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Upgrading dell 4700/ Building new gaming rig
Hi Everyone, I'm posting yet again. So, $ issues have changed so I can't drop all the cash at once on a new decent budget gaming rig (OC Capable and decently future proof) right now. SO, I would like to build it piece by piece (or in affordable chunks) for as long as it takes, but I'd like to swap in certain parts as I get them into my current Dell 4700 w/ some upgrades (see specs below), so I still have home computer access, can game (I want to play Fallout 3 badly now), use the internet, etc. After my new rig is built, I'll give the Dell 4700 to my wife and kids to just use for their light gaming and general computer use. The problem is, of course, compatibility with the Dell 4700 (namely their MOBO and horrible case design), bottlenecking, etc. My question is where do I start with this whole process? I assumed I should buy the case first (to swap the Dell garbage since the Dell case is WAY to small for a new PSU and the newer GPU's) right up into and new PSU. But, the Dell MOBO is a micoATX board - will this still be able to go into a standard ATX midtower case or would it cause problems (too small for it?). I was considering an Antec 300 case. I'd also probably pick up a 500-550W power supply with the case. But again, would this be compatible with the Dell MOBO (and its BIOS). As money permits I would guess I would pick up and swap in the new CPU and Mobo, RAM, GPU, OS, Speakers, Monitor, network adapter - in that order? Am I on the right track with this so far? Once I had all the parts I'd build my new rig, rebuild the Dell 4700 for the fam to use and we'd finally be a 2 computer household. That's my plan anyway - Does this look feasible or are there incompatibilities I'm missing here or off on. Thank you so much for your help! JEFF PS: Just reference this is the standard Dell 4700 Specs Page: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4700/sm/specs.htm#wp1043338 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- System Specs Budget:Need everything, tight budget, bang for buck VGA:BFG 6600 GEFORCE (Upgrade) Monitor:15" LCD Dell issued MB:Dell issued Mobo, Intel Chipset 945G, I believe OS:Windows XP Pro 32-bit (Dell issued, linked to MOBO) Browser:Firefox 3 CPU:Intel Pentium 4 ,3.2 GHz (Dell issued) Sound:Soundblaster Live! 24-bit CPU Pps:NEW ONE GAMING, 4700 for general family use Memory:2 GB (unknown specifics- Upgraded 2 years ago) PSU:305W Dell issued Brand:none really HD:150 GB (Dell issued) Cooling:One Dell Case Fan Misc:These are the specs for my current refurbished Dell 4700 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeff
Davet50
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January 8th, 2009 10:00
Forget moving the motherboard as Dell motherboards are designed to fit only the case they come in. They are also propritary and unless you want to hackup a new case to fit the board you are better off just getting a new board.
Now not much of what you currently have would really be worth transfering over to a newer home built system. If your really going to go with a farily furture proof system then you would want to look at I7 boards which now run DDR3 ram.
You limited on just what you can put into your current rig. There is not really much to gain in the processor or ram department. You might be able to go with a bit higher end video card say perhaps a 8800Gt or 9800GT card with the addition of a new power supply. Now that would be one area where if you got one now it would transfer into the home built later. A 400W supply would be the minimum you should look at.