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Hello Ladles and jellyspoons

So I am thinking about upgrading my computer a bit, nothing too snazzy as this will be me dipping my toe into the world of PC gaming. Currently I only play Dawn of War and my Son uses it for Minecraft, Counter strike, not sure which one, Warframe and another MMO which name escapes me. None of which are particularly intensive on the system, but would be nice to maybe get a bit more game going on.

The system I have is a Dell Optiplex 980 which I use for work. It's not too bad, it has an i7 980 cpu and came with an ATI HD 4550 which I have replaced with a spare ATI HD 4650 I had. The PSU is a mere 255w though so if I want to do anything in regards to getting a better gpu I am going to have to replace that. It's also got an odd number of RAM in it at the moment at 7gb.

First of all I was going to upgrade the PSU to this:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/600w-corsair-cxm-builder-series-hybrid-modular-80-plus-bronze-1x120mm-atx-psu

or this:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/530w-be-quiet!-pure-power-l8-hybrid-modular-80-plus-bronze-1x120mm-atx-v231-psu

Then my chief concern was RAM. I've been advised that this:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-(2x4gb)-corsair-value-select-ddr3-pc3-10666-(1333)-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-9-9-9-24-15v

Is the best bet, but looking on Crucial it says this:
http://uk.crucial.com/gbr/en/optiplex-980-mini-tower/CT4056395

But I was looking at something like these myself:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-corsair-ddr3-vengeance-low-profile-jet-black-pc3-12800-%281600%29-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-9-9-9-24-xm

Am I on the right track? I can do a bit myself on computers, but it's a bit of minefield for a newbie like me. I don't have the funds to go out and buy a brand new custom built PC unfortunately. Once I have got these parts out of the way, what's a good mid range gpu I could get? If I am going about this the wrong way and I can just upgrade the RAM and gpu with the existing psu, what are good ones to consider?

What else should I be thinking about before throwing money into this?

Thanks for your time

I'd definitely recommend the 600w Corsair for the PSU.

Thanks M_B.

Now just for the RAM and GPU.

The 7GB of RAM suggests an on-board GPU. It'll have taken 1GB for itself.
But you saw it's a mismatched set. That wants matching up, as pairs work better. You might want to take the 7GB out, and add 4xGB if money allows.

As long as the Mobo has 4 slots, adding more RAM is the easiest way to boost the PC.
This says there's room:
http://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~phys191r/Bench_Notes/optiplex-980-tech-guide.pdf

When getting a PSU, make sure it has the 4-pin plug for the motherboard.

Also, I always try to get data and games off my boot-drive. It lets the pagefille work better, and games pull data up quicker in some cases.
An extra hard drive can be mounted as a folder, and doesn't have to be a new drive letter.

It's random ram because of the way I put it in It only had 4gb in it so I took out a gb and put in a spare 4gb I had.

I'm having a bit of a mare with the PSU as Dell, the barstewards, adopt their own 24 pin mini atx to fit to the mobo, so it doesn't look like I am going to be able to upgrade that, unless I start rewiring stuff.

There are some 24-pin (or 20+4) lines availablle as part of some PSUs. I think the one I got from Thermaltake (?) do them, as all lines are swappable on that one.
Try this kind of thing:
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/products-model.aspx?id=C_00002132

Quad-SLI Titans. Go hard or go home.

 Skinnereal wrote:
There are some 24-pin (or 20+4) lines availablle as part of some PSUs. I think the one I got from Thermaltake (?) do them, as all lines are swappable on that one.
Try this kind of thing:
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/products-model.aspx?id=C_00002132

This is the problem I am having

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Quad-SLI Titans. Go hard or go home.

In an ideal world that would be lovely but in reality I think I would risk burning down my house or perhaps bankrupting myself.

I had to wait for a Gran to dump inheritance on us before I went SLI.

I see your problem with the power. It's the main reason I won't buy a name-brand PC. As long as it's a standard size, you should be able to find an upgrade. Eventually.

 Skinnereal wrote:


I see your problem with the power. It's the main reason I won't buy a name-brand PC. As long as it's a standard size, you should be able to find an upgrade. Eventually.

Luckily I didn't have to buy it.

Cheers for the help