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January 12th, 2014 16:00
I need advice on upgrading my Dimension e521
So about a year ago I was at a yard sale and mentioned to the seller I was interested in finding a computer; luck would have it his mother had just passed away and he wanted to get rid of her Dell Dimension e521 and he sold it to me for 50 bucks. This has been a great investment, but I really want more out of my computer.
Instead of shelling out money for a new computer, I figured I would just upgrade my e521. Here is what I have, and then what I want to add:
Current system: Dell Dimension e521 w/ AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core processor 3600+ 1.90 GHz, 1.5 gb RAM, running Windows Vista 32 bit, 138 gb HDD
What I plan to add:
Corsair Builder Series CX 500 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS (CX500,
VisionTek ATI Radeon HD 4670 1 GB DDR3 PCI Express Graphics Card 900251,
Crucial CT2CP25664AA667 4GB (2GBx2) 240-pin DIMM DDR2 PC2-5300 Memory Module (two of these to equal 8 gb total),
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (OEM) System Builder DVD 1 Pack,
Kingston HyperX 3K 120 GB SATA III 2.5-Inch 6.0 Gb/s Solid State Drive SH103S3/120G
I have been doing research all day and I feel this is the way to go, but I'm not as technically inclined as others and would like input on incompatibility issues, better options, or anything I may be leaving out. According to Amazon, this is about 350-400 dollar investment, so I wanted some input before I dive headfirst into this. There is nothing more frustrating than dropping all that money and ending up with something useless. I should probably add that I plan on doing some casual gaming on my computer, and mostly use it for photo/video editing and internet. Any advice is greatly appreciated!
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Mary G
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January 12th, 2014 16:00
What you've listed would make the finished computer cost more than if you bought a new one and would not improve performance much if at all. You can get a $300- $400 computer that will run rings around an upgraded obsolete e521 with the same old hardware and motherboard and slow cpu. BTW, you do not need a system builder version of windows 7. An upgrade version is cheaper. Also you cannot use 8gb of memory since the max is 4gb. Crucial is the best place to get memory compatible with Dell computers. They say this-- Memory Type: DDR2 PC2-5300, DDR2 (non-ECC)
Maximum Memory: 4GB Slots: 4 http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=Dimension%20E521&Cat=RAM
Finally it would be a waste of money to put a ssd in this 7 yr old model. The best advice is to use it as is until you can buy a new computer.
rdunnill
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January 12th, 2014 20:00
The power supply is not needed if the original one is in good working order and the video card is hugely obsolete. In fact, this weekend, I discovered that the reason my OptiPlex 320 wouldn't boot is that the 4650 video card was somehow incompatible; installing a new budget Sapphire 6450 corrected that. The Sapphire is only $40-ish before a $10 mail-in rebate.
8gb of RAM is an extravagence; 2gb is recommended for Win7 x64 and 4gb is better.
The SSD will make a huge difference in performance and in some ways your E521 will handily outperform new low-end offerings equipped with spindle drives. The spindle drive is a major bottleneck, eliminated by an SSD, and even a Core i7 will drag from that (and I've had to put up with such dragging Core i7s). No matter how fast the CPU, if the machine is thrashing, it will have the throughput of a Dick Tracy watch.
Last year, I upgraded an E510, equipped with a slower CPU than yours has, with an SSD, 2gb of RAM and Windows 7 x64; the owner was delighted and said the results were like having a new computer for hundreds of dollars less than what a new one would cost. Remember, the $400 budget computers come with low-end Celeron CPUs, wimpy integrated graphics and sluggish spindle drives.
sw33ti310
2 Posts
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March 16th, 2014 20:00
Hi!
Can you please help me? I have been looking everywhere for information about compatibility and/or best upgrades for a dell dimension e521 and everything is 2-3+ years old. I really can't spend money on a brand new computer, plus this one works fine with most engineering applications I need for school. I really want to upgrade the way the computer runs SolidWorks and League of Legends, both are pretty graphics intensive.
I have put in a 120 GB SSD and upgraded the memory to 4gb. This really improved the computer. Now I am looking to upgrade the video card, and/or the cpu but I'm having issues figuring out what is the best way to go while avoiding bottle necking.
So I am looking at graphics:
Sapphire Radeon HD 6450 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102933)
and I'm looking at 2 choices for cpu:
AMD Athlon X2 340 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113330)
AMD Athlon X2 370K (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113336)
Do you think these would work? Do you know of any better alternatives? Or is it just kind of useless?
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!
shesagordie
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March 16th, 2014 22:00
sw33ti310
No, as both the AMD Athlon X2 370K and the AMD Athlon X2 340 require a Socket FM2 motherboard, the E521 motherboard has a Socket AM2.
There are no better alternatives, as the Socket AM2 is EOL and obsolete, the maximum processor upgrade is the Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 89W 3.0Ghz Windsor.
Prior to installing the processor, check that you have the latest BIOS version 1.1.11 installed, with BIOS version 1.1.4 support for AMD was added.
The SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6450 1GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card should work fine in the Dimension E521.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102933
Bev.
rdunnill
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March 16th, 2014 23:00
shesagordie
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March 16th, 2014 23:00
sw33ti310
You are welcome.
Bev.
sw33ti310
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March 16th, 2014 23:00
You got it totally right, I want to be able to play league as well as work on my 3D CAD modeling for school. Thank you so much for your suggestions! I can see from the previous response (thank you Bev!) that upgrading the cpu might be more trouble/money than it's worth. Since I'll only be looking for a graphics card now, perhaps I can spend a little more on it. I'm really working with a 100-150 budget right now :/.... Is there anything you can suggest in that price range? I've been searching for AMD 7750 and NVidia 750 ti and am a bit overwhelmed by the results.
rdunnill
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March 17th, 2014 20:00
The R7 250 is almost as quick as the 7750, which seems to be out of production.