Inspiron 537 Upgrade processor, video card, PSU

[bigern34]

Hello all,

I got in on the good old Wal-Mart Dell Inspiron 537 deal a couple years ago (full size, not a mini). I have read several threads about upgrading but still have questions. My wife does a lot of digital photograpy editing (Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop). The computer is a bit slow for editing and I'd like to upgrade the thing for her rather than get a new comp. If I get a new one I'm going to opt for a better unit so I think its still going to be more cost effective to upgrade the old unit.

The specs on the old are
Celeron 450 (2.20GHz,512k cache,800MHz FSB)
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HD integrated graphics
and I believe the PSU is only a 300 watt unit

I already upgraded the ram to 4gb crucial

Looking for a good graphics card, dual or possibly quad core processor, and a new PSU if required. I plan on getting everything through newegg.com but it is a little confusing on what is compatible. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[o1die]

I would post your question in the dell forum. Chances are better you'll find someone who's already upgraded this system. It's an educated guess as to which cpus will work on some dell boards. They aren't designed for an easy cpu upgrade. They would rather have you buy a new system. Also check the heatsink and fan design; some dell boxes won't even take a retail box Intel heatsink. http://en.community.dell.com/

 

[truegenius]

you are upgrading allmost all parts.
You need to buy a new motherboard only
you can use cd/dvd drive, hdd in your new pc and can have more ram
So better option is to buy a new one with intel 'i'core series (sandy bridge) which will cost you around the same price that of upgrade