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What PSU would I need? + Other Questions

Tags:
  • upgrade
  • Power Supplies
  • perfect world international
  • 5150
  • Computers
  • problems
  • Dell
  • Hard Drives
  • Processors
  • 0rd203
  • aion
  • Systems
  • World Of Warcraft
  • e510
  • aura kingdom
  • Performance
  • perfect world
  • performance problems
  • Dimension
  • pwi
Last response: in Systems
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February 13, 2014 9:19:47 AM

I'm new to upgrading computers. I have a Dell Dimension e510 (5150) that was given to me a couple of months ago, and I've been researching the Dell forums and the forums here on tomshardware for what people were able to do with the e510's (upgrading).

Here's my specs (from CPU-Z and Speccy):
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 32-bit
CPU: Pentium 4 630 3.0 GHz with Hyper-Threading
Motherboard Model: 0RD203
Bios: A07
RAM: 4 GB DDR2 PC2-6400 at 800 MHz (Although it says 400 MHz on CPU-Z; they're all the from A-Tech on Amazon)
Graphics: 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 210 (EVGA) (it was already in the computer when I got it)
PSU: 305 watts (original power supply)
Hard-Drives:
1) 114GB Maxtor 6Y120M0 ATA Device (SATA) (Averaging 55 degrees Celsius)
2) 149GB Seagate ST3160023AS ATA Device (SATA) (Averaging 34 degrees Celsius)
Optical Drives:
HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GWA4164B ATA Device
HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8163B ATA Device
Audio: High Definition Audio Device (onboard)
Anti-Virus: Avast

The person I got this computer from always made "tweaks" and such to every computer he ever owned and it always messed them up big time. He thinks he knows a lot about computers and won't listen to anyone that tries to show him something...so I traded my HP All-in-One for this computer because I love tower computers and this one is easier to upgrade than my all-in-one.

Anyway, what I'm wanting to ask is, with all the hardware in this computer, is a 305 watt power supply enough for it? I have a Pentium D 945 3.4 GHz processor that I'm wanting to put into this computer, but when my husband put it in, it wouldn't work! He thought it might've been the RAM at first (we installed both the RAM and processor at the same time), but it turned out to be the processor. He was thinking that my power supply might not be big enough for it.

I've also been having issues with my hard-drives (especially my main one) running extremely hot. And when I try to play World of Warcraft, the game crashes after about 5 minutes of being in-game. (I'm pretty sure it's more computer issues than Blizzard issues on that one...) And every now and then, my computer lags really bad, like when I move the mouse, it jerks pretty hard and it's hard to do anything. This was happening way before I even installed any RAM or tried installing the processor. My husband did install an extra fan he had lying around in the back of my computer, but it helps very little. I'm also having a hard-time getting either one of my optical drives working right. They either don't read the disc at all, or they have a hard time ejecting or writing.

I just installed the RAM yesterday, but I got this computer in late December of last year and I've been having all of these problems since I got it. We've tried cleaning it several times, and once even took it completely apart and cleaned each individual piece before putting it back together, but nothing seems to help much. Cleaning has been helping it stay a bit cooler, but not by much. I've even re-installed Windows XP Home Edition (SP3) on it and it didn't help much. But then my husband ended up installing Windows 7 Ultimate (SP1,32-bit) on it and it seems like it's worse.

Another question I wanted to ask is: Are there any motherboards out there that will fit in this case? (Other than an e520 motherboard?) Are there any regular motherboards (not HP, Dell, etc.) from Amazon or Newegg or someplace that I can buy that would fit in this case?

I am on a very tight budget (about 15 hours a week, earning $7.25 hourly) and so I can't just go out and buy a new computer. And the parts I get for this one, I have to research to try to find the cheapest, but at the same time, best part for this computer.

I am a gamer, but I only play a few f2p mmorpg's. (Perfect World International, Aion, World of Warcraft, and hopefully will finally be able to play Aura Kingdom one day (never got to play that one...)) But I'm not an extreme gamer that plays games like Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, or whatever all those really popular games are... ^^;

Sorry for all the text! :( 

More about : psu questions

Best solution

a b ) Power supply
February 13, 2014 10:20:16 AM

May be good idea is look used cheap parts. Look intel 1366 or 1155 i5 / i7 + mobo.
Then you need video card + memory. PSU is bit small. What size is your case? Is it ATX or mATX?

For you good buy can be lga 775 Q6600 or 9XXX

New builds can be cheap too. Just for example.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($86.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER ATX Mid Tower Case ($45.24 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX750B BRONZE 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $614.15
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-13 13:19 EST-0500)
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a b ) Power supply
February 13, 2014 10:29:20 AM

Just made this for someone else. Runs rings round a pentium 4
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3240 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($115.78 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock B75M R2.0 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($64.79 @ Newegg)
Memory: OCZ Gold 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($43.97 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Stallion 500W ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $440.50
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-13 13:23 EST-0500)
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February 13, 2014 2:41:59 PM

AxlFone said:
May be good idea is look used cheap parts. Look intel 1366 or 1155 i5 / i7 + mobo.
Then you need video card + memory. PSU is bit small. What size is your case? Is it ATX or mATX?

For you good buy can be lga 775 Q6600 or 9XXX

New builds can be cheap too. Just for example.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($86.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER ATX Mid Tower Case ($45.24 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX750B BRONZE 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $614.15
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-13 13:19 EST-0500)


People on the internet have said that the Dell Dimension e510 case is a BTX case and that motherboards that fit it are hard to find since BTX isn't very popular at all...And I've seen people say that the e520 motherboard fits perfectly in the e510 case. ^^;

I like both yours (Axlfone) and allanitomwesh's builds! I'm going to bookmark this and try to save up, because I'm not sure if there's any hope left for this computer... The first thing I'm going to get, though, is the power supply so I can go ahead and use it in this computer until I can get all the parts for the one I'm going to build.

Thank both of you for the help! :) 
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a b ) Power supply
February 14, 2014 5:43:11 AM

No problem.
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!