Upgrading my Dimension 8400

[ezekial45]

3.19 GHz Performance Rated at 4.79 GHz

This is nonsense btw, what is that from?

I just used this:

Requirements Test

I copied all the findings and posted it in the OP.

EDIT: Could it be hyper-threading?

You would need a new motherboard to use a new processor, but since that’s out of your budget, what you have planned for your upgrade is pretty good. What’s the watt of your current power supply?

If you plan on upgrading to Vista 64-bit, then at that point you have to buy a new motherboard and a new processor. Vista is resource-intensive, and you need at least 4GB of RAM and a good processor for it to run properly.

I bought this comp in the middle of 2005 so i’m guessing the PSU’s wattage is around 400 or less. It’s the standard Dell issue for the 8400. (I’m away from the comp at the moment).

So far i planned on buying:
2X1GB sticks of RAM
Geforce 8800GT or 9800GT
500w PSU
New CPU fan

[Cowdisease]

See if you can go for a 650W PSU and stick with the 8800GT (don’t know much about the 9800GT, so I can’t comment on it). Otherwise, your upgrade list looks really good.

[ramennoodle]

I have the exact same computer you have(8400). and im almost in the exact same situation as far as upgrading. I went the cheap route and got an 8600gts, only 256mb. It’s not that great, but it really isn’t that bad either. It ran crysis warhead pretty well on mainstream settings, and i only had 1.5 gigs of ram to boot. once i up those hopefully my frame should increase a bit. 3 gigs of ram and my 8600gts should keep me happy until i save up for a new pc anyhow.

Your power supply is only a 350-watt, and you definitely need at least 400 watt psu to run a 8800. Still i heard some people who said fuck it and just bought an 8800gt and ran it on the stock dell psu’s and haven’t had any problems with it. it’s pretty shitty that the 8400 only has ONE pci-express slot, so no crossfire or sli mode for us. :sad: