Skip further down if you just want to read the questions and skip the long post 
I have no problem building/repairing/upgrading custom pc's, learned to myself a few years ago. Anyway someone has asked me to upgrade a Dell Dimension E520 for them, the original spec is:
305w PSU
Intel Celeron D 347
512MB DDR2 533Mhz Value Memory
150GB Sata Hard Drive
Nvidia GeForce 7300 LE
Microsoft Windows Vista Home 32bit
Pants PC I know, it will struggle to do even the basic of tasks. They want it upgrading to be able to play some games at a decent level and also watch movies, convert / burn audio etc. My advice would be to sell it and put the cash towards a new custom build (Socket 775 builds are cheap these days with a P35 chipset) as there is so only so much that can be done to upgrading something like this (motherboard limitations, psu etc) - but they want me to do what I can with this.
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I need some tips advice on a few things before upgrading, as its a Dell PC the layout inside is somewhat different to what I am used to. Here is a pic found from google images (looks the same)
1) Going to be replacing the rubbish Celeron with a Quad (Q6600), Ive only had a quick glance of the inside but there seems to be some large black plastic thing covering the processor. My guess is that it is some kind of shroud covering the heatsink or something to help the airflow. I cant find any documentation on it for removal etc, never seen one like it. Fairly positive it will be no big deal getting off and back on, but getting some tips and advice first might help in the long run if any of you have worked with something similar.
2) I have removed the 512MB DDR2 533Mhz Value Memory and replaced it with some spare 2x1GB DDR2 667Mhz Kingston Memory I had lying around (will put in a 2x2GB DDR2 800Mhz soon).
Normally if inserting two Memory modules I put them into DIMM1 and DIMM3 for Dual Channel. But the Dell manual says to put pairs into DIMM1 and DIMM2. What would you do, I still think slot 1 and 3 would be better - BIOS says it is running Interleaved which must be dual channel, if I put it in 1 and 2 its only single channel, so obviously slightly slower.
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After upgrades the spec will be something like:
305w PSU (crap I know but I read something about Dell use special PSU's or some crap)
Intel Q6600
2x2GB DDR2 800Mhz
650GB Sata Hard Drive (done)
Wireless Card (done)
Nvidia GeForce 7300 LE (to replaced with something later on)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home 64bit
Sorry for boring you with long post, someone might enjoy passing the time by reading it
I have no problem building/repairing/upgrading custom pc's, learned to myself a few years ago. Anyway someone has asked me to upgrade a Dell Dimension E520 for them, the original spec is:
305w PSU
Intel Celeron D 347
512MB DDR2 533Mhz Value Memory
150GB Sata Hard Drive
Nvidia GeForce 7300 LE
Microsoft Windows Vista Home 32bit
Pants PC I know, it will struggle to do even the basic of tasks. They want it upgrading to be able to play some games at a decent level and also watch movies, convert / burn audio etc. My advice would be to sell it and put the cash towards a new custom build (Socket 775 builds are cheap these days with a P35 chipset) as there is so only so much that can be done to upgrading something like this (motherboard limitations, psu etc) - but they want me to do what I can with this.
------------------------------------
I need some tips advice on a few things before upgrading, as its a Dell PC the layout inside is somewhat different to what I am used to. Here is a pic found from google images (looks the same)
1) Going to be replacing the rubbish Celeron with a Quad (Q6600), Ive only had a quick glance of the inside but there seems to be some large black plastic thing covering the processor. My guess is that it is some kind of shroud covering the heatsink or something to help the airflow. I cant find any documentation on it for removal etc, never seen one like it. Fairly positive it will be no big deal getting off and back on, but getting some tips and advice first might help in the long run if any of you have worked with something similar.
2) I have removed the 512MB DDR2 533Mhz Value Memory and replaced it with some spare 2x1GB DDR2 667Mhz Kingston Memory I had lying around (will put in a 2x2GB DDR2 800Mhz soon).
Normally if inserting two Memory modules I put them into DIMM1 and DIMM3 for Dual Channel. But the Dell manual says to put pairs into DIMM1 and DIMM2. What would you do, I still think slot 1 and 3 would be better - BIOS says it is running Interleaved which must be dual channel, if I put it in 1 and 2 its only single channel, so obviously slightly slower.
---------------------------
After upgrades the spec will be something like:
305w PSU (crap I know but I read something about Dell use special PSU's or some crap)
Intel Q6600
2x2GB DDR2 800Mhz
650GB Sata Hard Drive (done)
Wireless Card (done)
Nvidia GeForce 7300 LE (to replaced with something later on)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home 64bit
Sorry for boring you with long post, someone might enjoy passing the time by reading it
