Greetings!

I've got an older Dell Dimension 8200 2.53Ghz P4. 256mb ram. 5.1 Santa Cruz sound, 128mg GeForce mx400.

It is getting a little out of date and am looking to upgrade. I can't play many of the new games and the ones I can play are a little lack-luster. I could purchase a whole new system, but would like the challenge and experience of doing it myself.

I want to upgrade the processor, HD, Video card, memory etc.

As this is my first try at this, any one have any suggestions? I'd like to get it up to date as best as I can.

Can I use my current Motherboard and upgrade to a new processor (Intel Duo or Quad Core)?

Also like to upgrade the memory? Any recommendations? Also does this require a new motherboard as well? (SDRAM DDR2)

How do I go about beginning this adventure?

You won't be able to do too many upgrades to that. Be reserching the technical specs for that computer you can see that it is only designed for a P4 processor & not even for one too much faster than what it already has [2.8 according to dell]. MBs have differing socket types which determines what kind of processor you can get how fast of one it can handle. Does that make sense? You can't use a Core 2 processor in that computer.

You can put up to 2 gb of ram in it however you have to pick out just the right ram. Again, look trough the documentation.

This computer only has an AGP slot for a video card however that isn't the newest or best slot for video; PCI-express is what you want to use today.

The hard drives have to be IDE/PATA but the fastest today are all SATA.

I hope you can see that if you have the money & want a good computer then your best bet (if you want to build one) is to start from scratch or buy another one. You can't do too much with that computer. What you should consider is what you want to do with your new computer & how much you want to spend.

Thank you for the help. I primarily want to use the 'puter for gaming/downloading/media applications. I looks like this puppy is too far gone to upgrade, from your post.

Seemingly, the prices are fairly comparable if I were to purchase a ready made system, orif I were to build one myself. Of course, the sky's the limit and who knows how much I'll be able to afford...

If I were to do one myself, is that case salvagable?

Thanks!

Dell typically makes strange cases that sometimes don't conform to standardized MB types (& I can't tell if this one conforms or not) so it's probably best to replace it as well with one that does conform. Besides if the sky's the limit why not pay a little more get a better, cooler looking case? Also that case's power supply isn't that powerful so in order for you to build a more powerful computer that would have to be replaced as well.

Side note, I like newegg.com for purchasing hardware. Very well organized site with competitive prices & fast sometimes free shipping.