How to make a Gateway DX4200-09 into a decent gaming rig

First things first;

take the side off the computer (usually the left side when looking at it from the front) and you should be able to see the parts inside (if all you see is a metal panel, then take the other side off). Where the power goes in, but inside, is a box, which should have a sticker on it. Browse the sticker until you find the watt rating (written as something like 450W or Output: 450W). We need this figure before we can help you upgrade the hardware (it gives us an idea of what hardware your computer can power, and whether or not we need to advise you to get a higher rated one).

Overclocking can make your computer faster, however it needs improved cooling, shortens the life of your processor and can cause system instability so it's not really recommended. Basically it involves tweaking the low level processor speed and voltage settings to get a slight (~10%) improvement; some processors overclock better than others and some don't overclock at all. My advice for you as a newbie is don't go there.

Your processor is 1.8Ghz. It is only 7.2Ghz effective, this means if your software is 4-way SMP (symmetric multiprocessor) capable, you'll get the full 7.2Ghz, otherwise the main difference is being able to do more stuff at once. Most software is not SMP capable (video editing and 3D modeling/animation software generally is). This could be a potential candidate for upgrade; however we need to consider other things as well (notably the power supply and cooling arrangements).

Your graphics card almost definitely needs upgrading, I believe it is an entry level one (Equitypetey would have to confirm as I'm a bit out of touch with the ATI numbering system)

I would also suggest downgrading the OS, I'm not a fan of vista, and there's a tendency for 64bit OS versions to have issues running 32bit programs (most programs are 32bit)
if you're worried about legalities then the vista license actually allows you to use XP on the vista license (it's called a downgrade right). Avoid XP 64bit at all costs, the drivers and application compatibility are absolutely terrible.

 

300W is bad, and the asian writing is also worrying in its own way. Basically, if a power supply gets too close to it's rated output, it can fail (if it goes over, it will fail). There are a number of ways that it can happen, but some of them involve surging and damaging other components. 'cheap' or 'unbranded' power supplies are statistically more likely to fail below the rated output. I assume yours is unbranded, because major brands label their PSUs in English if they are for sale in English speaking markets. Regardless, if it was branded it would have one of the following names on in large writing: 'OCZ', 'ThermalTake', 'CoolerMaster', 'Antec', 'Seasonic', 'Silverstone' or 'Corsair'

I would not upgrade any of your hardware without getting a new PSU. 300W is dangerously close to what your computer draws, even for a branded supply. In fact, doing something highly processor intensive (some kind of graphics/video rendering or transcoding) could cause a fail. I would suggest at least a 500W in your system. I generally try to have at least 150W between what my computer uses (as measured by something like http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=38343) and what my PSU is capable of outputting. This gives me room to upgrade, plus reduces the chance of a fail if it happens to have an under rated threshold. Thus, I have a 600W PSU, and my computer generally draws around 335W. Power supplies are not something you skimp on, as I said in the previous paragraph, every time a PSU fails there's a chance of it taking something else with it, so by getting a power supply with a higher rating than you think you need, and made by one of the above mentioned brands, you have done what you can to minimise the chance of it failing.

Downgrading to XP should not cause major problems; you may need to make a slipstreamed disk with your hard disk drivers on as I imagine it's SATA and Windows XP setup does not natively recognise a lot of SATA controllers. If that is the case then I can help with that since I've done it before. (actually have one with virtually all hard disk drivers already in it; I've had a number of people wanting me to downgrade their vista to XP).

 

generally changing the power supply involves disconnecting all the internal cables, removing a few screws and then doing it again backwards to put the new one in. Is there any chance I can have a photo of the case and power supply (there's different shapes and sizes, and I need to make sure its not a custom one, otherwise you're probably stuck)

 

shape was more of an issue but that looks to me like a perfectly standard ATX power supply, which are nice and easy to replace.

Now the important bit is determining what kind of power supply you need (ATX is the physical form factor).

the way to determine this is by the cables plugged into the motherboard (the big PCB).

There should be a big long one, this is a standard 20+4 pin (or 24 pin, if it looks like it splits in two near one end its 20+4). In addition, there should be one or more of the following:

a separate 4 pin connector
an 8 pin connector (or two 4 pins plugged into the same socket)

Let me know which there is. additionally, let me know if there's a 6 pin power plug going into the graphics card.

All plugs have two rows of pins.

 

32bit, 2k3 enterprise doesn't need 64bit to address more than 4GB of ram.

 

correct, that is an ATX12V+ connector.

Probably, look on the back of the case and if its what the monitor is plugged into then that is the video card.


The next step if you want to proceed is to find a suitable power supply. You need an ATX powersupply of at least 500W output capacity that has the required connectors (24 or 20+4 pin ATX, 4pin ATX12V/CPU12V) and a 6 pin PCI-E connector (you'll need at least one, maybe two, for a better graphics card). it must also be made by one of the companies I mentioned above. Your favourite online store should allow you to narrow by watt rating, beyond that it might be a case of reading description/specification pages. Remember you're not after cheap, but it doesn't need to be hugely expensive. (I wouldn't go less than £45-50, or $50). If you're not sure post links here and someone will check the spec for you.

 

I would suggest the Antec TruePowerTrio 550W (Item # 4991681)

You are currently using onboard video, this means the video processing chip is actually part of the motherboard. These chips lack the grunt of their add-in counterparts

You will notice right below the CPU there is a long black slot, this is a PCI-E x16 slot for an add-in graphics card.

There are two major graphics card manufacturers, ATI and Nvidia. (neither actually sell cards though). I personally am a long time Nvidia user, and find they perform better than ATI, however some people, such as equitypetey, disagree with me.

If you tell us what kind of games you'll be playing (give examples), how frequently, and what sort of quality you want them in, we'll be able to work out which cards you want to chose between.

As ATI and Nvidia do not sell their own cards (unless you're lucky and get a reference model). the cards are rebranded with another company name, followed by either geforce (if its nvidia) or radeon (if ATI) then the model code. With graphics cards, there are one or two manufacturers to avoid, such as evga and sparkle, other than that it doesn't really matter, although BFG and XFX tend to be favoured by gamers (they cost correspondingly more though).

 

I run a Geforce 8800GTX (nvidia reference model as it happens). It's not the newest card available, but I've not found anything it can't run on full settings yet. basically, you need a midrange or high end card, and theres a particular code with nvidia cards. The first number is the series, don't get anything lower than 8. the second number is the market, i.e low end, mid range, high end. You want a 6 or and 8. the letters on the end denote what level the card is and from worst to best are as follows: GS, GTS, GT, GTX, GTX Ultra. I would suggest you ideally get a GT or higher.

BUT WAIT. There is a catch. Following the 9 series, nvidia changed the numbering system. So if you see a geforce 260 GTX, or 280 GTX, these are actually currently the best cards on the market (as you may have determined from the cost). the 260 is a midrange, the 280 high end.

Now I would wait for Equitypetey to make a suggestion or two from ATI's range, and then you can choose for yourself.