# Computer Headz Please help! Wanting to upgrade my PC



## 9361 (Jun 25, 2009)

Hello there. Well I have a 2004 Dell Deminsion 2350. It has done everything I've ever needed it to do before. Well my ol reliable is getting behind on times and as much as I'd love to just go blow cash on a brand new one.. I think upgrading would be my best bet.

Let me tell you about my system. It is a 2.00 gig processor, it has 256 mb of ram and a 30 gig hard drive and I operate Windows XP.

So I definietly need a bigger hard drive. My computer is freezing up a lot on firefox and I keep trying to delete programs and pictures and music but it is only a smidgen of what needs to be done. I have about 10 mb of free space.

So first things first, I need a bigger hard drive. I'm thinking anything from 160 to 400 would do it... which would be overkill! lol So probably around 250 gig

And ram.. well my computer is definitely out of date there! So I want to do 1 gb of ram. I could do 2... but 1 gb I think would be enough for me. Unless ofcourse there wasn't a huge price difference.

And last but not least, I want to upgrade to a dvd drive with burner. So I can play those pesky dvd rom games! GRR I was so mad when I couldn't load the sims 2 double delux on my computer. It fit all the requirements.. but I had an old school "cd rom" lol

So I can do this ALL for around 150.00 looking at EBAY/Best Buy/ local computer shops

My moniter/mouse/keyboard are all in perfect shape, as is the rest of the computer components. If I want to get snazzy I can get a flatscreen and cordless mouse and keyboard for around the above price.. but I really don't care about that stuff.

*I'm not sure the specs of my graphics card. I want to make sure that it's good enough to run the sims 3 game. Where do I look in my computer to find the specs??*

I don't see the reason in spending all that extra cash on a brand new machine when I already have a great computer set up.. it just needs to be brought up into todays standards.

And should I continue running Windows XP I've heard crap about the newer version... why fix whats not broken?

Comments PLEASE! :woof:


----------



## Proud Marine Dad (Apr 1, 2009)

All that for $150? Good luck. 

You can call Dell and buy the components you are looking for but they would probably be cheaper from NewEgg or somewhere else. 

The problem you are going to have though is that when you install a new HDD (Hard Disk Drive) you are going to have to slave your current HDD to the new one to copy all your files you want to save, or buy an external HDD and plug it into a USB port and copy the files that way. Either way you won't have the operating system on the new HDD as Dell does not give you the Windows XP disc.
You can probably get a program that will do that but I have forgotten which one it would be as I haven't done that in a long time.
It really is best to back up your files and reinstall Windows every year or so anyhow as the .cab files become corrupted and the computer slows down. Also, when you format the HDD and reinstall a fresh copy of Windows you will eliminate all the crap Dell puts on their computers from the factory. I hate Dell to tell you the truth but that is another story. :rofl:

A 250G HDD should be plenty for you and your processor should run the Sims 3 just fine, although you will have to have at least 1 GB or RAM as you mentioned upgrading to. To find what video card you have click on the 'Start' button in the lower left of your screen, then click 'Control Panel' then 'Performance and Maintenance' then 'System.' Then click on the 'Hardware' tab and then select 'Device Manager.' Once you are there click on the '+' symbol next to 'Display Adapters' and it will tell you the video card. Then you can look up that card with a Google search and it will tell you what it is.

I hope this helps.


----------



## FloorCandy (Feb 19, 2009)

Your computer is probably freezing because of the ram, so you should make ram and more storage a priority like you said, however I will add that I found a laptop for my mom last year for $350, and it had dual core 2.4 gig processor, 2 gigs of ram, DL-DVD player/burner (maybe even lightscribe) I believe a 200-250 gig HD and I think I got a printer with it for $20 bux. I looked on fatwallet, slickdeals, and retailmenot for good deals for about a week, and found this gem. I bought my little bro a laptop for Christmas that year with similar specs for about $400. So you might spend a couple hundred more, but you don't have to worry about changing HDs or anything, plus its portable, which is nice if you just wanna have a computer on vacation or wanna relax at Panera and surf the web etc.You can even get a cable to hook your laptop up to your monitor at home, so it feels more like a desktop.


----------



## PitBullHappenings (Aug 12, 2009)

Newegg is definately one of the better PC stores online. However, I'm an impatient individual and wound up going to best buy and bought a new hard drive for the PC my boss was tossing out. I ended up buying a "3.5" Barracuda Internal Hard drive" 1 TB (now this is over kill  ) Anyways, it was relatively simple to install myself. Also another option is the external hard drives.

First step is to back up your PC on cds (a complete back up) and make sure you also have the original Windows CD. I can refer you to the most excellent Computer Geek website...if interested PM me.  I'd rather you go to the site because I don't like giving out too much info about PC stuff where I know a lot I'm afraid I'd forget to mention something or screw whoever up on fixing their PC  I'm a paranoid individual!


----------



## PitBullHappenings (Aug 12, 2009)

Oh, to finish my story...After I replaced the ancient hard drive in my boss's old PC I was like why the hell did I put my brand new Super Hard drive in this old PC for??? DUH So, I took it of the old PC and put it in my newer Dell and moved the in the Dell to the old PC  and actually my boss's old PC had 2 ancient hard drives of like 80gb and 40 gb. The one was no good and the other I reformatted and am using as a back up in the old PC.

*Very Important* when messing around with the inside of computer towers is to de-static yourself and don't do it on carpet. By touching bare metal on the tower will de-static you but they also sell nifty gadgets that wraps around your wrist and clips onto metal to de-static.


----------



## PitBullHappenings (Aug 12, 2009)

Proud Marine Dad said:


> Either way you won't have the operating system on the new HDD as Dell does not give you the Windows XP disc.


When I bought my Dell in 2007 they sent me the operating system reinstallation disc.

Oh wait, I have Vista not XP on my Dell. I also can't speak for how they operated in 2004.


----------



## Proud Marine Dad (Apr 1, 2009)

Well said infinity. 

Many Dells are on board video so as I said earlier I doubt she is going to get all the components she mentioned for that price. 

pitbullhappenings, she has a Dell so she won't have the original Windows XP disc as they don't give you one. They just give a worthless recovery disc. 

Buy Windows Vista or Windows 7 and install it fresh and be free of Dell's garbage they put on your PC.


----------



## StaffyDaddy (Mar 28, 2009)

if you want a real computer build it yourself . lol


----------



## PitBullHappenings (Aug 12, 2009)

StaffyDaddy said:


> if you want a real computer build it yourself . lol


I do agree, that way you get exactly what you want and you know more about your computer


----------



## Proud Marine Dad (Apr 1, 2009)

StaffyDaddy said:


> if you want a real computer build it yourself . lol


:goodpost: I have built the last three of mine. I would never buy another store bought one except for a laptop.


----------



## Proud Marine Dad (Apr 1, 2009)

infinity8x3 said:


> That must depend. I have a dell lap top. Here is the windows xp disc.
> View attachment 5374
> 
> 
> ...


Wow! That is cool Brian. My son's Dell laptop did not have a Windows disc. 
I reformatted it recently and put my copy of Windows XP Home on it and it runs much better without all the garbage Dell put on it.

He bought a new Toshiba a week or so ago and is sending us the Dell to have as we don't have a laptop.


----------



## 9361 (Jun 25, 2009)

My dell included a "reinstallation cd" for xp as Infinity posted. Would this work for a new hard drive install? I've used it a million times when my comp crashed. And I really don't want to switch to Vista 

So if I get a new hard drive I can put the new one and the old one in the computer and it will run both? If so that is great. 

I'm just trying to build on to a computer I already have. I just estimated the price of what it would cause by adding in the medien of what I found on ebay/best buy. I really don't know what ALL I need. Or anything about video cards. 

Is the vid card that infinity posted work in my computer? And are they always that inexpensive? lol if so sign me up.

I don't have the money to buy a brand new one. So I was just going to build on a little at a time.


----------



## 9361 (Jun 25, 2009)

Well it says I have an Intel R 82845G/G4/GE/PE/GV under display adaptor. Is this a video card? Can I replace it or add to it. I don't know what to do! BLAH! Would it be better to just save for a new computer?


----------



## 9361 (Jun 25, 2009)

Yeah I am really shying away from this little idea! lol I know how to put things into a computer but I know nothing about what I need! Maybe I can find a newer used computer on craigslist that is the tower only. I just am not sure what to look for for games. And Sims is the only game I want to play lol


----------



## 9361 (Jun 25, 2009)

Well if I can't do sims 3 is my system good enough to run the sims 2 for now? I just ordered one from ebay.. the original sims 2 from 04.


----------



## 9361 (Jun 25, 2009)

This is what I found on system requirements

If you have a non-T&L capable video card (such as TNT2, Intel, or Rage for example) then you need at least:

* 2.0 GHz processor
* 256 MB RAM if Windows XP
* 128 MB RAM if Windows 98, Windows ME, or Windows 2000
* At least 3.5 gigs of free hard drive space 

Do I have the intel vid card? If so I guess I'll make do and just play sims 2 until I get another computer in ... who knows when! LOL


----------



## 9361 (Jun 25, 2009)

infinity8x3 said:


> Yes but I still suggest a ram Update at least 1 gig. Other wise the game will be very laggy. from a low frame rate.


Ok cool the ram is the easy part!
I have installed it before


----------



## FloorCandy (Feb 19, 2009)

This is a good deal, and can play the Sims 3:

17" Toshiba Laptop at Walmart 8/16 $348

Here are the specs of this model from Toshiba's site:

Satellite L355-S7915

I know you weren't looking for a new computer, but this really won't cost much more than all of the upgrades you were looking at.

Here's the one at Best Buy that they reference in that thread, I am not an Acer fan, but I got one for my mom because she has very light usage, I only dislike Acer because they are more fragile than some other brands, and their support is very poor, and they do not sell replacement parts directly, only refer you to 3rd parties.

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/945029/


----------



## Proud Marine Dad (Apr 1, 2009)

infinity8x3 said:


> If you want me to be honest with you your cpu is ageing And I dont not recomend replacing that unless you know what your doing. also your motherboard may not be able to handle a faster cpu any way.


She has a 2.0 Ghz cpu, that is fast enough for her uses I think.


----------



## 9361 (Jun 25, 2009)

Well a buddy of mine says he knows a guy who can get me the parts for cheap and my buddy knows how to put them in. So fingers crossed!


----------



## PitBullHappenings (Aug 12, 2009)

*fingers crossed* and the best of Luck


----------



## Proud Marine Dad (Apr 1, 2009)

infinity8x3 said:


> That's fine if it is enough for her or any one really. Keep in mind this is a single core cpu not a dual core. there is a huge difference a 2.0ghz dual core will run allmost twice as fast as a older 2.0 single core.
> 
> Think of it as workers. And you have a single worker thats a decent worker he gets the job done. But across the street the guy has a worker just as good and fast as yours only he has 2 workers. Who do you think is going to get more work done in a short amount of time your 1 (single core cpu) or him (dual core cpu)
> 
> ...


Very true. The new Intel i7 processors are pretty awesome. They are getting the size even smaller now and that chip is 45nm. I sometimes work at Applied Materials in Santa Clara, CA and they are down to that size as well. They build the machines that make the wafers.
They can make a "gate oxide" whatever that is, 5 atoms thick. Pretty cool stuff!


----------

