Upgrading my XPS400. Suggestions please

[rifter2003]

mistake; disregard

[rifter2003]

Thanks to everyone for their input into this matter. I'm worried as to whether spending the money to upgrade my computer or bulding/buying one would be a better investment.
Even while improving my videocard and ram, if my motherboard can't keep up with either then its going to be degraded quite a bit right?
secondly i was somewhat worried about my processor in general. I have a 3ghz pentium D. Is this equally worthless nowadays?

so in summary we're talking about replacing my videocard, ram, motherboard, processor and.... sounds like a whole new computer to me

Finally, again. I noticed that the eve online premium graphics edition recomends blu ray/HD dvd capability. Is this gonna be pretty standard in games to come you think?

[HeroesForGhosts]

I don't think you need to upgrade your motherboard. As long as it has at least two DDR-2 RAM slots, a PCI-Express x16 slot, and has Socket 775 support, you probably won't need to upgrade it for quite a while.

As for the Pentium D, it isn't quite "worthless." It's a dual core processor, and while it's definitely past its prime at this point in time (The Pentium D series debuted in 2005) it is adequate for casual gaming. You won't get GREAT performance in all the newer games--in fact performance could drop to dowright mediocre in some processor intensive tasks--but it'll handle most without too much trouble.

So, if casual gaming is your aim, purchase 2GB of DDR-2 RAM and a mid-range video card and you'll probably be set for a while. I can make some suggestions if that's what you end up deciding you want to do. If you decide to spend a bit more and and get a new processor too, then that'll help, but I don't think it's totally necessary at this point in time.

[nemowolf]

Originally Posted by HeroesForGhosts

I don't think you need to upgrade your motherboard. As long as it has at least two DDR-2 RAM slots, a PCI-Express x16 slot, and has Socket 775 support, you probably won't need to upgrade it for quite a while.

As for the Pentium D, it isn't quite "worthless." It's a dual core processor, and while it's definitely past its prime at this point in time (The Pentium D series debuted in 2005) it is adequate for casual gaming. You won't get GREAT performance in all the newer games--in fact performance could drop to dowright mediocre in some processor intensive tasks--but it'll handle most without too much trouble.

So, if casual gaming is your aim, purchase 2GB of DDR-2 RAM and a mid-range video card and you'll probably be set for a while. I can make some suggestions if that's what you end up deciding you want to do. If you decide to spend a bit more and and get a new processor too, then that'll help, but I don't think it's totally necessary at this point in time.

The thing with Dell and their Mobo's is that just because its the right socket doesnt mean its compatible with newer processors. My XPS 600 series has that problem. Its running a PD 3.2 and when i contacted Dell about information on my mobo they specifically told me that my options were upto the PD 3.4ghz and it was not compatible with Core Duo or the Core 2 Duo. Any such upgrades would require a new mobo.

I will agree that the PD is definately suitable for daily tasks as well as some light gaming as i frequently play BF2 and did play WoW in windowed mode without many a hiccup. This is also in addition to running my 6800 on media center which occasionally would record tv shows while im playing a game and i never noticed it once. Only if you need to get a better process should that be on the shopping list. Although with the prices of C2D's now, its almost not worth "saving" money on a PD3.0 which is all i have found on the retail market now.

[HeroesForGhosts]

Unfortunately, what nemowolf said is true...the OP will definitely need to look up some very specific specs on the motherboard to see if it supports the Core 2 series. If you want to upgrade the CPU, that is.

But, I don't think it's necessary. I have a friend whose system contains a stock Pentium D at 2.8GHz, 2GB of RAM, and an 8600 GT, and he's pretty happy with performance in Oblivion and Company of Heroes. The PD is definitely okay if you're not a really hardcore gamer.