Upgrading my Intel G45/G43 Express Chipset?

[Tabobo]

Hey guys. Well I have a Dell Inspiron 560 that i bought off of the Dell site in 09. I wanted to play some guys like left 4 dead 1 and 2. but it seems that I can't run it. I play Counter Strike Source and even with that i get frame lag when there is a lot of people.

My processor is a: Pentium(R) Dual-Core E5400 @2.70 GHZ
The RAM: 2.00gb (I know, SUPER LOW)

There are a alot of games i want to play but every time i go to http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/intro.aspx and see if I can, it is either I do not have enough "Dedicated Video Ram (only have 64mb apparently)" or my graphics card is too low end. I believe I have a Intel G45/G43 Express Chipset.

What can I do about this? I was thinking that I can just buy a new graphics card and more RAM, but I am not sure. I am not that computer wise. Thanks

 

[Pinhedd]

Hi there, someone was in the very same situation you are in right now. I would recommend buying a whole new computer but here's a link to the thread which includes my recommendation

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/362823-33-good-intel-express-chipset#t2728208

 

[Sooth1]

The biggest upgrade you can make for gaming is installing a graphics card. Your power supply is only 300 watts, so if you want a good card you will have to upgrade your power supply as well. If you tell us what resolution your monitor is, and your budget, we can suggest a card for you. A 6670 will play the games you listed. But it requires a 400 watt PSU.
Make sure the dimensions of the psu fit in your case.

GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102988

PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026

 

[Tabobo]

Hi there, someone was in the very same situation you are in right now. I would recommend buying a whole new computer but here's a link to the thread which includes my recommendation

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/362823-33-good-intel-express-chipset#t2728208

A whole new computer? As of now i do not have the funds for that

 

[Tabobo]

The biggest upgrade you can make for gaming is installing a graphics card. Your power supply is only 300 watts, so if you want a good card you will have to upgrade your power supply as well. If you tell us what resolution your monitor is, and your budget, we can suggest a card for you. A 6670 will play the games you listed. But it requires a 400 watt PSU.
Make sure the dimensions of the psu fit in your case.

GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102988

PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026

The screen resolution says that it is 1366 x 768 when I checked, it is the one recommended. Is this PSU the same as a graphics card? Will this PSU run a lot of games nowadays? And how do i know if the PSU will fit?

 

[Pinhedd]

The screen resolution says that it is 1366 x 768 when I checked, it is the one recommended. Is this PSU the same as a graphics card? Will this PSU run a lot of games nowadays? And how do i know if the PSU will fit?

The PSU is the Power Supply Unit. It's responsible for converting AC power from the wall into DC power for the electrical components and delivering the power to them in a stable fashion. More demanding components require PSUs built with more rugged components.

If you want to install a graphics card into your computer you will have to also install a new PSU because your existing one cannot safely deliver enough power. If you do not replace the PSU as well the computer may shut off randomly or components may be damaged.

 

[Tabobo]

The PSU is the Power Supply Unit. It's responsible for converting AC power from the wall into DC power for the electrical components and delivering the power to them in a stable fashion. More demanding components require PSUs built with more rugged components.

If you want to install a graphics card into your computer you will have to also install a new PSU because your existing one cannot safely deliver enough power. If you do not replace the PSU as well the computer may shut off randomly or components may be damaged.

Ok, so is this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026 one ok?

 

[Pinhedd]

Ok, so is this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026 one ok?

Yes that would be ideal. However I highly recommend you look at the first post I linked as it contains some valuable information with respect to using retail components in OEM machines. You will have to make sure that the PSU that came with your PC can actually be changed to a retail one

 

[Tabobo]

Yes that would be ideal. However I highly recommend you look at the first post I linked as it contains some valuable information with respect to using retail components in OEM machines. You will have to make sure that the PSU that came with your PC can actually be changed to a retail one

I read that thread and from what I saw, I would need a psu and a graphics card. I need to make sure that I can ern change them on y pc. How do I do that? And I saw some stuff about pins. How do I know which one will have the right pins that will actually fit into my pc? And how do I know if my psu will fit?

 

[Tabobo]

Also my budget is about $150. Idk if that is tooo little or....

 

[Pinhedd]

Also my budget is about $150. Idk if that is tooo little or....

$150 for both components is a bit low, $200 would be doable. It would allow you to get a new PSU (the one you found will do well) and a Radeon 7770

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&N=-1&isNodeId=1&Description=7770&x=0&y=0

In order to determine if the supply can be changed from the OEM one to an ATX compliant one you'd have to look at it yourself. I tried to find some resources online and had no luck

 

[Tabobo]

$150 for both components is a bit low, $200 would be doable. It would allow you to get a new PSU (the one you found will do well) and a Radeon 7770

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&N=-1&isNodeId=1&Description=7770&x=0&y=0

In order to determine if the supply can be changed from the OEM one to an ATX compliant one you'd have to look at it yourself. I tried to find some resources online and had no luck

Ok thanks. So I open up the pc and such? When I do, hat do look for exactly to find out if ican switch these parts?

 

[Pinhedd]

yeah pretty much. What you want to look for is the sticker on the PSU. If you can tell us the make/model we can figure out whether or not a direct swap is possible

 

[Tabobo]

yeah pretty much. What you want to look for is the sticker on the PSU. If you can tell us the make/model we can figure out whether or not a direct swap is possible

Ok thanks. I will respond with that information in a few hours hen I get home. Hopefully my thread isn't lost by then

 

[Tabobo]

yeah pretty much. What you want to look for is the sticker on the PSU. If you can tell us the make/model we can figure out whether or not a direct swap is possible

Ok I checked my psu an it is a "BesTec. 300W MAX". And I am not sure how to check everything else so I took a picture of what it looks like inside. Here is the link for the picture http://i50.tinypic.com/2zhp4pi.jpg Thanks guys








Don't...

Bump posts


http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/283384-33-read-first

 

[Pinhedd]

Yup, that's an ATX standard power supply, the one you picked out can be dropped in there

 

[Tabobo]

Yup, that's an ATX standard power supply, the one you picked out can be dropped in there

Ok thanks. So the PSU is able to go in. That's good. Now for the GPU, I was reading that some have a different amount of pins and such and I have to get the right one to fit in my pc. How do I figure this out? Or is the one that I got alright? And lastly, In the pic i showed, lol where is my video card or chipset? I have no idea how I will install the video card once I get it. And will I have to remove the chipset to put in the new gpu?