Upgradable?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Garee
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Garee

Garee

A couple of years ago I purchased a Dell pre-built system, specifically a Packard Bell iMedia 2414.

I know these systems are usually terrible value for money but it has done a good job over these past few years. I am wondering if it is possible to upgrade my system if I purchase a better PSU. The current one is a cheap 240W brand and just will not do the job.

I suspect the motherboard is also low quality however I could not find much information on it. I am happy with the CPU and have heard good things about it (Q6600).

I was thinking of upgrading the PSU and then buying a GPU as it is currently using on-board graphics.

Thanks.

Edit: Here's the specs.

Q6600 @ 2.4Ghz
4GB DDR2
320GB HD
240W PSU
Windows Vista 32bit

This is all I could find about the motherboard.
 
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You really need to post specs. What slots do you have in the motherboard? I would just upgrade the lot unless money is a problem in that case just getting a good PSU and GPU would be a good idea then build the parts up. Unless your benchmarking and heavy encoding you won't see any difference upgrading to any CPU for 775. RAM may be a good idea but again we don't know the specs. If the current setup is not slow to you is there any need in upgrading unless you want to play games seriously.
 
I mainly just want it upgraded to be able to play some games because at the moment it struggles with everything. I am happy with the performance otherwise.
 
specs and some internal photos would be nice.

so we know what will fit inside the case, such as psu and card lenght.
 
stulid said:
specs and some internal photos would be nice.

so we know what will fit inside the case, such as psu and card lenght.
Click to expand...

I can't upload any pictures at the moment as I dont have the pc here with me. However I do know there is some good space for both - especially the card.
 
Just about any graphics card will give you a massive boost but you will need to make sure that any card will fit inside your case. Something like a 5770 would be good. As for a psu, a Corsair CX400 would be more than enough for that.

Is this your pc? M-atx mobo with a pci-e 1.0 16x slot so it should take any pci-e card but there have been people having problems with ATI 5000 series cards on pci-e 1.0 motherboards. Case look's to be either mini tower or M-atx so you will have to get the tape measure out and see how much space you have for a card.

Personally i would look at getting a half decent motherboard as well so that you can overclock that Q6600. Most will do at least 3.2-3.4Ghz with a half decent cooler. This is a good board with a half decent choice of overclocking options.
 
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pastymuncher said:
Just about any graphics card will give you a massive boost but you will need to make sure that any card will fit inside your case. Something like a 5770 would be good. As for a psu, a Corsair CX400 would be more than enough for that.

Is this your pc? M-atx mobo with a pci-e 1.0 16x slot so it should take any pci-e card but there have been people having problems with ATI 5000 series cards on pci-e 1.0 motherboards. Case look's to be either mini tower or M-atx so you will have to get the tape measure out and see how much space you have for a card.

Personally i would look at getting a half decent motherboard as well so that you can overclock that Q6600. Most will do at least 3.2-3.4Ghz with a half decent cooler. This is a good board with a half decent choice of overclocking options.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response.

Let's say I purchased a new PSU, a 5770 and that mobo - Would I need to buy a new cpu cooler to overclock and should I purchase better RAM than my current DDR2 4GB @ 533Mhz (I think).

Also, i'm rather new to the whole custom pc/upgrading thing and was wondering if it is a relatively simple job to replace the mobo?

Thanks a lot.
 
Garee said:
Thanks for the response.

Let's say I purchased a new PSU, a 5770 and that mobo - Would I need to buy a new cpu cooler to overclock and should I purchase better RAM than my current DDR2 4GB @ 533Mhz (I think).

Also, i'm rather new to the whole custom pc/upgrading thing and was wondering if it is a relatively simple job to replace the mobo?

Thanks a lot.
Click to expand...

Most things arnt that diffcult i found with building a rig, but I think that ram would hold you back if you try to overclock so maybe something abit faster would help.
 
Garee said:
Also, i'm rather new to the whole custom pc/upgrading thing and was wondering if it is a relatively simple job to replace the mobo?

Thanks a lot.
Click to expand...

simple? technically yes. imo patience is required. if you want a neat build, then some foreplanning might be advised. theres space to run small wires (USB, front panel audio, and possibly some smaller power cables etc) behind the motherboard which i would strongly reccomend you try, as this increases airflow. Take my case as an example (doesn't have any fancy cable managemant features):

dsc01616jb.jpg


as you can see, ive done my best to keep the main area clear (main airflow is blue and red arrows). You can just about see various wires poking out from under the motherboard, and sneaking away behind the hard drive/cd bays etc.

Basically, just take note of what you unplug from your old board, and keep referring to the manual to see where they'll plug back in.
 
Garee said:
Thanks for the response.

Let's say I purchased a new PSU, a 5770 and that mobo - Would I need to buy a new cpu cooler to overclock and should I purchase better RAM than my current DDR2 4GB @ 533Mhz (I think).

Also, i'm rather new to the whole custom pc/upgrading thing and was wondering if it is a relatively simple job to replace the mobo?

Thanks a lot.
Click to expand...

That ram would hold you back from a decent overclock so you would need some decent PC2 6400 ram as well which will get you to at least 3.6Ghz. Swapping out the mobo would involve a OS re-install and i presume you have a Packard Bell version of Windows Vista which is unlikely to work with a new mobo so that would mean a new OS as well.

It's starting to look like a complete new build and that is a lot of money to be spending on a socket that is soon to be end of life. If it was me i would be looking at saving up and going down the AMD AM3 route as Intel's socket 1156 is also end of life next year due to new chips coming out.

To get you by while you save up i would get this and this for now. That's a good upgrade for £110 and you will see a massive improvement over your onboard graphics.
 
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