Upgrade advice for a technophobe

Good morning/afternoon/evening gents.

For the past few months, I have been having some... well, I wouldn't call them problems as such, but "disappointments" with my dear computer. While it runs as sweet as a roasted chestnut when doing everyday tasks such as browsing etc, she seems to be substantially less punchy when playing games. Frames per second in the tens of... ones. Settings on the "abacus" level etc.

A friend of mine has taken a good look at my system innards and (aside from recoiling in mock disgust and uttering such sentiments as "you played Grand Theft Auto Four on this thing?") highlighted a few areas that could raise quality levels from "tolerable" to "comfortable".

For reference, my system specs are:

Anyhoo, he noted two major, relatively painless and comparatively easy areas to make improvements to, namely the RAM and adding a video card. As my budget isn't unspeakably opulent, limited to around £50 at the moment, he suggested it would be far better to get a notable upgrade in one area rather than a titchy sidegrade in another. So, in deference to this advice, I did a deal of research. The main problems, as I saw them, were power demands, and, of course, price. It's a damn confusing market...

I came up with this, seems to tick both of my boxes in terms of performance and cost, but I'm not one hundred percent sure as to whether or not it will work with my hardware.

So, as this sort of thing is you chaps' bread, butter and jam, I have three questions:
1) Is this a decent product that is value for money?
2) Will it work (in respect to my system specs)?
3) Would better quality RAM be a better investment?

Really appreciate any advice you'd be capable of giving, a thousand thanks for your time!

 

1) yes
2) yes
3) no

 

also follow these instructions if it doesn't work out of the box, seems the bios on the inspiron 660 is a bit retarded

 

Dell actually use pretty high quality PSUs, certainly capable of their rated wattage, and 300w is more than enough

 

Card's arrived, along with some compressed air to give the old dear a clean up.

Fitted it properly, but it doesn't seem to be displaying an image, even though it's taking power from the supply (the fan's turning). Going to go ahead and follow the instructions from the link, unless it's any different.

*EDIT* Er, it doesn't seem to have the options listed in the link... any ideas?

For the record, have tried

• Disabling the Intel driver from the Device Manager and connecting the GPU
• Starting in safe mode with the GPU connected

But it isn't displaying an image either way. When I connect the cable into the motherboard video output (with the gpu in), it also doesn't display an image

 

Forgive me for "double-posting", but do I need to update the "BIOS" for my motherboard to get these options?

 

Can you post photos of all your BIOS options?

 

For sure! (Apologies for the low quality!) If you need any specific option expanded, please do say!

 

Check through the additional pages under the Advanced tab, and also try Boot Mode on UEFI if you haven't already

 

First and foremost, here are the options as you'll probably be able to make more sense of them than I will.
The same thing happens with UEFI however, the card is in, but it's not displaying video. Nor is the motherboard vga slot giving an image either... unless I have to select something from the UEFI options?

 

You're several BIOS updates behind, so this may help:

http://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER01810517M/1/Inspiron 660 Vostro 270 BIOS A11.exe


(That link is for the Inspiron 660, not the 660S in case that's what you have)

 

OK! Update successful, though the architecture is a bit too modern for my tastes . Now follow the guide you originally suggested?