Cheap upgrade or buy complete gaming system?

GTX560

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May 17, 2012
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What I have is an old Dell Optiplex GX 520, which has a Pentium 4 processor. The current power supply says it has an output of 108watts.
I recently won a contest where I was awarded a new video card, a GeForce GTX560. This card requires 450watts.

So, what I am considering is upgrading the power supply to 600-650 watts. By things I have read so far this should work, but this is my first foray into customizing.

First question, are there any other factors I have not thought of that would prevent this from working? Such as, I might need a DCI to RGA converter for the monitor, will this affect the graphics?

Am I chasing my tail here? Or should I look into getting some sort of gaming system minus the video card?

The final option, would it be for me to buy the components needed to put together a gaming system around the GTX560. A quick shopping list on amazon for psu, case, motherboard, cpu, and memory sticks brings it up to about $500 with top end stuff. But the expenses may keep adding up for things like hard drive, optical drive, windows, etc.

Budget wise, I am trying to keep as low as possible. $500 is what I consider as the ceiling.

Thank you for your recommendations.

PS, Its 24 pin on the mother board, is this the same as 20 +4 connector?
the video card has SLI, do I need a power supply that is SLI ready? (not sure what SLI is yet)
 

mildgamer001

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Jul 5, 2011
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ok, sli is connecting twop identicle video cards for increased performance, you need two, so if you only have or get one, you dwont need sli, but i do have some specs that would fit your budget nicely...

intel g840- 90$
asrock b75 pro3- 90$
4 gb (2x 2gb) gskill ripjaws 1333 ram- 25$
rosewill stalion 500W- 50$
windows 7- 100$
optical- 25$
WD 500GB 7200 RPM- 80$

subtotal- 480$

That is a starter, if you want to change it you can. but trying to game with a pentium 4 nowadays, not happening, my pentium 4 desktop has 100$ cpu usage playing minecraft on minimal settings. the g840 is modern and similar in gaming to an i3 2100, minus the hyperthreading, and the 560 will mean you dont have to use the integrated gpu.
 

GTX560

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May 17, 2012
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Oh wait a sec there mildgamer...are you suggesting to replace these parts in the existing Dell case?
And since you didnt list a video card, you are assuming that I use the GTX560 right? The card specs on the box suggest that it needs 450 watt psu, is the 500w going to be sufficient?

I dont need the SLI, didnt understand what it was.

Thank you for the input. I opened another thread in the new build as suggested above, I was about ready to dump the old Dell and start over. We may be able to revive the thought about building it up.

 

hairlly

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May 17, 2012
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intel g840- 90$
asrock b75 pro3- 90$
4 gb (2x 2gb) gskill ripjaws 1333 ram- 25$
rosewill stalion 500W- 50$
windows 7- 100$
optical- 25$
WD 500GB 7200 RPM- 80$

subtotal- 480$
these price looks fine

****
 

mildgamer001

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yea, try to reuse the hard drive if you want, you will still need to get a new windows, but back up all your files etc and pics music whatever and put it on some flashdrives and crap, wipe the drive, and then you wont have to buy the hard drive, yet anyway, or even just buy the parts i listed and sell/give the dell to some relative or friend or something that wants/need it. som epeople would buy those just for the parts, 10$ for the cpu, 30 for the ram, 25 for the hard drive (wipe it first), case 5$ maybe to someone who buys old parts, you would be surprised, also i like reusing old case fans if they are the rioght sizes. oh and dont forget to select best answer and good luck with the build, yes 500W should be plenty for the setup. it is similar to what im going to buy for myself when the cash comes around from working side jobs lol.
 

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