PC Specs- Can i play PSU?

[Pseudo]

Im not much of a Techno nut, but ive been thinking will I be able to play PSU with my Dell 2400, Hopefully one of you can answer this for me.

Ive managed to play sims2 and Black and white, without any slowdown or hitches but im concerned as looking at the detail in PSU it may be too much for my PC to handle. Im also on 1MB Broadband.

The PC specs are..

RAMRAM installed 512 MB
Max supported RAM 1 GB
Memory specification compliance PC2700
Memory speed 333 MHz
RAM form factor DIMM 184-pin
RAM technology DDR SDRAM
Video OutputGraphics processor Integrated Intel Extreme 3D Graphics
Video output form factor Integrated
Video output type Graphics adapter

Other specs here..
http://reviews.cnet.com/Dell_Dimensi...-30824846.html

When i took the cover of i realised that there is only one PCI slot for a 3D card, but i dont want to fork out $90/£45 for a new card if i can play PSU anyway.

[Espilonarge]

Unless Sega/Sonic Team specify the real specs required for PSU, we have no idea. What we say and think can only be suggestive.

Judging by how graphic intensive the game is, I would suggest being somewhere above these specs.

1.5 GHz CPU
1 Gig of RAM
64 Meg video card

Also, never use an Intergrated video card. Not only are they slow, flakey and chew up your normal RAM (most of the time) but they're not supported by gaming companies due to how annoying they are to deal with.

Try getting a NVidia or ATI type card (most newer models come with atleast 128 megs of VRAM) and make sure you don't do something stupid by filing down a PCI-E card to fit it inside a PCI slot. That'll void your warranty instantly.

EDIT

Ok, I looked at the specs personally over at Dell's website and I'm just gunna do one thing..

*insert screaming here*

Celeron, no AGP slot, limited support for RAM... Your defently not gunna get your moneys worth out of that computer to play PSU. Those things are more like work computers, they won't handle high-end graphics like DooM3 without being bugged down by how very weak the system is, over-heating or just blowing up (well.. kinda blowing up, you'd most likely just fry the Power Supply Unit inside.)

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Espilonarge on 2006-02-19 05:09 ]</font>

[coomdoom]

you should be fine from what i see here

[Ryna]

Like Espilonarge said, you'll need to find an ATI/Nvidia graphics card. That particular integrated graphics card gives horrible performance. Also, it would probably be helpful to max out your RAM.

[Pseudo]

Thanks guys, like i said the only option i have now is using the one pci slot for a new graphics card. Guess i got my moneys worth for buying somthing cheap.

[Inu_Shadi]

Operating System: Win 2k/Win XP
Processor: 1.6 GHz Pentium 4
RAM: 256 MB
Video Card: 3D card with 64 MB of VRAM
Direct X 9.0c
Hard Drive Space: 8.0 GB
Network Connection: Broadband

Recommended requirements have not been released officially. However, one can assume that 512MB or above will be recommended, along with the best darn video card you can afford!

Also, take note that according to Sega Direct, you will REQUIRE a DVD-ROM drive to install the game.

[Tystys]

I'm glad they're doing the DVD rom thing. Means less disks to keep up with (ahem, FFXI)

[Blitzkommando]

Installing a graphics card might be a problem for that system. I say this because the power supply is rather low, 250W. And, if it is like other companies, such as HP the PSU is one of those 'wonderful' special made units that can only be replaced by Dell and generally at the same wattage. We had a similar machine try to run a graphics card in replacement of the Rage Pro that was put in it, and it would crash within minutes of starting Windows. We then changed cases (The HP case did not support a PSU exchange) and upped the PSU to 350W, and it worked.

I would say the best card, which truthfully sucks just about as much as integrated graphics, would be a Rage Pro based upon the power supply. That Celeron 478 is part of a family of processors that are notoriously power hungry due to their construction. This is especially true of the Prescott, which is the core used in that computer. It will, at idle, take up about 90W, and at full load even more. This also presents the problem of heat into the equation as the Prescott core is also notorious for heat.

Frankly, you would get better results by purchasing a Playstation 2 and a USB keyboard and would be cheaper in the long run.

[VioletSkye]

Actually he could easily add something like a GeForce FX5200 128MB PCI card and it would run smoothly with no problems even with a 250watt ps. It sucks that there isn't even an AGP slot but performance wise it wouldn't make a huge difference anyway. You could easily up the ram another 256-512MB. The Dell Dimension 2400 power supply is proprietary but you can find replacements for it but they are 250 watts also.

An FX 5200 128MB PCI card will run you about $52 + $5 shipping from NEWEGG.
If you decide to upgrade RAM, use a program like CPU-Z to find the manufacturer of the ram so that you can match it (which isn't always necessary, but is highly recommended especially with budget pcs.) Or you could just call DELL and ask them for pricing on a RAM upgrade. Use CPU-Z to find out how many RAM slots you have total and how many are being used. I believe it has only 2 slots for memory, so if you have 1 stick of 512 MB RAM then you could add another stick. If you have (2) 256MB sticks of memory then you would have to replace one or both of them.

If you up the RAM to a gig and added an FX5200, you could do that for around $120 and it should run PSU descently (you won't be able to have ALL the eye candy turned on and maxed, but it should look pretty nice) but you need to consider the fact that you probably won't be able to upgrade it any further than that and at $120, you'd be better off just buying a PS2 and a keyboard like Norvekh said. That way you can play games from a HUGE library and not have to worry about performance.

One thing I will note about the 2.4 Prescott Cel D is that it is an easy CPU to overclock, but given the fact that you have a minitower I wouldn't recommend it as it would most likely run WAYYY too hot and I doubt you have the room to add proper cooling. You could always purchase a new case and mod it even more but again as Norvekh pointed out, it would cost alot more in the long run then just buying a PS2.

Given the fact that you can run Sims 2 and Black and White without problems, you may want to just try PSU without doing any upgrade and if it runs choppy then consider getting a new videocard like the one I mentioned.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: VioletSkye on 2006-02-19 11:21 ]</font>

[Blitzkommando]

Not to go too off tangent here but, how hot did the 5200 get anyway? I know the 6000 series was blisteringly hot but I don't remember the 5000 series (especially since I was running a 9800 Pro at the time).