Looking to upgrade my E510

Last question first:

A video card is the slang term for video graphics adapter card. Formerly known as (V)ideo (G)raphics (A)rray.  Graphics cards have come a long way over the years but no, there is no difference between a video card and a graphics card as far as namesake.

Forward to compatibility:

Yes, the parts you have chosen are compatible with the E510, but will not perform to their highest design specifications and here is why.

The Dimension E510 was an entry level desktop computer in the day and designed to be a general purpose word processor, email client, overall "general" desktop computer. It was designed to run with a 32bit operating system with anywhere between 512Mb to 2Gb system ram.

Will it work with modern parts and current Windows 8.1 or Linux? Yes, it will but why? If you happen to have the parts from your list in your current inventory and want to try it, go for it. In my opinion though, I would not invest a penny into the system at all. This is not to say grandma's computer is not worth it, but more because the technology is outdated. For the same money that the parts in your list cost, you could do better with using that computer as is, and saving a little longer. You can build a gaming rig for under $500 USD today that will absolutely thrash the Dimension E510.

Just my humble opinion, and best of luck with your decision.

I haven't purchased any of the parts from the list yet. I wanted to gather as much info as I could before buying anything. If I were to build a gaming rig that powerful, could I still use it for regular everyday things, without sacrificing some of it's gaming power?? I feel like it's a silly question, but I like to have all the info I can gather.

E510 does not support Core2 duo. 

The Pressler vs Smithfield can do LAHF and SAHF as well as CMPExchange16 which means it works fine if you have a 900 series Pentium D.  That means you can run 64 bit windows 7 or 8 or 10 just fine.  Max useable ram will always be 3.25 gigs regardless of cpu or os being 64 bit or not.  This is a chipset limit.

The 5150/E510 can do this(with caveats like Bios A07 and the Copper Heatpipe Heatsink Exactly the same as the GX620. Motherboard Version 0HJ054 supports the Pentium D without issues up to 945..E510  from Oct 06. The Pentium D 915 is the universal CPU which works in Tower or even low profile or SFF or USFF when it has the copper performance heatsink.

Description	Supported OS	Download
Dell Dimension System BIOS, A07 Dell DM051 A07 System BIOSMore details	BIOS

On older GX320,330, 360, 520,620,745,755,760,780 and Precision 380 or T3400 a bios update may be required for Pentium D 900 series to work.  An additional kink is that Early 5150 models need Bios A07 and they will stop on Unsupported processor Press F1 to continue.  Other than having to press F1 it works fine.  I'm running 64 bit windows 10 on one right now. The crossover machines were the Mr Smith Mini Tower GX280's  They look just like the GX620 but the board in them is older.         

Description	Supported OS	Download
SIGMATEL STAC 92XX C-Major HD Audio, v.6.10.0.5343, A02 Sigmatel STAC92XX C-Major HD Audio DriverMore details	Windows Vista 32-bit Windows Vista 64-bit
SIGMATEL STAC 92XX C-Major HD Audio, v.5.10.0.4823, A05 Sigmatel STAC92XX C-Major HD Audio DriverMore details	Windows XP Windows 2000 Windows XP x64

I got my 8.1 pro upgrade back when it was $38.  If they want that they should buy it immediately because there will not be any in the future.

WINDOWS 8.0 is depricated and the Purple box 8.1 home and Blue Box 8.1 pro are the available everywhere retail options.

After Oct 31 2015 8.x may be gone forever as well being replaced by Windows 10.

Pentium D 915's are very cheap as is the copper heatsink.  The ram and windows license are the expensive parts.  You update the bios to latest then change the CPU and replace the thermal paste.  The Dual core pentium D is an improvement. 

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=pentium%20d%20915

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Precision-380-390-T3400-XPS-400-CPU-Cool-Copper-Processor-Heatsink-Shroud-X9694-/131310107549

I have to agree it isn't worth investing in an E510 unless it involves really low-cost upgrades purchased off of eBay, and when I saw "low cost" I mean investing $10 to $30 US dollars maybe for a memory upgrade to 4GB or maybe a CPU upgrade to get to a Core 2 Duo.

I'm not sure the BIOS will support a core 2 Duo so it may not POST.

But, an E510 will never be a gaming machine.

And, to answer your question, gaming systems work fine for everyday uses like surfing, using office automation tools etc.

A decent gaming system has a faster (much, much, much faster) graphics card, 8GB of RAM, and a fast quad core CPU or very fast dual core CPU.

There is a website called "logical increments".  google it and read through it. I don't agree with all of their specific recommendations, but I like how they group equally matched parts together at a specific price point and then describe how it will play several games at different screen resolution.

over-spending on one component to find it can't perform as advertised due to the limitations of other components is really helpful, and likewise, under spending on one component and later finding out it drags down the entire system suffer is perhaps worse.

So, back to the E510.  If it is a P4 3.0GHz with hyperthreading, it will serve a decent small linux server. Even with 2GB of RAM running Ubuntu or one of the light Linux distros is possible. It can host a minecraft server for 1 to 2 users on a LAN or be a file server for shared storage. It is a great platform when the hardware is"free" to experiment with linux, I ran ubuntu 12.04 on a P3 3.0 Ghz Dell 5150 for several years until I upgraded it. It was OK, just not very fast compared to a modern (eg, built in the past few years) CPU and motherboard. 

Good Luck !

E510 does not support Core2 duo.

Thank you. 

Getting a Newer Dell Tower or Precision 380 or better is usually the better way to go.  The upgrade info was provided however because some cannot scrape together even $100 to buy a newer Dell.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121439

The  Asus EAH6450 is not horribly expensive nor is the Pentium D 900 Series Processor and copper heatsink. Both of these can be used on newer models like the Precision 380. The other reason to go with that model is that the ram from the old unit can be used as well as the CPU and Any Video card you buy.

So investing in those parts is still cheaper than buying new.  But if you go up to at least $100 you can get a newer Dell with Windows 7 from walmart.

I managed to upgrade my E510.

Pentium D 915        $5 free shipping from amazon when ordered with Windows 8 pro upgrade $50.

The heatsink was also ordered at the same time and was $14.

The 1 Gig PC2 6400 DDR ram sticks were $6 each at a cost of $32 aka there was shipping involved.

The EAH6450 was $40 with $10 rebate from Newegg.

There was a huge difference between old and upgraded.

I ended up moving the Ram and Video card to a used Precision 3400 that had Core2 duo cpu that I got for $89 at my local used PC Shop.

I then installed XP Pro and Ubuntu 12.04.5 LTS  Side By Side on the E510 and gave it away.

they are the same. The driver for video card or display card are the same driver. Display driver is for the display. you can update drivers here: http://www.driversweb.net

VIDEO CARD: ATI Radeon HD 4670

That card is dated, but it is better than what the E510 shipped with. Regarding Windows, you can get Windows 8 upgrades for under $100, and they will qualify for a free upgrade to Windows 10 in July.

Windows 8.1 (non-pro) can be had for under $100 on sale from Newegg.

The SSD will make a big difference; I upgraded an E510 with one, and the owner said it was like having a new computer.