Upgrading a Dell

[imPixelTV]

So, I've never upgraded a prebuild before so I dunno if this'll work. It should, but Dell are Dell so it might not. I haven't bought these parts (yet) but i would like some opinions

 

I've decided to go for an i5 4460 to replace the Pentium G3240 - cheap, quad-core and I don't feel like spending £12 for an extra 100MHz

I've already upgraded the RAM from 4GB to 16GB - 2x 8GB Crucial cheapo (£24 per DIMM) sticks from 1x4GB 'SKhynix' stick.

(See end of post) I've decided on the ASUS GTX 950 - the £118 version. I dont think you can go wrong with this considering it's less than £120. The only downside is that the cheapest offer (according to PCPartPicker) is from the BT shop, so if the way the BT van people drive and their internet speeds are anything to go by, this'll be here by around 2020.

For the power supply, I think I'll go for the 500W XFX XT unit. - From a brand I've heard of, and according to the PCPartPicker it smells like shit when you take it out of the box.

For my 2nd hard drive, I'll get another Seagate Barracuda drive. - I've already got one of these. no frills but hey it does the job. Also from the BT shop, I assume i'll be long dead when this gets here too.

 

One thing I would like to mention is that for some reason 1TB HDDs have gotten £10 more expensive this year.

 

Edit: For some reason, the BT shop have dropped that 950 so I've gone for the MSI OC (2GD5, whatever that means) 950. £120 but this one's from Amazon, so it won't take ages to arrive.

[DildorTheDecent]

Just make sure that you check the documentation that it supports the processor and ram capacity that you'd like to use. 

[imPixelTV]

Just now, DildorTheDecent said:

Just make sure that you check the documentation that it supports the processor and ram capacity that you'd like to use. 

RAM's good, and they used to sell the model I have with those exact i5s. I'm 99% sure this'll work

[AssassinUni]

How long should the graphics card be so that your case supports it?

[DildorTheDecent]

Just now, imPixelTV said:

RAM's good, and they used to sell the model I have with those exact i5s. I'm 99% sure this'll work

That's good. Back in the day (2007-2008 ish) Dell used to restrict certain towers to using just dual or quad cores. RAM used to be limited to 8 or 16 for certain models too. 

 

You should also be fine with that PSU. Thankfully you're not searching for BTX parts

[imPixelTV]

Just now, DildorTheDecent said:

That's good. Back in the day (2007-2008 ish) Dell used to restrict certain towers to using just dual or quad cores. RAM used to be limited to 8 or 16 for certain models too. 

 

You should also be fine with that PSU. Thankfully you're not searching for BTX parts

Doesn't surprise me. Gives the consumer an incentive to buy higher end models

[imPixelTV]

Just now, AssassinUni said:

How long should the graphics card be so that your case supports it?

Not sure, but I've seen someone on PCPartPicker put a standard size 960 in just fine

[AssassinUni]

4 minutes ago, imPixelTV said:

Not sure, but I've seen someone on PCPartPicker put a standard size 960 in just fine

Well, the safest way is to actually measure how long should the card be at most. I'm assuming your budget is £120 based on the GTX 950 selection but if you can increase it to £150 you can get a R9 380 or a GTX 960 both are much better than the 950.

[imPixelTV]

Just now, AssassinUni said:

Well, the safest way is to actually measure how long should the card be at most. I'm assuming your budget is £120 based on the GTX 950 selection but if you can increase it to £150 you can get a R9 380 or a GTX 960 both are much better than the 950.

I'm stretching the budget as-is, however your suggestions have been taken on board, as with any other ones.