Greetings,
It's weird seeing a 2015 post on a super old system, but I've just received a Vostro 200 Mini Tower for free from a friend.
Specs are as follow:
Windows 10 Pro 32-bit
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 @ 2.2 GHz
2 x 1GB DDR2-667 RAM
160GB HDD
Foxconn G33M02 Motherboard
300W PSU
and some random GPU that doesn't want to show itself on CPU-Z.
I've gone and done some research on my motherboard. (FYI this is my first PC, lame, I know, lol). It seems that the best CPU that this mobo can support is the Core 2 Duo series. (the other Foxconn G33M03 supports the Core 2 Quad series).
People also have said that the G33M02's max RAM capacity is 4GB (and 8GB for G33M03). AFTER MORE RESEARCH, I found a post saying that BOTH the G33M02 and G33M03 can support up to 8GB (1 x 8GB, 2 x 4GB, 4 x 2GB DDR2-667/800) However, 8GB support on the G33M02 only happens when you have a 64-bit OS.
I've also found out that Dell doesn't allow users to overclock their CPUs :( So that leaves me no choice but to use the highest end CPU from the Core 2 Duo series, E8600 (most probably the E8400 though). And for that to work out, I have to update the BIOS to ver 1.0.18.
BIOS update: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=N73YW&osCode=WLH&fileId=2731108828&languageCode=en&categoryId=BI&dgc=SM&cid=266807&lid=4921532
If the above information are correct, my plans are to hopefully upgrade this system to the following specs:
Windows 10 Pro/Home 64-bit
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400/E8600 @ 3.0 GHz/3.3GHz
4 x 2GB DDR2-800 RAM
500GB+ HDD
Foxconn G33M02 Motherboard
500W PSU
and some random GPU (I have yet to find a candidate)
How does it sound for an old system? :D I *** it can survive for at least 2 years xD
I was also wondering if I could update the BIOS using Windows 10 (the website ^ only said Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows 2000, NT, Windows 9X, Windows ME or a MS DOS environment)
Sorry for the long post, any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you very much :)