Dell Inspiron 620 Upgrade advice.

[toneenthrall]

Hey there.

I've really been given a Dell Inspiron 620 and I am interested to know what I would be best upgrading, etc. This is the desktop tower version, not the slim thing.

I primarily surf the web, play a lot of games and do some photoshop work. Ideally I think I need to double the memory, add a new graphics card and perhaps get a new processor?

I'd like a GFX card which could handle some of the biggest games of last year decently. I don't expect to be able to play on Ultra Settings with +++AA, etc. Something that could maybe handle Simcity and Tomb Raider (2013) pretty well. Perhaps I'm best off with a nVidia card?

I'm no expert, so I'll leave it down to the trusted advice of you guys.

My budget for this is about £500-£600. I'd like to get the best I can for my budget, and at least grab a new graphics card and more RAM.

Will I need a BIOS update too?

Anything else you can reccomend I upgrade?

I'm not sure what the motherboard is
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Inspiron 620
BIOS: BIOS Date: 09/29/11 19:14:07 Ver: 04.06.04
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2320 CPU @ 3.00GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 4078MB RAM
Card name: AMD RADEON HD 6450
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.

Thanks in advance!

 

[C12Friedman]

Although ram could be upgraded, I would think the highest priorities would be the PSU and graphics. A more powerful PSU to allow for a nice graphics card
perhaps like this
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (£398.35 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£45.00 @ Aria PC)
Total: £443.35
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-27 05:34 GMT+0000)

 

[toneenthrall]

Thanks for the response.

The GFX card is definitely something I can consider once I get a little more feedback.

So do you feel that the processor is sufficient overall? Even if I double the ram and go for a 780 GFX card? Will that not cause a bottleneck?

 

[C12Friedman]

Although I can't say for sure, I don't believe it would cause any bottlenecking but I did notice it isn't a popular combination to research.

I did mean to point out that I left some budget for additional ram. Right now 8GB seems to be the "sweet spot" for ram in gaming rigs. I will recommend upgrading ram (if you decide to) by purchasing a "kit" of the full amount wanted. Kits such as this http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005P6TWQ2/?tag=pcp0f-21 (REPRESENTITIVE SAMPLE! don't take it as a recommended kit, I did not check for compatibility) might be ideal. You can attempt to mix and match ram by adding ram to your existing ram but it does have the potential to cause issues.

 

[toneenthrall]

Thanks for you input, i've taken it on board.

I've spent the last couple hours doing my own research as things seem to be slow this morning here.

Is there anyone knowledgeable towards the compatibility of these components with my Dell Inspiron 620 Mini-Tower (Not the Slim version) - As I'd like to upgrade my current components to these:

Processor: Intel Core i7 3770 - 3.4 GHz - 4 cores - 8 threads - 8 MB cache - LGA1155 Socket - Box
Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Dual Classified w/ EVGA ACX Cooler
HDD: Western Digital 1TB internal Hard Drive - Caviar Blue (3.5 inch)
Memory: Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 Mhz CL9 XMP Performance
PSU: Corsair Builder Series CXM 600W Modular 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX/EPS

I understand those components will throw me over budget, but it seems to me it'd be a pretty powerful machine so would be worth the price hike.

I just need to know for definite if those components will be compatible with my system and will fit in the case as I don't want to lash out all that money to discover I've been an idiot.

Greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[C12Friedman]

I'd say the Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) would be a good choice there. (did a quick compatibility check)
The Corsair CX600M is a rather popular PSU that seems to perform well.

I don't know if you've downloaded the Service Manual for your system, if not it can be found here ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_desktop/esuprt_inspiron_desktop/inspiron-620_service%20manual_en-us.pdf

 

[toneenthrall]

Thanks for that, however the link you provided me with doesn't open. I get a 404 error.

Edit: My bad, I'd accidentally put a full stop at the end of it.

I'm worried that the GTX 770 is too large for the case?

 

[C12Friedman]

I'm worried that the GTX 770 is too large for the case?

That is a very valid concern... which I'll address except I'm having a tough time with that - it appears you have about 8 1/2" to work with. The EVGA GeForce GTX 770 is 11" long. Personally, I'd remove the HDD cage to give myself the extra room but it would need to be drilled out and then the HDD creatively relocated. Zotac makes a very short graphics card (I'd swear I'd seen a short GTX 770 but I can't find it now) like this GTX 670 http://www.ebay.com/itm/ZOTAC-GeForce-GTX-670-2GB-TwinCooler-Graphics-Card-mini-short-itx-ZT-60305-10P-/281137403610 which should fit

I hadn't realized there were other hardware changes there... my inattentiveness. Here's some feed back about possible CPU upgrades "Dell has not tested Inspiron 620 with i7 processor. It may or may not work with the system although the socket type as you have mentioned is the same.

Dell does not recommend or offer processor upgrade but it is as your discretion in case you really wish to go ahead with it. Warranty per say, issues arising due to the upgrade will not be covered under warranty; however we will continue providing support for other issues and parts." found here when asked about the same CPU upgrade http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19527295.aspx My concern for the CPU upgrade you show would be BIOS support for Ivy Bridge

Okay, that's all the feedback I have except to note that the "Brands" section of the forum is a lonely kind of place (you've likely noticed) - I might suggest starting this again in the "Systems" section here http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum-31.html where there is far more activity (you should get more feedback or at least, a wider audience there)
If you do start another, please link it here since that section is busier and sometimes it's hard to find threads

 

[toneenthrall]

Thanks so much again for your efforts.

I did post a thread in this forum around the same time as this one, forgot about it and didn't see the two responses. Still not 100% sure on what to really do despite your great feedback.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1999122/dell-inspiron-620-upgrade-advice.html