Recently, my DVD/CD Drive went dead. So, my mom was nice enough to ask around at work for a spare one. However, she walked in with a Dell Dimension 4600 desktop. This thing looks in decent shape, and has XP installed.
Here's the problem.
I'm planning on salvaging the drive from this old fella, but I have a gut feeling it is an IDE drive, not SATA. I've looked around the 'net for a bit and can't find any specs. Can you guys help me in finding out?
Also, seeing as I don't want the XP OS to go to waste, I am also wondering if this computer is good for very, very light gaming for my younger brother.
He plans on playing these games ( I doubt he can play Modern Warfare 2 though, but is it possible to play it on low/medium with a better GPU, PSU, and RAM? ):
[IMG]http://lotr.neoseeker.com/w/i/lotr/f/f1/The_Battle_for_Middle-earth_II.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://shfts.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/battlefield_heroes_logo_clear.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.gamersmint.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Counter_Strike_Source.jpg[/IMG]
Thanks in advance my friends!
It doesn't matter if the drive is IDE; there's no big performance difference between IDE and SATA [B][I][U]DVD[/U][/I][/B] drives.
[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;20111362]It doesn't matter if the drive is IDE; there's no big performance difference between IDE and SATA [B][I][U]DVD[/U][/I][/B] drives.[/QUOTE]
I thought they have different ports or something?
:sigh:
I'm still a computer newbie, even after building a computer.
Well, we learn new things every day.
Different ports, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a mobo without IDE ports.
[url]http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/dell-dimension-4600-pentium/4505-3118_7-30529709.html[/url]
Here you are.
So:
1) Salvage drive
2) Use it as brother's light gaming rig ( see OP for games he wants to run ) with small upgrades.
Maybe I should open the case first to see if its in good condition internally first...
[editline]08:02PM[/editline]
Holy cow... DDR at 333 Mhz.
1) Salvage drive
2) Give it to brother and upgrade RAM and GPU, if possible.
[editline]08:38PM[/editline]
Bump
Bump
[editline]12:02PM[/editline]
So is it worth spending some time and money to use it as a light gaming setup?
Or just salvage the drive?
Upgrades:
AGP Graphics Card
250 Watt PSU to a ~400 Watt PSU
It already has 2 gigabytes of RAM, which is decent considering it uses XP.
i think there is a agp HD4650 around somewhere
[QUOTE=FalcoLombardi;20121350]Bump
[editline]12:02PM[/editline]
So is it worth spending some time and money to use it as a light gaming setup?
Or just salvage the drive?
Upgrades:
AGP Graphics Card
250 Watt PSU to a ~400 Watt PSU
It already has 2 gigabytes of RAM, which is decent considering it uses XP.[/QUOTE]
You'd really be better off making him a $250-$300 rig for light gaming.
You could save some money by scrapping his HDD and other stuff if there's anything useful.
[editline]09:00PM[/editline]
AGP 4650s are like ~$70 anyways.
[QUOTE=ghostofme;20123434]You'd really be better off making him a $250-$300 rig for light gaming.
You could save some money by scrapping his HDD and other stuff if there's anything useful.
[editline]09:00PM[/editline]
AGP 4650s are like ~$70 anyways.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for info. However, my little brother doesn't have that kind of money. I'm not sure about his budget, but it will not be higher than $125ish.
GPU: I can get a decent ATi 3xxx series AGP GPU for probably $60 USD.
PSU: Do prebuilts accept third-party PSUs?
He's only running 2007 and older games.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.