Computer Advice

[DreamN]

Joined up Hardware Heaven forums in hopes of getting some quick help, but the hardware discussion section is a tad slow.

Figured since there are plenty folk here with computer building knowledge I'd get some help from someone.

Recently my friend's dad gave me his some gateway desktop because he simply didn't want to deal with fixing it (motherboard). It's a Gateway DX4640-UB201A (Mediocre Desktop).

It's not horrible to look at so I'm not looking for a new case lol.

Anyway, I swapped the motherboard and upgraded the power supply to a 480W unit as from what I gathered the supplied 300W unit just wasn't cutting it. Still might end up going with something better.Been thinking about this unit:

Amazon.com: Gateway A-Power AK 850W 20+4-pin ATX PSU w/SATA & PCIe (Black) computer: Electronics

Because it lacked a hard drive I purchased a 1TB 7,200RPM and it's currently running on Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit. Been trying to load Ubuntu 10.10, but no dice for some reason. Been getting a BusyBox error of some sort, but I'll figure that out later.

Here's where I need some real advice as I'm simply a novice at all this. I downloaded GTA IV to see how it would do and it was horrible. Choppy video and just way to slow. I figure the issue has to be the video card. Did some light research and it's a crappy integrated unit that fails miserably at anything worth playing.

Other upgrade I'd like to do is memory wise. It's only 4 GB and considering I'm running 64-bit Windows I believe I'm limited to 16 GB right? I'd be more than happy with 8 GB. I know this is a simple remove and install deal, but not sure what memory to buy.

Last thing I want to upgrade are the cooling fan(s). It has one fan over the CPU and that's it. I'd like to upgrade that one plus add at least one more. Again, not sure what to buy.

Looking for recommendations that are budget friendly and that will give some good results for someone who's not a total gamer, but wouldn't mind playing some decent games once in awhile.


Below are the stock specs just so folks know what I'm dealing with.

Specifications:

Processor
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E4700

• Each core operates at 2.6GHz
• Shared 2MB L2 cache
• 800MHz system bus

Chipset
NVIDIA GeForce 7100

Memory
4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM

Hard Drive
500GB 7200RPM SATA II hard drive

Optical Drive
16X DVD±R/RW super multi drive

Media Card Reader
15-in-1 high speed digital media manager supporting the following:

• Compact Flash (CF) I, II
• IBM Microdrive (MD)
• SmartMedia Card (SMC)
• Memory Stick (MS)
• Memory Stick Duo (MS Duo)
• Memory Stick PRO (MS PRO)
• Memory Stick PRO Duo (MS PRO Duo)
• Secure Digital (SD)
• Mini Secure Digital (MiniSD)
• Multi Media Card (MMC)
• RS Multi Media Card (RS-MMC) (need adapter)
• Multi Media Plus Card (MMC Plus)
• Multi Media Mobile Card (MMC Mobile)
• xD-Picture Card (xD)

Video
NVIDIA GeForce 7100 integrated graphics
Up to 256 MB of shared video memory

Audio
Integrated 8-Channel (7.1) High Definition Audio

Network Support
Integrated Intel 10/100 Mbps Ethernet LAN

Modem
56K PCI data/fax modem

Power Supply
300 watt

Add-in Card Slots
One PCI Express ×16 (graphics interface)
One PCI Express ×1
Two PCI conventional

External Connectors
Two PS/2 ports
One HDMI port
One VGA port
Six USB 2.0 ports (two front, four rear)
One IEEE 1394 port
One network (LAN) port
Eight audio jacks (two front, six rear)

Drive Bays
Two external 5.25-inch drive bays
Six internal 3.5-inch drive bays

Operating System
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit COA Only - No Recovery CD