Old Dell

ok i have an old dell demnsion 2300 it has MS Windows xp sp2 Intel Celeron 1.70GHz 512MB RAM NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500(i prolly messed that up but work with me) i want to get a little more out of it, maybe overclock? or is there something else i can use, i am getting VERY low FPS when playing games and would like more.

 

You have several low end factors here that are combining for pretty low specs. Unfortunately, there is no one single thing that can be done here. Double the RAM to 1gb would be a good start. If you could get a Pentium 4 over 2.0ghz, that would be great too. And the video is lacking too..... Start with doubling the RAM and see how that goes. RAM is pretty cheap these days.

 

ok ty but i really cant find pc100 or pc133, well i can but nothing over 256mb, its pretty expensive anyother place though, and a new cpu i dont think wouldbe worth it, im thinking of just getting a new barebones kit, ty for ur help or if u have an other advice i NEED it.

 

i have priced out a sort of barebones for under $300, case w/psu, mobo (micro atx, with on board video, but also pci express), amd x2 cpu, and 1gb ram...
all on new egg.

 

512 RAM could be a lot of the lag issues. I recommend a visit to www.crucial.com and have it analyze your PC, and recommend RAM upgrade. It is very inexpensive. I was previously at 512RAM, and upgraded to 2G RAM for $100. Major improvement in gaming. FPS quadrupled!

 

I dont know what your financial situation is but you can get a reasonably cheap computer (300-500) that includes dual core RAM over 2GHz and close to 3GHz sometimes. They also come with better graphics cards due to the increased demand for gaming computers. Most of the new ones generally come with at least 1G of RAM to start with and have additional slots so you can add more later on. You can either go through the major manufacturers (Dell, Gateway, etc.) or build your own as suggested by thesmokinggun above. A little research and pricing comparison will generally save you money over the major manufacturers. Then again you generally get some kind of support and warranty for a system from a major manufacturer, when you build your own each part is warrantied separately and might not be covered as long. Personally I will build my next computer so that I know I am getting EXACTLY what I want. Dream machine is over 10K.....never going to happen...lol.

 

geez 10k i looked at tiger direct and seen a system i ant to get but its only like 800 tops (no moniter) with a 3.2 ghz CPU and 4 gigs of ram and the new 8800 nivida card 1.2 terra byte hd and a sweet case with 2 extra fans ans lights and such. but i want to get my old dell up to date for my family if i get a new comp but i still want to for me for now. i just really need help finding thing , i found 2 1gig RAM sticks, and im still looking for a new CPU, higer that 2ghz perfebly wat 2.5 at least but.... if anyone nos where i can get would like to no and thanks in advance.