Dell Vostro 230 - Possible Upgrades

As you can tell by the title the computer I'm looking to upgrade is a Dell Vostro 230, there are previous threads from a year or more ago which I did not want to bump so I have chosen to start a new one.

DELL Vostro 230(468-8400) [newegg.com]

Windows 7 Professional 64
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E7500 @2.93GHz
Dell 7N90W Motherboard
300W Power Supply
4GB (See minor upgrades)
EVGA GeForce 8400 (See minor upgrades)
If any more information is needed just let me know.

Minor Upgrades that I have done to it are:
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL8D-4GBHK [newegg.com]
(4GB is max according to DELL Website and Crucial) but there are reports of 8GB compatibility which I would be happy to do
EVGA GeForce 8400 GS 1 GB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 DVI/HDMI/VGA Graphics Card, 01G-P3-1302-LR [amazon.com]
(Will ditch for better graphics card suggestion)


Possible Upgrades:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL [newegg.com]

XFX AMD Radeon HD 7750 1GB GDDR5 DVI/HDMI/DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card FX775AZNP4;FX-775A-ZNP4 [amazon.com]

EVGA GeForce GTX 650 1024MB GDDR5 DVI mHDMI Graphics Card 01G-P4-2650-KR [amazon.com]

ASUS EAH6670/DIS/1GD5 Radeon HD 6670 GDDR5 128-bit 1 GB Video Card [amazon.com]


For a low power solution which of the 3 would be best? Or would they work? Or is there a better low power alternative solution? Or even other alternatives?

Please give suggestions on the topic, I'd love to get some feedback and recommendations on the topic.

Quote from abcwikiwiki : Please give suggestions on the topic, I'd love to get some feedback and recommendations on the topic.

What is it you are trying to do? Is there a certain game that won't run smooth enough for you?

When I did some benchmarking for work a few years ago memory was the only thing that made a difference in the real world but for gaming a video card will help your limit will be your power supply.

Quote from abcwikiwiki : As you can tell by the title the computer I'm looking to upgrade is a Dell Vostro 230, there are previous threads from a year or more ago which I did not want to bump so I have chosen to start a new one. For a low power solution which of the 3 would be best? Or would they work? Or is there a better low power alternative solution? Or even other alternatives? Please give suggestions on the topic, I'd love to get some feedback and recommendations on the topic.

low power and gaming doesn't really mix....imho

I have more or less the same unit which I use as an HTPC..I'm not a gamer but with the power draw of the unit alone + the video card, it's enough for the power supply to support it...

if you put in more ram and a bigger video card, that might max out or your p/s might not be able to support it anymore...you can try but you bear the risk of breaking the p/s and the components tied to it like the mobo and such...

Quote from Jabbit : What is it you are trying to do? Is there a certain game that won't run smooth enough for you?

Thank you for your reply, I do light gaming mainly minecraft but would like to get into a mid gaming range mainly sports and an occasional FPS. I have tried running NBA 2K13 on my setup on very low with moderate success, I enjoyed it non the less but it did hamper the experience.

Quote from medbuyer : low power and gaming doesn't really mix....imho I have more or less the same unit which I use as an HTPC..I'm not a gamer but with the power draw of the unit alone + the video card, it's enough for the power supply to support it... if you put in more ram and a bigger video card, that might max out or your p/s might not be able to support it anymore...you can try but you bear the risk of breaking the p/s and the components tied to it like the mobo and such...

Thank you for your reply, I do not game often but would like the option if I have the chance.

What kind of solution did you come up with for your unit?

Quote from abcwikiwiki : Thank you for your reply, I do not game often but would like the option if I have the chance. What kind of solution did you come up with for your unit?

I put in 4 GB of ram and used a 512MB fanless video card...using the hdmi port

the unit stays cools since I had a friend modify the side cover...power draw is enough for the 300W to support...

Quote from medbuyer : I put in 4 GB of ram and used a 512MB fanless video card...using the hdmi port the unit stays cools since I had a friend modify the side cover...power draw is enough for the 300W to support...

What would be your recommendations if I were to make this into a mid-range gaming computer? Power supply? Graphics card? Would it beneficial to upgrade the RAM?

-4GB is pretty solid, so i wouldn't upgrade that. for mid range gaming you wont see a difference
-power supply by itself will give you 0% improvement. The reason to upgrade your power supply is so that you can upgrade other things such as video card.
-Video card would be your best/cheapest option if you wanted to get into mid range gaming. You wont be able to get anything too crazy with such a "small" power supply but you should be able to upgrade to something.

Kinda light on time, cant go too detailed, but i hope that helps.

Quote from Briggs : -4GB is pretty solid, so i wouldn't upgrade that. for mid range gaming you wont see a difference -power supply by itself will give you 0% improvement. The reason to upgrade your power supply is so that you can upgrade other things such as video card. -Video card would be your best/cheapest option if you wanted to get into mid range gaming. You wont be able to get anything too crazy with such a "small" power supply but you should be able to upgrade to something. Kinda light on time, cant go too detailed, but i hope that helps.

Would one of those 3 graphic cards mentioned in the original post be acceptable without damaging my computer?

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Well this thread is a month old now, and I'm more curious about upgrading my machine into a more well rounded gaming computer. It is practically stock at this point, so I'd to hear some suggestions.

Upgrading Power Supply
Upgrading Graphics Card
Etc..

Let's say I have about $200-300 budget?

Quote from abcwikiwiki : Well this thread is a month old now, and I'm more curious about upgrading my machine into a more well rounded gaming computer. It is practically stock at this point, so I'd to hear some suggestions. Upgrading Power Supply Upgrading Graphics Card Etc.. Let's say I have about $200-300 budget?

What does more rounded mean to you?
Less powerful than you were originally suggesting, or more?
As far as I'm concerned, installing a card like that GTX 650 and a decent power supply that has the necessary 6 pin connector/s, would be super fine for your PC and to increase the results by 20% from that, would mean doubling your budget, as the very top of the line graphics cards are really overpriced.
You could even toss in an extra 4 gigs of ram for pocket change.

I don't think I would throw much money at this computer. Your processor is getting a bit old at this point (4 years?). To put in a mid range GPU you will need a PSU as well. Upgrading to more than 4gb ram won't help your gaming performance.

Quote from LiquidRetro : I don't think I would throw much money at this computer. Your processor is getting a bit old at this point (4 years?). To put in a mid range GPU you will need a PSU as well. Upgrading to more than 4gb ram won't help your gaming performance.

I agree completely, but what is considered a mid range GPU?
Is it one of those GPU's like the OP mention in the first post, or is it higher than that?
For instance, I have an Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 SE. Is that mid range?
It's certainly not the top, but it's no slouch either.
I figured that the $50 to $100 GPU's were low end, and $100 to $200 were mid range and $200 up were high end.
Am I close?