components.

[jas1]

base-- intel core 2 duo e7300 processor(2.66ghz,1066mhz,3 mb cache)
memory-- 2040mb 800mhz,dual channelddr2,sd ram(2xio24)
video card--128mb,ati radeon hd2400 prographic card.
hard drive-- 500gb(7200rpm)sata hard drive.
floppy drive and additional storage devices 19-in-1 media card reader.
windows vista 32 bit.
optical devices--dvd/rw drive.
sound cards--integrated7.1 channel high definition audio.

dell inspiron 530, 2yrs old. suggestions please on how i can improve with what i've got!!! jas1

[EzyStvy]

What is the pc Not doing well that you'd like to do better?

2 gigs of ram is a small amount for Vista.
If you want better video performance you'll need a bigger power supply..

What is you budget for upgrading?

[jas1]

so you think that it is a decent pc. why does vista need more than i have got,dare i ask what power supply you would recommend? i have a budget of £150.thanks for reading my post. jas1

[EzyStvy]

I'm using the same pc to write this.....and it does everything I need.

Again - what is it you'd like to do better on the pc?

[jas1]

thanks ezystvy,i will stick with what i have,but i hope to build a pc from scratch just for the the experience. jas1

[glc]

That's a pretty well balanced system - the only thing it won't do well is game. The video card is not made for that. 2 gigs of ram is "okay" for Vista, what would really help is to uninstall the preloaded crapware that Dell puts on that you don't use and examine your startup programs. A lot of the items that are running at startup are not necessary to be running all the time. You could upgrade the ram, and you could upgrade to Windows 7 if you wanted.

[jas1]

thanks once again glc,and ezystvy 1/ how do i get rid of what you call Dell crapware?
2/ how do i examine my start up programes?
3/ how do i upgrade to windows 7?
4/ i am always a bit wary of uninstalling things incase i mess up on the computer!
5/ if i upgrade the Ram to 3gb,and windows 7,what improvement would i get?
6/ P.S.you said you were using the same pc as me, did you build it youself? just one more thing, my pc turns itself back on during the night ready to go when i get up in the morning.it has been doing this for the last couple of monthe,any ideas!!!!all these questions perhaps it would be better sending me an email. jas1

[David M]

Are you running 32 or 64 bit Vista?

You can get 2 gigs of DDR2 RAM for 30 to 40 dollars now. For your computer going from two gigs to four gigs would probably be noticeable because then the applications would be accessing the hard drive only when they need more than the amount of RAM they are provided with. You can go to Crucial.com to see what type of RAM is suitable for your computer.

Run this to clean out the crap that Dell loaded on your computer...
Download | The PC Decrapifier

Then run this to clean out the crap your computer accumulates on its own...
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

Pick the graphics card you want and then check the manufacturers website to see which PSU they recommend for running that particular graphics card.

There are aftermarket makers of PSU's that will work with a Dell just in case a standard ATX PSU will not work with your computer. That's something you will need to look up...or ask glc.

[jas1]

i am running 32bit vista. jas1

[jas1]

i'm hoping to start building my first computer,and after reading all the reviews on different parts, i have chosen these.
case-elite330 mid tower-atx.
motherboard-asrock skt-775 4core 1333-fullhd.
hard drive-seagate barracuda 7200.12.itb 16 cache.
now this is were i am unsure, what processor should i get? i like the reviews on amd processors. would some kind person help me with the rest of the parts,and what do you think of what i have chosen? i just want to use it for searching the net,emailing,i already have a dell inspiron 530,but i would love to be able to have a go at building my own. hope to hear from you. jas1

[glc]

I do not recommend Asrock motherboards or Seagate hard drives. You can't put an AMD processor on a Socket 775 board.

What is your budget for this build? You need a case, power supply, motherboard, processor, memory, hard drive, and optical drive. You also need a video card if the motherboard does not have onboard video. You also need an operating system and peripherals (monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc.).

I assume you are in the UK?

[jas1]

thanks GLC,i'm more confused now,yes i live in the UK,my budget is appox in your terms $350,would i be ok with the coolmaster case?i already have monitor,keyboard mouse,and speakers,now dare i ask GLC what motherboard,hard drive,processor,and the rest i need so that i could just get on and start building. i don't know if it is allowed to recommend parts, but it would be a great help to me,otherwise i will have to start all over again. my eyes are getting sore reading all the reviews,not knowing what to buy and if they are all compatable. thanks once again GLC. jas1.

[glc]

What is your budget in GBP? I can make recommendations from a UK vendor. Would your budget have to include an operating system? If so, would you consider Linux?

[rwest]

That's a pretty low budget for all you need. I'd temporarily reuse your optical drive and old 500gig SATA hdd and upgrade these later when you have more cash. If the optical is ide you can look for a mother board that still supports it. A lot of them do. You can even clone and move the OS to a newer drive when you get one.

If you can't get free shipping on a case, look for it locally. Most places will have something decent, fairly inexpensively. That'll leave most of your budget for a power supply, motherboard, processor, memory, and video card.

You can even temporarily eliminate the need for a video card if you go with an an i3 or i5 processor which will have on-CPU graphics that will work with a H55 or H57 chipset. Most of these boards will have a pci-e slot to upgrade the video later.