Can this Dell be saved? How can I keep it alive with upgrades?

[Davem88]

I currently use my laptop as a desktop.
Dell Inspiron N4010
8gb RAM, Intel Pentium P6100 @ 2.00Ghz
USB 2.0 << my biggest problem.

BUT, apparently, my mother has this desktop and she doesn't need it anymore.

DELL Inspiron 570
AMD Sempron 140 Single-Core 2.7GHz; 2GB RAM, 500GB HD

So ... if I were to upgrade that desktop. What can be upgraded? SSD drive? More Ram? USB 3.0? please advise. Having bought an SSD, USB3 card and multiple usb 3 HDs, I'd rather put that into an old system than buy a new one.

I also was looking at a recent Dell deal where I can get for $471 the following
XPS 8900
Intel Core 6th Generation i5-6400 Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.3 GHz)
1 TB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
8GB Dual Channel DDR4 at 2133MHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745 4GB GDDR3
for just $471

Thoughts?

What I do on my computer?

1) Lots of web browsing with many, many tabs open (RAM killer)
2) Light Adobe software usage
3) Downloading and transferring large files to USB 3.0 flash and HD drives.
4) Some programs that would benefit from fast processor.

 

[Ketchup]

Go with the Dell. Don't even waste time/money on the old ones. It's just not worth it. The Dell should last you a good long time.

 

[LTC8K6]

Take the new Dell. Later on you can upgrade it quite a bit if you need to.

 

[Davem88]

Take the new Dell. Later on you can upgrade it quite a bit if you need to.

Go with the Dell. Don't even waste time/money on the old ones. It's just not worth it. The Dell should last you a good long time.

I appreciate your input.

Compared to my current laptop, will USB 3,0 be the biggest improvement or will the new system be faster in other things I am doing? I can always add my SSD drive to it but what else other than programs opening faster and installs finishing faster will I notice.

my laptop now
Dell Inspiron N4010
8gb RAM, Intel Pentium P6100 @ 2.00Ghz
USB 2.0 << my biggest problem

 

[Davem88]

and So ... if the only 3 things that really bother me
1) Slow USB 2.0
2) Slow DVDFab program
3) A little slow on Adobe products

for those 3 improvements I'd be spending $500. Trying to think if it's worth it for me.

By the way, my other route is what my friend is trying to sell to me
$700 = Macbook Air 13, i7-3667u, 3.2ghz, 8GB Ram, 128gb SSD

At least there I'll have a functioning laptop? That I can resell later on? Any thoughts? How much slower will it be compared to the desktop? I mean USB3.0 is there and SSD is there as well. So maybe laptop?

 

[frozentundra123456]

As far as speed goes, the desktop will be far faster than any of the other systems. That is a very good price for an XPS system.

 

[Davem88]

As far as speed goes, the desktop will be far faster than any of the other systems. That is a very good price for an XPS system.

I am holding on to an even better desktop now>?

$570 total.
XPS8900
Intel Core 6th Generation i7-6700 Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.0 GHz)
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
1 TB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
8GB Dual Channel DDR4 at 2133MHz
16X DVD + RW Drive
Video NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 2GB DDR3

or is i5 vs i7 not worth extra $100?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Go with the Dell. Don't even waste time/money on the old ones. It's just not worth it. The Dell should last you a good long time.

This. 100%. That's a decent deal on that Dell, I think.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I also was looking at a recent Dell deal where I can get for $471 the following
XPS 8900
Intel Core 6th Generation i5-6400 Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.3 GHz)
1 TB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
8GB Dual Channel DDR4 at 2133MHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 745 4GB GDDR3
for just $471

I am holding on to an even better desktop now>?

$570 total.
XPS8900
Intel Core 6th Generation i7-6700 Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.0 GHz)
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
1 TB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
8GB Dual Channel DDR4 at 2133MHz
16X DVD + RW Drive
Video NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 2GB DDR3

or is i5 vs i7 not worth extra $100?

Hmm, $100 upgrade, for a faster (HT) CPU, but a downgrade on the video card.

Might be worth it, if you do more productivity apps than gaming. Neither card is really all that great for gaming.

 

[Davem88]

For me now the thinking is ... I have USB3 card that I can place into any USB2 desktop. I have an SSD drive that I can place into a desktop. I just need a desktop that can handle 8gb ram. That's where my old desktop falls short. Other than that, everything else in terms of speed was fine for me. So, can my mother's desktop work out in this situation>?

she has
DELL Inspiron 570
AMD Sempron 140 Single-Core 2.7GHz; 2GB RAM, 500GB HD

if I can upgrade it to 8gb ram and add SSD drive to it and if it's USB2 I can replace it with USB3 card ... will it be a faster system compared to my current laptop.

Dell Inspiron N4010
8gb RAM, Intel Pentium P6100 @ 2.00Ghz
USB 2.0 << my biggest problem.

 

[Ketchup]

VL does this sort of thing more than I, but here are my thoughts:

I think an AMD Phenom II X4 955 GI chip would work in there:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-Phenom-...222131?hash=item1a115969b3:g:KS4AAOSwezVWv2L8

Keep in mind, this is an educated guess based what 785G boards around that time were running without a major BIOS update, and that the page for this model does list supporting Phenom II x4. Unfortunately, OEMs don't tell you what CPUs their board supports, only that it supports the one that came with it. Which is why I don't recommend trying the GM chip, as it came out later.

And I read that the board on that machine will go up to four 2-GB sticks of RAM, so I would max that out.

So: $40 for the RAM
$70 for the CPU
$20 for the USB3 card
= $130 (no bad, assuming the CPU works). Of course the SSD will be more, but the new computer won't have one either).

Also keep in mind that the old Dell still has a slower bus overall. So even with the USB3 card, don't expect miracles.

 

[sm625]

and So ... if the only 3 things that really bother me
1) Slow USB 2.0
2) Slow DVDFab program
3) A little slow on Adobe products

for those 3 improvements I'd be spending $500. Trying to think if it's worth it for me.

Unfortunately you are stuck spending more than the machine is worth to upgrade it. The sempron has no upgrade path that offers enough performance to justify the cost especially given that you also have to buy memory. I would go on ebay and type in X5670. You can easily find a system with plenty of cores and plenty of RAM for under $250. One of these would be faster than that old sempron machine even after you spent $150 upgrading it. Unfortunately you will also want to buy an SSD but that is only another $50. So really you're looking at $300 minimum but I dont think there is a viable option for less than that.

 

[Davem88]

Unfortunately you are stuck spending more than the machine is worth to upgrade it. The sempron has no upgrade path that offers enough performance to justify the cost especially given that you also have to buy memory. I would go on ebay and type in X5670. You can easily find a system with plenty of cores and plenty of RAM for under $250. One of these would be faster than that old sempron machine even after you spent $150 upgrading it. Unfortunately you will also want to buy an SSD but that is only another $50. So really you're looking at $300 minimum but I dont think there is a viable option for less than that.

Alright ... I'll finally make up my mind and this is going to be my last question that I hope will point me into the right direction as I have no one else to ask.

I don't do any sort of crazy tasks that require latest and greatest. I feel sad (cheap) spending $500 or even $300 just because I am longing for a USB 3.0

I have a desktop that is Dell Inspiron 530. I already placed a SSD drive on it (95% full ... this may be one of my problems in speed) and upgraded to USB 3.0. I also only have 4gb RAM on it. System is running on 32bit.

Can I upgrade that desktop to 8gb RAM and 64bit? Because right now, probably because it's on the 32 bit system, it doesn't even utilize those 4 gb ram I have in it. Only uses 3.2gb or something.

Thanks!

 

[Ketchup]

You can use the same key for 32- or 64-bit. Been this way since Vista. You will just need a 64-bit iso or DVD or the same version.

 

[Davem88]

You can use the same key for 32- or 64-bit. Been this way since Vista. You will just need a 64-bit iso or DVD or the same version.

didn't understand your answer to my question. Sorry

 

[Ketchup]

didn't understand your answer to my question. Sorry

It's ok. Just buy the Dell.

 

[Davem88]

It's ok. Just buy the Dell.

what you meant is that I can reinstall windows with 64bit and then I'll be able to upgrade my RAM?

 

[Ketchup]

what you meant is that I can reinstall windows with 64bit and then I'll be able to upgrade my RAM?

You can upgrade the RAM whenever you want. But Windows won't recognize more than it does now until you install the 64-bit version.

 

[Davem88]

You can upgrade the RAM whenever you won't. But Windows won't recognize more than it does now until you install the 64-bit version.

Got it. For some reason, my friend told me that my machine won't handle 64bit and installed 32 instead. Was he wrong and I could have avoided all this back and forward?

 

[LTC8K6]

Got it. For some reason, my friend told me that my machine won't handle 64bit and installed 32 instead. Was he wrong and I could have avoided all this back and forward?

http://ark.intel.com/products/50175/Intel-Pentium-Processor-P6100-3M-Cache-2_00-GHz

Intel® 64 Yes

 

[dbcooper1]

Dell Inspiron 530 uses the same motherboard and BIOS as the Vostro 200 and I have upgraded many with E8x00 CPUs and 8GB RAM; this together with a 64bit O/S and whatever SSD you choose makes it suddenly useable again for general use. If you decide to go with a quadcore CPU, you will need the 03 version of the board; most came with single or dualcore and the 02 version. I believe the power supply is also a higher wattage for the 03 but I don't remember how much.

 

[Davem88]

what's the best thing I can get for $200-300 that will give me USB 3.0, allow me to upgrade to 16gb RAM, and support future upgrades. And overall be a bit faster than my laptop
Dell Inspiron N4010
8gb RAM, Intel Pentium P6100 @ 2.00Ghz

 

[hippovsmouse]

Is your mother offering you this computer for free?

BUT, apparently, my mother has this desktop and she doesn't need it anymore.

DELL Inspiron 570
AMD Sempron 140 Single-Core 2.7GHz; 2GB RAM, 500GB HD

 

[Davem88]

Is your mother offering you this computer for free?

yep

 

[hippovsmouse]

yep

Regardless of what solution you wind up going with regarding faster usb etc, I'd still take that computer, there're 100 different things you could do with it