Upgrade Dell OptiPlex 960

[monte79]

I currently use a Dell OptiPlex 960. Current specs are:

Core2 Quad QUAD, 9400/ 2.66GHz6M, 1333FSB
4GB,Non-ECC,800MHz DDR2 (2@2GB) Memory
256MB ATI RADEON HD 3450 Graphics dual DVI and VGA and TV Out
(2) 320GB 3.5 inch SATA 3.0Gb/s and 16MB RAID 1

Running XP Pro

I would like to know if I could just update the motherboard, memory and graphics to take advantage of the cheap DDR3 at the moment. I'm not looking for ultimate gaming machine. I run Adobe Creative Suite, Solidworks, Inventor, AutoCad all with no issues at all. With XP going away I'd like to go ahead and get Windows 7 64bit to take advantage of that as well.

Budget is cheap as possible as always, no more than $200-300. Thanks for any help! Oh and I'd rather buy from Newegg, but open to other places.

 

[DComander1x]

I currently use a Dell OptiPlex 960. Current specs are:

Core2 Quad QUAD, 9400/ 2.66GHz6M, 1333FSB
4GB,Non-ECC,800MHz DDR2 (2@2GB) Memory
256MB ATI RADEON HD 3450 Graphics dual DVI and VGA and TV Out
(2) 320GB 3.5 inch SATA 3.0Gb/s and 16MB RAID 1

Running XP Pro

I would like to know if I could just update the motherboard, memory and graphics to take advantage of the cheap DDR3 at the moment. I'm not looking for ultimate gaming machine. I run Adobe Creative Suite, Solidworks, Inventor, AutoCad all with no issues at all. With XP going away I'd like to go ahead and get Windows 7 64bit to take advantage of that as well.

Budget is cheap as possible as always, no more than $200-300. Thanks for any help! Oh and I'd rather buy from Newegg, but open to other places.

Dells tend to be built with plug & play in mind, not upgradeablity as they use non-standard motherboard layouts and positioning - so replacing the motherboard in most dells, is not possible, but adding in a graphics card is easy, just look for low profile cards, if your using the desktop or Small Form Factor model

 

[monte79]

so, there is no ddr3 motherboard? That will fit the case? I just read somewhere that the board is possibly a BTX form factor.

 

[thently]

it is a standard form factor just look at the form factor in the current case and buy the same one.

T

 

[monte79]

you mean basically take a look at the i/o panel and compare what I got? That's easy enough. Once I figure that out can you guys give me a recommendation?

 

[DComander1x]

sure, if its a standards compliant mATX board - id go with MSI or Asus - they tend to be good on features and quality

Asus - ASUS P5G41T-M LX PLUS LGA 775 Intel G41 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
MSI - MSI G41M-P26 LGA 775 Intel G41 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

I highly suggest just buying or building a new computer - AMD tends to be excellent on low budgets, and most of their triple & quad cores are faster then the older Dual & Quad Core Core 2s, and socket 775 is getting hard to find, as its an older platform being discontinued by Intel.