Should I or Shouldn't I... that is the question: Upgrade Dell Optiplex and Precision?

[ElFloydo]

Should I or Shouldn't I... that is the question.

Hello Tech Gurus,

I would appreciate your honest, but like my daughter would say, "don't judge me" , thoughts on upgrading the following systems by adding: a) dedicated video cards, b) 2gb RAM (max to 4gb), c) windows 8.1 (i actually like 8.1--again, don't judge me , unless 7 would be better for my situation):

I have been researching building modern system or just buying new pre-built systems with all new. but, I need five total computing devices, so budget pressures demand I at least explore the option of "saving money by upgrading existing". I need to know if there is any sense upgrading these machines by spending as little as possible to make them "work well enough". We are not able to play any "real" online games with our systems as is...and... we are not able to actually finish/finalize windows movie maker film projects of any size over 30 seconds due to impossible rendering timeouts (I expiremented with 4gb of ram, but still ran into same issue--"time remaining" counter just kept going up, up, up. This is probably my answer, but is it the processor or the ram or the OS holding film completion hostage? People were surely finalizing film projects with pentium 4 and minimal ram back in 2004--2008 as WMM came in SP3. Perhaps not?)

If upgrading is at all logical, how cheap could I get this done? Would you recommend parts for me?

If it is realistically going to cost over $250/$300 to upgrade these systems (hardware and software), then I will just buy new systems that come with all I would need. I have seen cheapo laptops with Celeron, i3, or AMD processors, 6gb ram, HD screens, windows 8.1 (plus office, and other bloats) for as little as $250--$300. Would those cheapos outperform my PCs as they are, but would they outperform them after our shoestring budget upgrade?

Current Systems (i have full detailed Dell Discover specs if needed):

1) Dell Optiplex gx620
with Pentium 4, running xp pro, office 2003, MB with max RAM of 4gb (currently has 2mb)

2) Dell Precision 370
with Pentium 4, running xp pro, office 2003, MB with max RAM of 4gb (currently has 2mb)


I would appreciate your thoughts. I read a lot of your tech guru comments and sincerely appreciate your experience, expertise, and candor.

Thank you in advance!!

Floydo

 

[Col Da Red]

You could update them or build new ones for $300 dollars. From the looks of it that stuff is quite outdated and your not doing anything that requires a super computer. I dont suggest investing any money into them though. If you want to portability go with the laptops. If you want to spend around 350-400 per desktop to replace it i am all for helping you

 

[ElFloydo]

You could update them or build new ones for $300 dollars. From the looks of it that stuff is quite outdated and your not doing anything that requires a super computer. I dont suggest investing any money into them though. If you want to portability go with the laptops. If you want to spend around 350-400 per desktop to replace it i am all for helping you

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with all the systems i have seen priced here and on partspicker, i didnt think i could get much for $350--$400. I would love to get a pair of PCs in that price range capable of being upgraded as needed (future proof MB??). I priced one out previously and it ended up being in the $2,000++++ range, BUT I really have no idea what I am doing. I used to have tech gurus working for me, but am now on my own.

most of the reviews i have come across indicate i need more cores than ram for video. more video ram (gpu) strength for gaming (kids are hoping for "real" computer). ultimately, that seems like i need both worlds. having said that, i was using a friends laptop recently to test windows movie maker for a 15 minute HD film. it was able to complete the project, but took some time. that laptop had a celeron processor and 6gb of ram. most operations on it were about the speed of my pc (which has pentium 4, 3.4ghz), but it actually was able to manipulate film and we were able to play world of tanks (a bit glitchy) and minecraft (slow rendering distances), but it was functional.

i would be interested to see what can be put together for the price you mentioned if indeed you are willing to spend a few minutes assembling a parts list. although not super tech savvy, i am capable of following direction well, so could easily read through the posts here and at partspicker and watch youtube to actually assemble our own pcs. that part does not scare me at all.

thank you.

floydo

 

[velo3100]

In your price range it is very difficult to build a laptop for video editing as it requires a lot of cpu and gpu power. I would recommend build a pc for the price you need. Unfortunately I am not very good with desktops as I use a laptop for my personal use.

 

[Col Da Red]

So you plan on doing video editing and rendering?