Hi There,
I'm a long-time reader, first time poster here and I could really use some insight/knowledge on where to go with my current PC upgrade. I've put a fair bit of time into researching parts/upgrade directions, but I've become stumped as to whether at this point I should be trying to work with what I've got in upgrading, or start fresh, and further to that second question whether I can use some of the parts in my current PC. Before the nitty gritty technical stuff I should admit that while I have a decent grasp on terminology from the internet, I'm pretty practically inexperienced, so hopefully I dont ask too many questions I've unwittingly read answers too.
I've got a Dell Inspiron 530 with 3GB of RAM, a 2.40GHz Intel Duo Processor E4600, NVIDIA GEforce 8300 video card, running vista home basic 32bit. I want to put 3-500$ in my PC to make it a better gaming machine, specifically for Star Wars the Old Republic (SWTOR).
When running the game my CPU rarely maxes out (60-70%), which has led me to believe that my graphics card is the main bottle neck in my machine. In looking into all this I also discovered that my power supply, 160w, is far less than the recommended 450w for gaming machines. This is the main source of my issue, if I'm going to put money into my machine in the form of a video card, is it a waste to do so without an adequate power supply? If so, can I upgrade my power supply without screwing over the rest of my machine?
Any help/advice anyone could give is much appreciated, if you need any more specs I can post them, with directions on how to find them much appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your help
I'm a long-time reader, first time poster here and I could really use some insight/knowledge on where to go with my current PC upgrade. I've put a fair bit of time into researching parts/upgrade directions, but I've become stumped as to whether at this point I should be trying to work with what I've got in upgrading, or start fresh, and further to that second question whether I can use some of the parts in my current PC. Before the nitty gritty technical stuff I should admit that while I have a decent grasp on terminology from the internet, I'm pretty practically inexperienced, so hopefully I dont ask too many questions I've unwittingly read answers too.
I've got a Dell Inspiron 530 with 3GB of RAM, a 2.40GHz Intel Duo Processor E4600, NVIDIA GEforce 8300 video card, running vista home basic 32bit. I want to put 3-500$ in my PC to make it a better gaming machine, specifically for Star Wars the Old Republic (SWTOR).
When running the game my CPU rarely maxes out (60-70%), which has led me to believe that my graphics card is the main bottle neck in my machine. In looking into all this I also discovered that my power supply, 160w, is far less than the recommended 450w for gaming machines. This is the main source of my issue, if I'm going to put money into my machine in the form of a video card, is it a waste to do so without an adequate power supply? If so, can I upgrade my power supply without screwing over the rest of my machine?
Any help/advice anyone could give is much appreciated, if you need any more specs I can post them, with directions on how to find them much appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your help