[watcher666]

Hi,
I have a Dell Vostro 420 that i rescued from the tip at work as i thought it was to good to chuck out! The only thing wrong with it was it was full of malware & viruses and ran like a dog! Luckily i got to it before it got chucked out!

I'm a "Mac man", but my macbook is 5 years old now and has been upgraded as much as it can and really struggles with HD video etc, and I will never be able to afford to replace it, so I know at some point i will have move back to Windows. I like Windows 7 and dont hate MS etc like some mac people do...

Anyway, I digress
So spec wise, It's the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4 Ghz version and i have already added 8GB DDR2 PC2-8500 RAM , 1TB WD HDD, Blu-Ray drive & original DVD RW and a NVIDIA GT 530 GFX card. Fresh install of Windows 7 64-bit.

It's no gaming beat by any stretch of the imagination, but plays Portal 2 through HDMI at 1080P, with all settings on absolute maximum and has an average frame rate of around 45fps which knocks the socks off my 360. And its very quick with general computing tasks.

So, anything that can be done to improve it further? A better motherboard etc?
Also, will i run into power trouble if i add yet another optical drive to it, making a total of 3? reason being im currently using it to blast through ripping my DVDs using handbrake, which it does around 3 times quicker than my aging macbook

[LJx]

You could get a better graphics card if you wanted but everything else is about as good as it gets on that platform. You only really change motherboard so you can use a better CPU and RAM so that would be like a whole different PC.
Can't believe someone threw out a PC with a CPU like that in it, crazy

[Dingo]

As Lix says a better graphics card would improve it and perhaps, if you haven't already, overclocking the cpu as they were known as good clockers and you should get 3Ghz easily and depending on the stepping as much as 3.4Ghz.

[watcher666]

Originally Posted by LJx

Can't believe someone threw out a PC with a CPU like that in it, crazy

Well, its a small business and the boss hasnt a clue regarding technology etc. It went wrong, so he bought a new one


Dingo, any idea's how id go about overclocking? Its all the standard Dell motherboard etc.
Here is Dell's page for it:Vostro 420 Tower Desktop Details | Dell

And also, any way to tell how much power is being drawn as I'm guessing I will need a new PSU?

Sorry for the numpty questions

[maf1970]

According to specs available your machine has a FSB that covers 800 MHz, 1066 MHz, or 1333 MHz. It also states that the machine takes Intel® Core™2 Quad, Core™2 Duo processors and Level 2 (L2) cache minimum 512 KB, maximum 12 MB. This translated means,in theory, you can use any of the Core 2 Quad processors.
Intel® Core 2 Quad
The limiting factor I think is the PSU as you have the largest Dell do for it already at 350W. The question is, is it a standard size ? If so it is easily replaced by a 3rd party item. If not then you have a problem that could limit what you can do.
eXtreme Power Supply Calculator
This may help work out if you need to replace the PSU.

[watcher666]

Originally Posted by maf1970

According to specs available your machine has a FSB that covers 800 MHz, 1066 MHz, or 1333 MHz. It also states that the machine takes Intel® Core™2 Quad, Core™2 Duo processors and Level 2 (L2) cache minimum 512 KB, maximum 12 MB. This translated means,in theory, you can use any of the Core 2 Quad processors.
Intel® Core 2 Quad
The limiting factor I think is the PSU as you have the largest Dell do for it already at 350W. The question is, is it a standard size ? If so it is easily replaced by a 3rd party item. If not then you have a problem that could limit what you can do.
eXtreme Power Supply Calculator
This may help work out if you need to replace the PSU.

Cheers for that
Using the tool in the link, it appears im already pushing it as far as the PSU is concerend! This may explain the problems I've been having when trying to introduce a second HDD! It will appear and dissapear etc.

SO, here are some pics of the PSU, can it be changed? And if so, where the hell do i start

Thanks again fellas

[EndlessWaves]

It's only held by the four screws at the back (the ones that go through the case), so just unplug everything and undo the screw to lift it out. Make sure you're holding it when undoing the screws, some cases have ledges for it to rest on but I can't see anything there so it'll just drop and thwack your CPU if you don't have a grip on it.

[watcher666]

Originally Posted by EndlessWaves

It's only held by the four screws at the back (the ones that go through the case), so just unplug everything and undo the screw to lift it out. Make sure you're holding it when undoing the screws, some cases have ledges for it to rest on but I can't see anything there so it'll just drop and thwack your CPU if you don't have a grip on it.

Thanks endlesswaves
But, it wasnt the physical side i was refering to! More of where to start getting a suitable replacement!
For a start, I dont evn know what type of motherboard i have?! etc
Or does it not matter?
Shall i just get the highest rated PSU I can afford etc?

[maf1970]

First, give the fans and cpu heatsink a hoover to get rid of some of the dust. May well be worth giving the whole thing a once over carefully.
The PSU looks like it is a standard item in which case you have the pick of the 3rd parties.
Components » Power Supplies - Overclockers UK
You can get more info about the PSU by looking at the 'Full Specification' for it. This will tell you all the connections available.

[watcher666]

Originally Posted by maf1970

First, give the fans and cpu heatsink a hoover to get rid of some of the dust. May well be worth giving the whole thing a once over carefully.
The PSU looks like it is a standard item in which case you have the pick of the 3rd parties.
Components » Power Supplies - Overclockers UK

Believe it or not, that dust build up is only from the last couple of months lol

When i got it from work, you couldnt even see most the components on the board, id never seen anything like it in my life!!!!

However, 10 minutes later with the air compressor and it looks as good as new!

I'll have a work with the wife regarding the dust...

Cheers for the link, I'll have a browse

[EndlessWaves]

Originally Posted by watcher666

Thanks endlesswaves
But, it wasnt the physical side i was refering to! More of where to start getting a suitable replacement!
For a start, I dont evn know what type of motherboard i have?! etc
Or does it not matter?

The only variation in general PSU standards is smaller ones for particularly small case. However, the configuration of the four screws holding that PSU in means it's an ATX PSU which is by far the most popular type (95%+ of PSUs on consumer components sites) so basically anything will work.

Motherboards vary slightly in what connections they need. Most power supplys will support all the common connections. If you want to check specifically; I can see in those pictures there's an ATX +12V connection (the 4 pin one at the top) and there should also be a bigger connector (top right?) with either 20 or 24 pins which is the main ATX motherboard connector.

Originally Posted by watcher666

Shall i just get the highest rated PSU I can afford etc?

Definitely NOT.

There isn't an agreed upon standard for rating PSUs so the more unscrupulous manufacturers rate PSUs as high as they think they can get away with. It's not unheard of for a 300W PSU to actually deliver more power than a 500W PSU. So going for the highest capacity you can find will get you a heap of rubbish that'll blow up and take the rest of your components with it in a couple of years.

Generally around £10 per 100W is what you'll spend to get a reasonable PSU. Another good indicator if that most of the power is available on the +12V rails. A 500W power supply with 468W (39A) available from the 12V rail(s) is likely to be reasonable, one that only offers 300W(25A) there is probably not terribly good quality and trying to get people to buy it by using a low price and a high rating.

So avoid those OcUK PSUs and look elsewhere.

[STdrez625]

You might be better off sticking a SSD in there instead of that second hard disk. It will freshen upp the whole system and make it run a lot faster. That would have to include a re-install of win7 of course. They are good prices now and getting cheaper so something like a 64gb/128gb for £70 would work wonders ..
It can also be moved to a new m/c when you buy one ..

[watcher666]

Decided the only upgrade will be to the graphics card!

Can someone recommend the best graphics card for my system?

Im guessing it wont be anything to recent due to the age of my CPU etc?

Sorry for all the question, I DID build a PC once yeeeears ago but things were alot simpler than lol.
My mum still has it actually and its still running fine :-)

[Dingo]

The cpu isn't going to be the problem....the power draw for many modern cards will make your psu suffer so you might be advised to try the classifieds here for something like a 5770 or even the newer 6770 which draw less power.

[vexy]

Originally Posted by watcher666

Can someone recommend the best graphics card for my system?

That would depend very much on your budget, but I wouldn't bother upgrading from what you have, rather keep the cash and spend it on other shiney gadgets or put it towards your next PC build. You won't get much more out of your machine, especially if gaming is your thing. If you just want a PC to dabble with the occasional casual game (i.e. portal 2) it will more than suffice as you have already mentioned.

When you want to try more intensive titles. i.e. BF3/Crysis 3 your going to need a new quadcore system so upgrading your current system would be throwing you money away. Any GFX card you buy now will be obsolete in the next year or two and wouldn't be worth putting in your next machine.