[HELP needed] Upgrading PC

[Andreasneo]

Hi everyone,

New to the forum so mice to meet you all, was hoping for some opinions/feedback.

I was interested in upgrading my Dell Optiplex 3020, http://www.dell.com/uk/business/p/optiplex-3020-desktop/pd?oc=ca003d3020sff1h16

The pc has:

8gb ram
Intel core 5
Intel Integrated Graphics, Dell OptiPlex

I'm aware its not a great starting point and really i should start with brand new but was hoping to simply mod it (for gaming). I was wondering if its possible to use a new graphics card with this PC. I'f anyone could help me with knowing what i should replace and keep to mod it and whether its possible.

I also have a very old desktop, Dell Studio 540 http://www.dell.com/uk/dfh/p/studio-desktop/pd

which has an i2, but unlike the above has a graphics nvidia GeForce so perhaps it would be better to mod this pc? Is it too old to add a modern processors/CPU to the motherboard?

Im aware i should just build one fresh but was hoping to save money and just upgrade one of the two. Feedback would be appreciated, looking to be able to run games on high??? Is it posisble? If so how would u go about upgrading

Thanks.

 

[ExoMale]

dell computers can be difficult to work with, ive had a few, the main problem is the power supply, i had an optiplex 260 or whatever in the sff and all i could do was increase the ram and had a graphics card of low power and size, in my case the hd2400 which actually was pretty good considering, played hitman contracts very well, i know its not really a demanding game, but all i played on it.


open it up and see what the style of the power supply as certain dells allow you to put pretty much any atx unit in thats not massive and some only allow you to change to the next power output available as an option for that specific machine.

 

[Danny75]

Hi everyone,

New to the forum so mice to meet you all, was hoping for some opinions/feedback.

Hi Andreas, welcome to the forum.

Last time I tried to help someone upgrade their Dell, we ran into Dell proprietary issues with the CPU cooler mounting holes, and the 24-pin ATX power connector for motherboard (which wasn't 24-pin). This was because a new PSU was needed for the new video card (GTX 970), and this ended up in having to buy a new motherboard too after discounting a power adapter that may have caused more trouble than it was worth.

If you want to save a bit of money here and there, I'd recommend keeping the CPU and any drives (if SATA), maybe the 8GB DDR3 memory too, and transferring to a new build.

If you only want to add something like a GTX 750Ti that doesn't require any extra power connectors, you could try fitting it into the present system and it "should" be ok. But you're not going to be running many modern games on High settings with that, at 1080p+ anyway.

Which i5 is it exactly?