Dell Inspiron 560s Upgrade to Full Potential

[Chris_235]

Hello. I pulled an old Inspiron 560s MOBO(populated) off the shelf in my shop, hooked a drive to it, tossed Linux Mint on it, and it is fully functional! I would love to get it working to its full potential by upgrading the RAM, putting in the quickest available GPU that it will handle, an SSD, and buying a dirt cheap case to house it in. I will possibly also be installing Windows on it.

Info:
-Motherboard from a Dell Inspiron 560s
-Pentium Dual-Core E5700 @3.00GHz x 2(65 Watt TDP)
-Intel 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller
-4 DDR3 DIMM Slots(3 GB currently)
-1 PCI-E x16 Gen2 Slot

I have a spare PSU :
MSI MS-4500-020(450 Watts)

I am not sure about what RAM I should get. From what I have read, the board will support up to 8GB with a 64 bit OS but not sure if it will support speeds above 1066(I REALLY hope it will handle 1333 or 1600). Graphics card? 750ti? Too much? If I could get it to play some popular games at playable framerates, even at lower settings or at 720p, for under $325-$350 that would be great. I have a friend in mind who I would gift this to and put it to use... Maybe I'm crazy(I am) but I want to give this relic a second life and have it function to its maximum potential. Thanks in advance!

 

[jtabb1256]

I did a similar thing to an old dell that had a core 2 quad 6600. It used DDR2, which was kind of expensive to upgrad.
1600 Mhz RAM should work for you. You'd have to find out the max amount of ram per slot, but I think a set of 2 X 4GB would work.

Your CPU is about half the performance of the q6600, which makes sense. http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Pentium+E5700+%40+3.00GHz

I'd say get an r7 360: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gpus,4380.html

On non-CPU-intensive games, a gtx 950 may be usable, but in most games, the processor will limit you.

 

[Chris_235]

Thank you for your reply. I think I may go with a RAM upgrade of 2 x 4GB 1600, an SSD, and get an R7 260 to start. I can't believe how cheap components have gotten! I priced an Antec New Solution case, CPU Heatsink/Fan, the RAM, an R7 260, and a 240GB SSD for $220. Impressive! I feel this may be a sufficient upgrade for lighter gaming needs such as CSGO, Oblivion/Skyrim, DOTA 2, ect... I wonder if this processor can be overclocked or is better left alone. I have seen arguments for both sides of the story but nothing definitive as to it being a bad or good idea. I'm sure there would very likely be little benefit to it. Thank you again for your response, jtabb1256.

 

[jtabb1256]

you're welcome. By the way, I was talking about the r7 360, not r7 260. The r7 360 is pretty close to the performance of the r7 260x.

And parts have gotten pretty cheap.
For putting your parts list together, pcpartpicker.com helps a lot.

 

[jtabb1256]

For RAM setup, look at pages 26 - 27 of the service manual: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/product/inspiron-560/manuals

For 1600 mhz to work, you will have to go into BIOS and enable XMP. The worst case for this is that it won't let you enable XMP, and your RAM will run at something like 1333.

 

[Chris_235]

you're welcome. By the way, I was talking about the r7 360, not r7 260. The r7 360 is pretty close to the performance of the r7 260x.

And parts have gotten pretty cheap.
For putting your parts list together, pcpartpicker.com helps a lot.

Right. That is what I meant to type, as well as 4 x 2 GB RAM and not 2 x 4.... I have never heard of pcpartpicker before. I will have to check that out!