> I have a Dell Dimension 2400 that I desperately want to upgrade
That's understandable, they were rock-bottom specification machines when
they were new :-} (my wife has one) - adding memory helps, but they're
still low-end machines that are only really suited to general web
browsing / office work. Going from 256Mb to 512Mb makes a hell of a
difference in general usability !
> My computer is slow and would like it to be faster and my husband
> likes to play games alot, so I need something for both gaming and
> internet, I have Hughes net internet and my computer keeps hanging
> up each time I get on it, I want to reformat the hard drive and get a
> new motherboard and processor but would like some advice on the one I
> need to buy???
How much money do you want to throw at the problem ? - my initial
reaction would be to say forget upgrading components and buy a whole new
machine, and keep the old one as a backup / second PC... the hassle you
may have getting compatible components working properly outweigh the
cost of letting someone else worry about getting it right.
Add to that a generic motherboard probably wouldn't let you install the
copy of XP you got with the Dell, and you'd end up paying out more again
for a working OS.
I'm not sure about the 2400, but some Dell hardware is a little
"tweaked" compared to normal off-the-shelf kit, so things like the PSU
might be wired differently - plugging a "tweaked" PSU into a standard
motherboard is likely to see it go "poof" :-}
If you're in the US, it might be worth looking at the Dell Outlet - they
do cheaper "refurb" machines - some of which are brand new customer
returns (the UK version of the Dell Outlet is complete crap, and often
outprices the new machines !).
Beware Vista - gaming performance is reputed to be complete sh!te, and
the operating system is comparatively slow compared to an XP machine.
You can still buy machines with XP from the small business side of the
site, or the Dell Outlet.
For gaming, you really need to think about a machine with a seperate
graphics card - is there any game in particular he likes at present (for
instance I like Half Life, and it doesn't need a particularly powerful
graphics card), or does he want to try all the latest stuff ?
New games will cost you a lot more to get reasonable performance -
possibly $200 to $300 more just for the graphics card alone, so it can
be a major factor in the overall cost.
For now, Core 2 Duo chips are supposed to be about as good as you can
get, but I wouldn't discount getting an AMD based machine just because
of brand snobbery.
For memory, i'd recommend a minimum of 1Gb as a starting point for XP,
but Vista needs more to run comfortably according to some reports.
As an aside, you say the 2400 hangs while browsing, can you give us a
little more information ? - how much memory is in it, have you got a
virus checker (*and if so, which ?), firewall, and have you scanned for
spyware ?
* Norton and McAfee have been known to seriously drag down system
performance - particularly if you're low on memory. You can get free
alternatives that give as good if not better protection, and don't hog
resources.
I've got some general info on spyware and links to free anti-virus
programs on my site at
http://www.coreutilities.co.uk (you can currently
get the Kaspersky virus checker for free, and it's among the best
available - i've got a link to it from the second link down on my front
page)
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