Dimension 3000 upgrades? What can i get?

Theres not too much you can do with it to make it a modern computer, it is pretty old (~2004).

To make it modern you would end up having to replace everything i.e. would be better off getting a new computer.

For minor upgrades:

Maximum memory is 2 GB see here   but it supports only DDR RAM. Most recommended upgrade, scan your system.

Hard drive can be upgraded, it requires a EIDE Hard Drive. Here  is a part on Dell Parts and Upgrades but you may find it elsewhere.

You could probably install a PCI Video Card, see Service Manual for instructions. Here  is a part on Dell Parts and Upgrades but you may find comparable parts elsewhere.

There are no drivers for Windows Vista and hence none for Windows 7 available on the Drivers and Downloads page so I would not recommend an Operating System Upgrade either.

Again price the parts and see how much they sum to but I personally would save for a new machine. The fabove upgrades will make the machine better but it still won't compare to a modern PC such as the XPS 8500.

The 3000 is standard micro-ATX, apart from the front audio panel and a ninth non-standard lead on the front panel USB connector. The case is sturdy sheetmetal and has good airflow, and more importantly, unlike the newer Dells like the XPS 7100 (which accept ATX power supplies no longer than 5.9 inches), will take any standard ATX power supply.

As has been said, you'd have to replace most of the innards, but dollar for dollar you'd get a better machine than a $300 entry level special (which likely will have a very low end CPU ) or a used 775. I put a Gigabyte 1155 in my 3000 case coupled with a Core i3 CPU and it was very snappy, and as a bonus it ran MacOS 10.6.8 Snow Leopard.

If you're really ambitious, you could rewire the front audio for a standard 2x10 connector like I did -- the audio port is standard Azalea.

Edit: I wouldn't recommend adding upgrades to a stock 3000, because they're expensive and the mainboard is dated. Something like this ASRock 1155 with SATA 6gbps and USB 3 for $60 is a screaming budget deal and the foundation of a modern and speedy machine. Even some of the higher end new PCs don't have SATA 6gbps or USB 3, and the former is very important for maximum benefit from the increasingly popular SSDs that are supplanting traditional hard drives.

I've completed the following upgrades to my Dell Dimension 3000:

Replaced the two original 256 MB DDR 400 memory modules with two 1 GB DDR 400 memory modules, for the maximum 2GB the technical specifications indicate this computer will support (the chipset specs say that 4GB is supported, but never tried to do that).

Replaced the original 3.0 GHz Pentium 4 800 MHz FSB 1MB L2 cache processor with a 3.4 GHz Pentium 4 800 MHz FSB 1MB L2 cache processor.  About the only other processor that MIGHT work is the 3.4 GHz Pentium 4 800 MHz FSB 2MB L2 cache 'Extreme Edition' processor, but I have not tried it, and they seem to be very expensive in the Socket 478 version, which is required for this motherboard.  (The chipset specs say that the 'Extreme Edition Pentium 4 processors are supported.)

Replaced the original 40 GB Hard disk drive with 2 Western Digital 500 GB 7200 rpm 16 MB cache UDMA (100 MBps) EIDE hard drives.  The second drive required a bracket from Dell to be able to mount.

Replaced the original CD-RW optical drive with two standard DVD-RAM CD-RW optical drives.

Added a 3.5 inch floppy drive.

Added the VisionTek 3450 512 MB PCI Video Card and disabled the on board graphics.

I plan on adding a TV Tuner card and a 5.1 digital sound card in order to turn this computer into a home media computer to play DVDs and record off-air HDTV, like a DVR.

In dollars, how much did all that cost? I am looking to upgrade my Dimension3000 for my daughter and I am trying to budget money.

DDR Ram costs 2X to 4X what DDR2 or DDR3 does now.  (4 gigs of DDR 800 can cost $400) :emotion-9:

Hard Drives are in the $99 range.

PCI Video cards are in the $50 to $129 range.  And 20 times Slower than PCI-E cards that COST LESS.

Newer systems Like the Optiplex 620 Tower can be had for $99 with Faster CPU and DDR2 Ram.

In dollars, how much did all that cost? I am looking to upgrade my Dimension3000 for my daughter and I am trying to budget money.

Probably at least $350 -- for that kind of money, you could install a newer mainboard (like the ASRock 1155 I pointed out earlier), a Core i3 CPU, 8gb DDR3 memory, a new SATA hard drive, and a SATA DVD burner.

Where did you buy all the parts from? I have the 3000 and I would like to make some upgrades to it.

Thanks!

You can buy the CPU on eBay. The rest of the parts are standard and available from vendors like Newegg.

If you're going to upgrade the drives, you might consider a four-port SATA adapter like this: www.newegg.com/.../Product.aspx