Upgrade Dell XPS410/DXP061, or Harakiri?

[jrdegaetano]

I am trying to weigh my options and figure out what the most cost effective route to go would be. I have found nothing but contradicting information that has only made this decision more agonizing...and I just need someone to give it to me straight. I use my PC for music production. It is far from adequate for this kind of use in it's current state IMO. I run several large VSTs, Cubase 5, Reason 5, and FL Studio all at once, and things just drag. Here are the specs:

-Dell Dimension DXP061 (Purchased under the name "Dell XPS 410")
-Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz 2.39 GHz (Number of processer cores: 4)
-4 GB Ram (PC2-5300 4X1GB Sticks with 2 dual-channel slots)
-288 GB Internal Hard Drive
-NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS (Stock GFX Card died, and I replaced it with this less than a year ago)
Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit (64-bit capable/compatible)
-Windows Vista 32-bit

I am going to make this very simple, because I am so tired of obsessing over this.

Is there any point in spending the money on Windows 7 full install (upgrade to 64-bit ofcourse), getting a larger/faster hard drive, and ATTEMPTING to upgrade RAM (I say attempt because there is conflicting information as to whether it is possible or not)?

Should I just spend a bit more, buy a new MOBO, and CPU practically using my current system for parts?

Or should I buy THIS for roughly $500: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Gateway...rive/3155928.p?id=1218380518359&skuId=3155928

I am literally losing sleep over this. Please help.

 

[c627627]

This is overclockers so i7 quad core or better plus after market heatsink to overclock it plus mobo is the way to go.

DDR3 RAM is frequently on sale ; just a quick look: 8GB of RAM $35, or if you do 32-Bit Windows, just use half that.

I would keep an eye out on hot deals forums and classifieds.


Get an SSD, even if it's just 60GB.

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Intel i7 950 [206] BCLK x 20 = 4.12 GHz @ [1.4000] CPU Voltage & [1.35000] QPI/DRAM Uncore Voltage, Batch 3029A40
3 x 1GB G.SKIL DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) [DDR3-1691MHz] 10-10-10-24 @ 1.64 DRAM Bus Voltage
ASUS P6T Deluxe v.1 [LGA 1366 Intel X58] BIOS 2209
Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme 1366 RT with 120mm Scythe S-Flex F fan
nVidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti PNY XLR8 1GB GDDR5 822MHz Core Clock
OCZ Agility 60GB SSD
Asus Xonar DX sound card
Antec nine hundred case, two front 120mm fans, one back 120mm Fan, one top 200mm fan
Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750W