10 year old Dell? Upgrade or trash it?

[lcoyke90]

Hi guys,
I recently had some financial hardships. The holidays were tough, and I had to sell my rig in order to make it. I was recently given a Dell Optiplex 330 to get by until I can afford to build another PC. It had an Intel Core 2 Duo e4500 cpu, 4 gigs of ram and a 160gb hd which I replaced with a spare 500gb. I want to play games like GTA 5. L4d2. Borderlands 2, and Minecraft. I doubt this system can handle newer titles like Fallout 4 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. I was thinking about dropping in a Core 2 quad 8200 and a lower end card like a GT 710. I don't want to spend a ton of money on this system due to it's age. Just don't know if this is worth it or not. Thanks.

 

[geofelt]

Worth is something only YOU can determine.
Some games require more than 2 threads which a Q8200 would give you.
But, the performance will not be significantly better for most games which depend on single thread performance.

If you are going to buy a graphics card for fast action games, I would buy at least a GT1030

 

[mgallo848]

Even though the socket is the same it's very possible that the C2Q 8200 won't work for 2 main reasons.

1: It may require a BIOS update that doesn't exist from Dell
2: The C2Q 8200 runs on a 1333 bus speed. The C2 Duo run on a 800 bus speed. The motherboard might not run that high.

You MIGHT have a better chance trying a C2Q 6600

Edit: Looks like some people had some luck with certain Quads. Read here: https://www.dell.com/community/Desktops-General-Read-Only/Optiplex-330-CPU-Upgrade/td-p/3197555

 

[lcoyke90]

Worth is something only YOU can determine.
Some games require more than 2 threads which a Q8200 would give you.
But, the performance will not be significantly better for most games which depend on single thread performance.

If you are going to buy a graphics card for fast action games, I would buy at least a GT1030

Here's a C2Q e8200 + thermal past on ebay for 9 bucks
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-2-Quad-Q8200-2-33GHz-LGA-775-Socket-T-1333MHz-SLB5M/264103927832
The system requirements for L4D and Borderlands 2 are quite low

Minimum Requirements
Pentium 4 2.8GHz
Sempron 3100+
GD CPU hardware score: 1
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GeForce 6800 XT
Radeon HD 2600 XT Diamond Edition
GD GPU hardware score: 1
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256 MB
GD VRAM hardware score: 1
1 GB
GD RAM hardware score: 1
Win Xp 32
DX 9
7.5 GB

Add Your FPS Results
Recommended Requirements
Core 2 Duo E4600 2.4GHz
Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+
GD CPU hardware score: 2
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GeForce GT 230
Radeon X800 XT
Borderlands 2:
Minimum Requirements
Celeron E1600 Dual-Core 2.4GHz
Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4600+
GD CPU hardware score: 2
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GeForce 8500 GT
Radeon HD 2600 XT
GD GPU hardware score: 1
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256 MB
GD VRAM hardware score: 1
2 GB
GD RAM hardware score: 2
Win Xp 32
DX 9
13 GB

Add Your FPS Results
GD Adjusted Requirements
Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz
Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6400+
GD CPU hardware score: 3
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GeForce GT 140
Radeon HD 3850
GD GPU hardware score: 2
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256 MB
GD VRAM hardware score: 1
2 GB
GD RAM hardware score: 2
Win Vista 64

I could PROBABLY get away with using the e4500, but it will bottleneck a gt1030, so therefore, Core 2 quad 8200 ($9.00) + 1030 (89.99) = $98.99
What do you guys think?

 

[mgallo848]

I think even the C2Q may even bottleneck a modern card like the GT1030 but it certainly won't hurt anything. I think you should be fine.

 

[lcoyke90]

I think even the C2Q may even bottleneck a modern card like the GT1030 but it certainly won't hurt anything. I think you should be fine.

According to this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oPAOZIr9vg
a GT 1030 + C2D would be a good combo for 720p gaming, you can get 45-60fps on Medium settings in games like Fortnite and Overwatch.

 

[william p]

That can be used,but it's kind of tricky. here are the builds for that system.
https://www.userbenchmark.com/System/Dell-OptiPlex-330/1996
I see E5450 Xeon running but no Q9650. That may be because they're fussy about CPU steppings. 2 ram slots and DDR2 is also tough to work with. I see one running 2x4GB DDR2 modules but the low density RAM that Dell used and the fact that 4GB mostly happened with FBDIMMs for servers make that a very expensive proposition. You could probably save enough on RAM to buy an Opti 380 MB and get DDR3 support. Here are the builds for that one.
https://www.userbenchmark.com/System/Dell-OptiPlex-380/1942
The top 2 X5470, and the 2 Q9505 are mine.
ZOTAC GTX1050Ti Mini fits but unless you have 8GB RAM get the GTX1050. A 1GB GTX750 is a good match for an old 4GB machine.
E7500 can be BSEL pinmodded to 3.6GHz easily. The 2nd photo is the mod.
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2125877/tape-mod-bsel-mod-intel-q6600.html
A good GPU will move ahead to another computer so it's a good place to spend, but if the money isn't there i wouldn't go below a GT730 1GB DDR5 and 720P TV for a monitor. I can help you max it out, or go dirt cheap with a tapemodded 3GHz Q6600. Let me know where you're at on this.

 

[jankerson]

Hi guys,
I recently had some financial hardships. The holidays were tough, and I had to sell my rig in order to make it. I was recently given a Dell Optiplex 330 to get by until I can afford to build another PC. It had an Intel Core 2 Duo e4500 cpu, 4 gigs of ram and a 160gb hd which I replaced with a spare 500gb. I want to play games like GTA 5. L4d2. Borderlands 2, and Minecraft. I doubt this system can handle newer titles like Fallout 4 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. I was thinking about dropping in a Core 2 quad 8200 and a lower end card like a GT 710. I don't want to spend a ton of money on this system due to it's age. Just don't know if this is worth it or not. Thanks.

Best to just wait until you have the money to build a new system rather than throwing good money after bad.

NO, it really isn't worth it.

 

[william p]

2 ways to go with that. BSEL tape modded 4GB DDR2 and 1 GB GPU (750Ti) 720P bottom feeder and throw/give it away when you're done.
Or an 8GB DDR3 1066 (1333 modules) GTX1050Ti/1060 low end 1080P gamer with RAM and GPU maybe PSU that can be used again.
You didn't say what size case you have.

 

[lcoyke90]

That can be used,but it's kind of tricky. here are the builds for that system.
https://www.userbenchmark.com/System/Dell-OptiPlex-330/1996
I see E5450 Xeon running but no Q9650. That may be because they're fussy about CPU steppings. 2 ram slots and DDR2 is also tough to work with. I see one running 2x4GB DDR2 modules but the low density RAM that Dell used and the fact that 4GB mostly happened with FBDIMMs for servers make that a very expensive proposition. You could probably save enough on RAM to buy an Opti 380 MB and get DDR3 support. Here are the builds for that one.
https://www.userbenchmark.com/System/Dell-OptiPlex-380/1942
The top 2 X5470, and the 2 Q9505 are mine.
ZOTAC GTX1050Ti Mini fits but unless you have 8GB RAM get the GTX1050. A 1GB GTX750 is a good match for an old 4GB machine.
E7500 can be BSEL pinmodded to 3.6GHz easily. The 2nd photo is the mod.
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2125877/tape-mod-bsel-mod-intel-q6600.html
A good GPU will move ahead to another computer so it's a good place to spend, but if the money isn't there i wouldn't go below a GT730 1GB DDR5 and 720P TV for a monitor. I can help you max it out, or go dirt cheap with a tapemodded 3GHz Q6600. Let me know where you're at on this.

Thanks! I just ordered a Q8200 and GT730, hopefully they work good together without any bottlenecks. Should be able to get smooth game play at 720p.