First post, by Neco
This is going to be a long-winded post. If you don't like TL;DR then just hit the back button. Thanks.
So as some may have noticed, I picked up a Dell Dimension V350 for $9 from a thrift store. It was tagged as parts, but as far as I can tell it does work. I've been inside the BIOS, its just the floppy wasn't hooked up and it came with no hard drive. I can easily remedy those two.
The greater question becomes, should I leave this machine as-is and simply see about adding my Voodoo2 or something into it, then start a second more powerful build.... or dump money into this one?
The problem for me is, this is a Dell Dimension case, the badge says V350. I have a Pentium III 1Ghz socket 370 mounted to a slocket adapter already on the way. This motherboard is PCI/ISA only. 100Mhz FSB only, and I think RAM maxes at 384MB. I'm not even sure it will let the CPU run @ 1ghz or not; and the idea of not having the retention brackets (brand new older model does come with them for $17 but I got this deal for $40) kind of bothers me.
What bothers me the most I guess is the idea of ripping the motherboard out and replacing it with something else. Like a better Socket 370 board with AGP, better RAM and probably a better chipset.. Because the outside of the case says Dell Dimension V350 - it just feels fraudulent to me??
I have never personally owned a pre-built branded system before. I have only had case/mobo/cpu brand badges on my cases, not a company like Dell and not a specific model. To be quite honest I like this case. It is slim for the hardware it houses, not too tall, and running minimal accessories wouldn't be too cramped inside.
But it just feels wrong.. I mean hell, you could argue changing the CPU is wrong too, because the branding is tied to it.. Like putting a ferrari engine inside a ford or something dumb, although the car analogy isnt perfect because even cars have come with engine options... I'm not even sure the PSU could handle major upgrades due to its age. I don't even know if its standard ATX or something like that either, and there seems to be at least a little proprietary crap going on.
i've still got a spare case from my unfinished intended DOS machine (really want a backplate for that FIC mobo), I could find a cheap ATX PSU and socket 370 board and just go with that I guess... I'm kind of like.... meh, I don't wanna end up spending a few hundred.
PCI cards seem incredibly rare to find on ebay, (all i see are AGP and PCI-E cards tagged as PCI) unless you are a masochist looking for ATI products... I was hoping to find some old Geforce4 MX stuff (not the 4000 !!!!), PCI, for under $30 but maybe that's wishful thinking. I'd be happy with the machine if I could get a good PCI card, max out the ram, and get a significant CPU boost. Just weary of getting sucked into the money trap.
The intent here is Windows 98se/Windows XP era games.
Should I let it sit? Use it down the road, and just plan out and save for a socket 370 build to use on the CPU I have on the way? Anyone got a good PCI card to sell me? 🤣
What do you guys think.