What should I do to upgrade an old Dell Dimension for under $50?

[waterjug]

My friend found his old Dell Dimension in his basement, and we were hoping to fix it up to run substantially for under $50.

Here are the specs for the computer currently.

 

Here are the things I need help with:

-I was considering buying a cheap faster cpu for the socket which is an LGA775 socket so I don't know what the fastest cpu for that socket is for the best price.(edit)

-Going to put some more ram in, but idk how much more I should buy though, it has 2 500mb DDR2 sticks rn.

-I'd also buy the cheapest ssd possible, probably less than 100 GB is fine, i don't care about the speed of the ssd, anything is faster than the old hard drive.

-Considering putting a new GPU in, but I have no idea which gpu is best for the system as I don't know old gpus that well.

-Finally I need a windows 7 file boot drive to download windows 7 to it, and I can't seem to find one, as microsoft only has boot drives for win 10 on their website. I'm going with windows 7 because it runs faster on slower systems I think unless I'm wrong here I'll just go with windows 10.

 

Remember I'm hoping all this can be done with a budget of under $50-$60 which I don't think should be too hard because the hardware is old and I'm fine with buying whatever is cheapest used from ebay or wherever. 

 

Thanks

[YoFavRussian]

7 minutes ago, waterjug said:

My friend found his old Dell Dimension in his basement, and we were hoping to fix it up to run substantially for under $50.

Here are the specs for the computer currently.

 

Here are the things I need help with:

-I was considering buying a cheap faster cpu for the socket which is an LGA775 socket so I don't know what the fastest cpu for that socket is for the best price.

-Going to put some more ram in, but idk how much more I should buy though, it has 2 500mb DDR2 sticks rn.

-I'd also buy the cheapest ssd possible, probably less than 100 GB is fine, i don't care about the speed of the ssd, anything is faster than the old hard drive.

-Considering putting a new GPU in, but I have no idea which gpu is best for the system as I don't know old gpus that well.

-Finally I need a windows 7 file boot drive to download windows 7 to it, and I can't seem to find one, as microsoft only has boot drives for win 10 on their website. I'm going with windows 7 because it runs faster on slower systems I think unless I'm wrong here I'll just go with windows 10.

 

Remember I'm hoping all this can be done with a budget of under $50-$60 which I don't think should be too hard because the hardware is old and I'm fine with buying whatever is cheapest used from ebay or wherever. 

 

Thanks

Here is your list of Socket 775 CPUs, get a model number of the dell and you might be able to find a supported processors list.

Ignore the prices, you can more than likely find a lot of these parts used for a lot cheaper than these

[TheGlenlivet]

https://www.dell.com/community/Desktops-General-Read-Only/Dimension-4700-processor-upgrade-choices/td-p/3304693

You might be stuck with a single core....  Not good.

[waterjug]

1 minute ago, YoFavRussian said:

Here is your list of Socket 775 CPUs, get a model number of the dell and you might be able to find a supported processors list.

Ignore the prices, you can more than likely find a lot of these parts used for a lot cheaper than these

Ok, I am heavily considering the Q6600 because it is within my price range and is significantly faster than what I have right now.

[waterjug]

1 minute ago, TheGlenlivet said:

https://www.dell.com/community/Desktops-General-Read-Only/Dimension-4700-processor-upgrade-choices/td-p/3304693

You might be stuck with a single core....  Not good.

Uh ok, so what's the fastest single core processor then compatible?

[TechyBen]

Might be better saving up and buying an entirely different system. What country/continent?

[waterjug]

1 minute ago, TechyBen said:

Might be better saving up and buying an entirely different system. What country/continent?

usa

[flibberdipper]

3 minutes ago, waterjug said:

Uh ok, so what's the fastest single core processor then compatible?

Theoretically the best for it is the Pentium 4 570, but it's absolutely not worth it.

[TechyBen]

 

Just now, waterjug said:

usa

Definitely save up and get a better system then. I'm not in USA, but a lot here on the forums mention getting a Quad 2 old Dell/HP system for around $100. So not much saving up for you.

[TheGlenlivet]

3 minutes ago, waterjug said:

Uh ok, so what's the fastest single core processor then compatible?

Looks like a P4 570, but the prices on them are still $30 and up.  That plus a GPU and PSU worth installing would probably be over your budget and still only get you a retro machine.

Like 720p at best in older titles.

[waterjug]

Just now, TheGlenlivet said:

Looks like a P4 570, but the prices on them are still $30 and up.  That plus a GPU and PSU worth installing would probably be over your budget and still only get you a retro machine.

Like 720p at best in older titles.

I'm not really trying to make it a gaming computer guys, I'm just trying to upgrade it so it can function just for regular web browsing and stuff as an extra computer.

[TheGlenlivet]

2 minutes ago, waterjug said:

I'm not really trying to make it a gaming computer guys, I'm just trying to upgrade it so it can function just for regular web browsing and stuff as an extra computer.

Then if the PSU in it is still good, you could probably just use it as is.  Upgrade the RAM so it will run at least windows 7 and go for it.

If you are feeling adventurous, install Lubuntu or another lightweight linux Distro.  Firefox is usually included.  Nice lightweight browser PC.

[Radium_Angel]

4 minutes ago, waterjug said:

browsing

Here's the fun secret about web browsing and old systems.

Forget about YouTube...

Even C2D-era systems get pegged at 100% trying to do a full screen YT video at anything other than 720p, and so many other sites crush the CPU because of all the extra crap embedded in them.

 

A SSD will help, plus even a modest GT 710 GFX card, but the ral hold back is the CPU and you're going to see that problem the moment you visit anything other than year 2000-era static web sites.

Been there, done that, waste of time and resources to be honest.

And it's frustrating to discover this , because its wasteful to dispose of systems like this, but the world has passed them by...

 

If you are near a goodwill, you can get some cheap parts there, but bear in mind it's a lost cause.

[Justapersononthenet]

11 minutes ago, waterjug said:

I'm not really trying to make it a gaming computer guys, I'm just trying to upgrade it so it can function just for regular web browsing and stuff as an extra computer.

don't forget about the ram! 2gb will be fine for general browsing in chrome with win 7 (1.5 starts struggling), you can get 4 for around 10-20$

maybe get a 750 ti/710 for 40$

and some thermal paste 5$

 

obviously ebay and china