Upgrading a dell...any suggestions?

Hey everyone. I have a Dell Dimension 2350 (crappy computer I know). I would really like to upgrade it a little bit. It was running really really slowly but I read the thread about disabling uneeded XP services and that helped a lot. I'm not much of a gamer, I only play Battlefield 1942 and Call Of Duty and I have to have everything on its lowest setting for those to work properly. However, frequently I have lots of programs open at a time (7-8) and applications load slowly and performance goes way down.
I was thinking of just upgrading the memory either 256mb or 512mb. Would the 512 be worth it or do I need to get a new processor for it to make a difference. Keep in mind that I'm very tight on budget and I only want a minimal upgrade, nothing drastic.
Also, I read on here a post by someone (MajorAttitude I think) where they reccomended formatting windows and then

 

sorry, I accidentaly posted before i was done.
Here's Pt. II...

reccomended formatting windows and then uninstalling all of the crap programs and services that dell installs. I'd rather not format everything, but would this be worth it? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

upgrading the RAM will give you more of a performance boost than a CPU upgrade ... also a cheap video card might help lift the burden of the video memory off of your system RAM (if you have the GPU built into your motherboard)

 

Right now I have 256 MBs of RAM and a 20 gb hard drive. My processor is 2100 MHZ I think. I'm not really looking for a drastic CPU upgrade, I'd just like to have programs open and load faster, have the ability to have lots of programs open, and maybe some increased performance when I play BF 1942. Thanks everyone.

 

You're going to help performance with the extra memory - 512 should be enough. If you're looking for gaming, you must eventually get away from the onboard graphics and buy a stand alone card from either ATI or NVIDIA. Onboard graphics just do not stand a chance with today's games!

 

Be sure, before you buy any extra RAM, that you know what your machine takes and in what configuration. A good way to figure out is to go to www.crucial.com and put your make and model PC in their configurator. You wouldn't want to buy a stick of RAM only to find out you have to remove one that's already in there if that's not what you were expecting. As has been mentioned, you might end up upgrading your RAM only to find the real gaming bottleneck you're suffering is the onboard graphics controller. I have a couple Dell P4-2.4Ghz 400SCs that have 512MB each, and they won't begin to play some graphics-intensive games with their onboard graphics-- at least a 128MB video card is necessary.

 

Oh, and to answer your question about reformatting the PC. The answer is YES. I've got a feeling that this PC may have a lot of clutter because it's an old machine. If you can spare the time to do it.... then yes, reformat - there is nothing quite like a fresh copy of windows.

 

I agree. It's a fresh start, you will be glad you took the time to do it.

Steve

 

Thank you everyone for your help. I think I'll go with the 512mb upgrade and eventually get a new video card. This summer I'll probably look at reformatting. It's going to take me hours and hours though. I've got about 14 gbs of music on here and I'd have to put that all on backup, plus reinstall all my programs and all their patches. Is there a way to format and still keep your files? If so, would it be as effective as returning to a fresh copy of windows? I love that feeling after your format it though, like you just bought it and it has yet to be tainted with thousands of programs and files. Thanks again.

 

well .. when you reformat you might consider making two partitions and keeping all your documents(mp3s, etc) on one of them ... then if you get too much much garbage you need only to format your boot partition and not have to put your files back on you computer ... I have seperate HDDs for different types of files and programs

as always you should have a back up and reformatting everything is a good excuse to do so

 

yes back in the day i used to have a dell computer, and ran onboard gfx. it was a 4600, so it actually did ok in games like cs 1.6, and mohaa. if your computer is anything like my old one, the onboard gfx card should be ok atleast for mohaa, but with a 2350 cs 1.6 may be pushing it, i agree with everyone else just upgrade the ram to 512. just make sure you dont buy anything over pc 2700 because i dont think that the dell would support any thing faster. and i think the easyest way to reformat without loosing ur valued files would be to lan with one of your buddys, and transfer the files to there computer while your running the overhaul on old faithful. thats what i would do. lemme know how everything turns out.

 

The Dell Dimension 2350 only takes up to PC2100.

 

Hey everyone. Right now this computer is on our home network, and we have two other computers hooked up to it. I was wondering if it's possible to transfer my mp3s and other files through the network to one of the other computers and then back again. I'm sure it is, but I'm not sure how to go about it.

 

yeah first you have to make sure that your computer has a folder that is being shared on the network, then move all of your wanted files into the folder. then just go to your other computer,and copy all the files. it shouldnt take too long.

if your having trouble sharing folders on your network you can just log on to windows messenger on both computers and send them through that, you will still get lan speed transfer, but it will just take a little more shuffling around between computers.

 

How would I find a folder that's shared by all the computers? This computer has XP and the one I want to move all the files to has ME. Will this make a difference?

 

as far as the file types no, but the sharing thing im not sure of. if you can see your alternate computers in my network places you "should" be ok, just right click on the folder you want to share > properties > sharing > and click the tab that says share this folder on the network. then you jus have to go and see if the folder shows up on the other computer. if not then your either gonna have to wait for one of the big guns to reply to this thread, or just do like i said earlier and run messenger on both comps and transfer that way.

i hope ive been of some help, but if not then im sure someone with more know how will be in here soon.

 

Thanks encrypt for your help. I'm transffering all the files via AIM.
I've also decided to upgrade my graphics card quite soon. Does anyone here have any suggestions for one that's around 100-150? Also, is it safe to buy these things on ebay or should they be brand new? Thanks everyone.

 

As far as a video card goes, I don't think you can go wrong with an Nvidia 6600 GT for about $150. Try here


Be wary of ebay - especially if you're purchasing a used card. People love to overclock the living heck out of video cards and then put em up on ebay afterwards. (I'm not an ebay fan, so maybe someone else has more advice to you on that!)

 

Be aware the Dimension 2350 has no AGP slot-- only PCI.

 

Nice catch! Nevermind on that 6600 GT

 

I don't think the Dimension 2350, the 2400, nor their successors have the oomph to be serious (or even semi-serious) gaming machines, no matter what after-market peripherals or upgrades you throw at them. You need at least something in the 4350 or 4500, and up area.

 

Well I'm not really looking for a serious game machine, I'm not a serious gamer. All I'd like is for the computer to run higher graphic games (Call Of Duty, Battlefield 1942) on medium settings without slowing down a whole lot. Right now COD and BF 1942 run relatively smooth on low ping servers and the lowest sound and graphical settings. I'd like to get a little boost to make the games prettier. If I bought a NEW (in the box or barely used) card would it be ok or should I get one that's never been used before?

 

Again, be wary of people with slightly used cards. I personally don't trust them, but then again others around here may have had some luck with them!

 

here we go radeon 9250...this is the card for you my man.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102434