that point, and you'd probably be better off upgrading, if it's your only PC.

edit: you'll need to do some prep work for an XP install -- http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2216024

 

[Magic Carpet]

512mb x2 LOL
JUST 1 gig of ram

i did an os reinstall. didnt do jack

i think my hdd is slow af.

probably gonna upgrade to sb.
with no gpu

In which case, the culprit is your IO system, more specifically the hard drive. Get a new one if you can. It could be re-used in your future (SB) system too. A win-win situation

1 GiG is plenty for XP w/ anti-virus and light gaming. No point to invest in DDR2 anymore.

2) Also... there could be a software issue with your system drivers. Can you run a HD Tune test? Give use READs/WRITEs/AVERAGE/s and LATENCY. Print screen the results.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

In which case, the culprit is your IO system, more specifically the hard drive. Get a new one if you can. It could be re-used in your future (SB) system too. A win-win situation

1 GiG is plenty for XP w/ anti-virus and light gaming. No point to invest in DDR2 anymore.

2) Also... there could be a software issue with your system drivers. Can you run a HD Tune test? Give use READs/WRITEs/AVERAGE/s and LATENCY. Print screen the results.

HDD+win7.

got it

will post results later

 

[T_Yamamoto]

this?

 

[Magic Carpet]

Yes, thanks.

These spikes are not good. Hmm.

 

[DominionSeraph]

this?

Were you doing something in the background when testing? It starts off fine but then holy shit.

For comparison, here's MY Dell:

(3rd attempt. First two looked horrible since Microsoft Security Essentials seemed to be scanning what HDTune was doing and was giving me spikes all over the place.)

 

[Magic Carpet]

My verdict:

This is a fine storage drive but to really enhance your experience, you need something faster. That latency is huuuuuuuge. Going to Sandy Bridge without changing this drive, won't do you anything. You could also try updating your chipset drivers but I doubt that's gonna help.

Here is the #1 link and #2 link. Cost you nothing to try.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Were you doing something in the background when testing? It starts off fine but then holy shit.

For comparison, here's MY Dell:

(3rd attempt. First two looked horrible since Microsoft Security Essentials seemed to be scanning what HDTune was doing and was giving me spikes all over the place.)

ran it again, i was using firefox. lol