Suggestions for overhaul/upgrade

DrummerMark19 · 01-17-2008, 03:29 PM

Well I have a Dell XPS400 and the motherboard conked out and since it's a BTX case and I can't really seem to find any decent BTX motherboards for gaming, I'm looking to half build something new

Here's what I need-
-New motherboard (cpu maybe?)
-Case (ATX)
-Power Supply (will probably be running dual graphics cards)

Here's what I have-
-Nvidia Geforce 512mb 8600GTS
-cd and dvd drives
-2gb of memory
-250gb hard drive

I'm going to be taking the hard drive, cd/dvd drives, graphics card, and modem from my old computer and putting them in a new case with my new stuff. The processor from my current computer is a 2.8Ghz Intel Pentium 4 socket-T with hyper threading, what motherboard will would with this work with that you would suggest for gaming? Or should I just get a new processor as well? I'd also preferably like a motherboard with 2 pci express slots so I can run dual graphics cards eventually. Basically I'm just looking for the best setup within my price range I can get for gaming.

I don't know much about this stuff so advice would be sweet so I don't make any bad purchases, o yea price range lets say $500 budget

**emosun** · 01-17-2008, 04:19 PM

Well I would get a new cpu as those p4's are kinda dated now and a pentium D would be twice as fast for only 50$. The case is kinda up to you as to what you like. But for the motherboard and cpu I would get this.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...136&CatId=2406

There appear to be many versions of the xps 400 , some with ddr and some with ddr2. Make sure the memory you have is ddr2.

Then this for a psu , if your going to have dual gpu's later on.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153035

Also note that your current Dell operating system may not work with the aftermarket motherboard.

DrummerMark19 · 01-17-2008, 04:56 PM

So that motherboard only runs Vista? I'm running XP home edition right now

**emosun** · 01-17-2008, 05:32 PM

No, the motherboard will run windows xp and vista just fine. But the os you use on that dell is modified to run with dell motherboards so it might not run on the aftermarket board. You would fix this by simply installing a regular version of xp or vista, and not useing the dell install cd's.

DrummerMark19 · 01-17-2008, 05:41 PM

Ah I get it now, thanks man

01-17-2008, 03:29 PM	#1 (permalink)
DrummerMark19 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 16 OS: Windows XP	Suggestions for overhaul/upgrade Well I have a Dell XPS400 and the motherboard conked out and since it's a BTX case and I can't really seem to find any decent BTX motherboards for gaming, I'm looking to half build something new Here's what I need- -New motherboard (cpu maybe?) -Case (ATX) -Power Supply (will probably be running dual graphics cards) Here's what I have- -Nvidia Geforce 512mb 8600GTS -cd and dvd drives -2gb of memory -250gb hard drive I'm going to be taking the hard drive, cd/dvd drives, graphics card, and modem from my old computer and putting them in a new case with my new stuff. The processor from my current computer is a 2.8Ghz Intel Pentium 4 socket-T with hyper threading, what motherboard will would with this work with that you would suggest for gaming? Or should I just get a new processor as well? I'd also preferably like a motherboard with 2 pci express slots so I can run dual graphics cards eventually. Basically I'm just looking for the best setup within my price range I can get for gaming. I don't know much about this stuff so advice would be sweet so I don't make any bad purchases, o yea price range lets say $500 budget

01-17-2008, 04:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 7,033 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Suggestions for overhaul/upgrade Well I would get a new cpu as those p4's are kinda dated now and a pentium D would be twice as fast for only 50$. The case is kinda up to you as to what you like. But for the motherboard and cpu I would get this. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...136&CatId=2406 There appear to be many versions of the xps 400 , some with ddr and some with ddr2. Make sure the memory you have is ddr2. Then this for a psu , if your going to have dual gpu's later on. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153035 Also note that your current Dell operating system may not work with the aftermarket motherboard. __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list Last edited by emosun; 01-17-2008 at 04:26 PM.

01-17-2008, 04:56 PM	#3 (permalink)
DrummerMark19 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 16 OS: Windows XP	Re: Suggestions for overhaul/upgrade So that motherboard only runs Vista? I'm running XP home edition right now

01-17-2008, 05:32 PM	#4 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 7,033 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Suggestions for overhaul/upgrade No, the motherboard will run windows xp and vista just fine. But the os you use on that dell is modified to run with dell motherboards so it might not run on the aftermarket board. You would fix this by simply installing a regular version of xp or vista, and not useing the dell install cd's. __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

01-17-2008, 05:41 PM	#5 (permalink)
DrummerMark19 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 16 OS: Windows XP	Re: Suggestions for overhaul/upgrade Ah I get it now, thanks man