Slimline computer upgrades

[jdmorgan579]

I have a dell optiplex 320 mini tower desktop computer that I received from the internet company for upgrading our internet from dial up to dsl like 5 years back. I want to do some upgrades to it if at all possible. A ram upgrade for sure seeing it only has 256mb of ram. But i would also like to do a graphics card upgrade if possible. I currently just have some shitty ATI integrated graphcis. It has two pci express x16 slots (one currently available). I have used computers for years but never really gotten into how they work. Because of the tower size, I am assuming the GPU I upgrade to will have to be low profile. I also have a 280psu. Give me some options?

 

[17seconds]

This is a list of Nvidia graphics cards, their sizes, and power requirements:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_family.html

Measure how much space you have and find a card that will fit. Then get a good power supply that will meet the requirements.

 

[wolfram23]

All I know about this PC is from this:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/op320/en/UG_en/mt_spec.htm

It's definitely a very low end system. Is it a dual core, do you know? You can download CPUZ to get some good info on exactly which CPU is in there.

Basically, it might not even be worth upgrading although that depends on what usage you need out of it. Says that it supports 2GB RAM and I would definitely max that out.

For a GPU, it shows only PCIe 1.0 support.

To be honest, at best this seems like it can be an HTPC (home theater PC). You could throw in a low end GPU for smooth 1080p playback (maybe a GTS430 or 5550) and like 1GB RAM.

But to make this PC really useful, especially if you want to do anything beyond web browsing, it needs a pretty heafty overhaul.

You could put a better PC together like an AMD Athelon X3 for $500 or even less depending on your needs.

 

[jdmorgan579]

So I shouldn't even bother? I was just looking to upgrade it enough to play wow on it. and no it is not dual core. its a Intel Celeron 3.04 ghz processor or something.

 

[Shadow703793]

^ No. It is not worth upgrading. You should be able to get a good WoW capable rig for ~$500-500.