upgrading a dell,

weeder

ive gotten myself a 9150 and i want to upgrade it, ocuk look the best ive seen so far, i wanna get 2Gb ram and the x1950 sapphire radeon 512Mb card which would come to 265 before delivery,how much is delivery and with that kind of upgrade will i need a new psu,, im not used to upgrading newer machines so is that upgrade worth it, currently it has an x600 with 256Mb ram and 512Mb pc4300 and a 160GB sata drive


the ram i plan to get is also pc4300 but instead of 266MHz ram(which is now installed) its 533MHZ any problems there? it has a 3.0GHz P4 ht cpu 64 bit so i feel it doesnt need an upgrade yet although i can easily pop a coure2duo in when the time comes, opinions and advice please and tell me if im going wrong anywhere


thank
sean

papu

delivery is about 20 euros afaik, no need to upgrade the cpu id say
are you sure its 266 ram ? my dell came with pc 4200 i taught they all did?

afaik i probly wont take core twos , mine seems a very similar set up
p4 3ghz x600 160gig hdd and the mobo wont take core dous , Other than that it seems ok

weeder

it was pc4300 266 MHz ill take a cpuz screenshot later

papu

ive never heard of pc 4300 only 4200 and it runs at 533mhz

weeder

i though i might have posted it in error but no! this is deffo 4300 at 266mhz

weeder

cash is tight so upgrading might be a whileaway but ill up the ram anyway, if i get 2 x512Mb sticks can i cobine it with my 512MB(2x256MB) to make 1.5GB ram?

papu

yeah but if you get higher speed ram they will drop down and run at the speed of the slowest ram in your pc (266) tbh get a decent pair of 533 or 667 ram itl make a heck of a difference

weeder

do you recommend anything in particular?

weeder

i was thinking of 2 of this http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=301116 which is 230 so i have 120 or so left for a graph card, forgot to mention im on a budget of 300 :P so im graphics cards somthing like this http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=326553 or this http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=326554


i want a 512MB card moreso so thats first choice although i dont know which is better, thats the absolute max i cant spend,4GB may seem a little extravagent but i want it although i could get a better card for the extra 115 but the most graphic intensive thing ill do is game and id think most if not all games would run fairly well on that card, i dunno someone advise me :P

papu

the ram looks good , komplett is down atm but il post links in the mornin , DO NOT go for 4gbs of ram seriously its a bad decision i know it sounds good but there is not difference unless you open in excess of 200+ firefox browsers at the same time , save the extra 115 euros and blow the 235 on an nvidea 8800gts 320mb edition its a beast of a card dx10 and everything i think the card is 250-270 euros soo yer a little over budget but its well worth the investment

8T8

You have what's called DDR-2 533 in the system.

If you wish to keep the existing DDR-2 533 512MB then you will need to purchase some RAM of the same speed to ensure compatibility.

The Corsair Value DDR-2 533 2GB kit you linked to will work with it.

However I would recommend saving money and get this Crucial DDR-2 533 1GB kit for €63 instead as it is cheaper & with 1.5GB of RAM {if you keep the current stuff} will really be sufficient all tasks.

If your budget is €350 and the RAM takes €63 out leaving €287 that still leaves enough to pick up a good card.

The X1950 Pro is a good choice card which you can grab for around €200 at various e-tailors however here are some other picks if you save money on the RAM;

X1950 Pro 512MB €236
X1950XT 512MB €249

An 8800GTS may not work due to the fact hat the Dell has a 375W PSU which may not be enough to power the GPU, it is difficult to call.

Also keep in mind that NVIDIA is launching it's mid-range DX10 cards soon though performance of a 8600GTS may be on par with the X1950 Pro so all your getting is DX10 support.

ATI are also launching their high end DX10 products at the end of this month I believe though whether there is anything in your price range is hard to say and they are supposed to be power hungry which would entail a new PSU.

Anyway best price/performance part is the X1950XT €249 512MB if you want to know at this very moment.

papu

well the x1950xt says it needs a 500W psu http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=332346&view=detailed

Peripheral / Interface Devices CD-ROM, 500W power supply

The 8800gts 320 mb says it only needs a 400W psu http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=332345&view=detailed

Peripheral / Interface Devices CD-ROM, 400W power supply

however the 8800 is 30 euros more expensive.

if you can wait till the 8600 and the like come out they'll be much better bang for bucks

8T8

I would not take those numbers as the absolute correct requirements.

A 8800GTS 320MB draws a bit more power than an X1950XT under load, the Dell PSU has the PCI-e power connector which is why the X1950XT might be just be enough (plus it's cheaper & as fast as an 8800GTS 320 in many games), the X1950 Pro is the safe bet but even if the X1950XT proves too much you have a bit of money left in the budget for a new PSU.

If weeder is willing to go over budget a 8800GTS 320MB is a powerful card but the cheapest is around €300.

Anti

8T8 wrote:

You have what's called DDR-2 533 in the system.

If you wish to keep the existing DDR-2 533 512MB then you will need to purchase some RAM of the same speed to ensure compatibility.

The Corsair Value DDR-2 533 2GB kit you linked to will work with it.

However I would recommend saving money and get this Crucial DDR-2 533 1GB kit for €63 instead as it is cheaper & with 1.5GB of RAM {if you keep the current stuff} will really be sufficient all tasks.

If your budget is €350 and the RAM takes €63 out leaving €287 that still leaves enough to pick up a good card.

The X1950 Pro is a good choice card which you can grab for around €200 at various e-tailors however here are some other picks if you save money on the RAM;

X1950 Pro 512MB €236
X1950XT 512MB €249

An 8800GTS may not work due to the fact hat the Dell has a 375W PSU which may not be enough to power the GPU, it is difficult to call.

Also keep in mind that NVIDIA is launching it's mid-range DX10 cards soon though performance of a 8600GTS may be on par with the X1950 Pro so all your getting is DX10 support.

ATI are also launching their high end DX10 products at the end of this month I believe though whether there is anything in your price range is hard to say and they are supposed to be power hungry which would entail a new PSU.

Anyway best price/performance part is the X1950XT €249 512MB if you want to know at this very moment.

Id have to agree on the graphics card, but dont bother with a reference model, the stock cooler on them is seriously loud. If you can get one with a aftermarket cooler on it to keep noise down.

Q_Ball

Sorry to ressurect an old post but i've a bit of a problem.

My brother has a dimension 5150 and i'm looking to upgrade his graphics card. I was looking at this http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=327296. Will it need an upgraded PSU too?

if so, will this one do?
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=320546.

its 500w which should be more than enough power. I'm just worried because i heard that dell units use proprietry psu and that different ones fry the mobo.

I'd rather not get into the isuue of potentially blowing up his pc

papu

dell psus are totally different size wise , youll need a new case , and mobo, try an 8600 when they come out in a week or two

Q_Ball

an 8600? wouldnt be getting vista so is a DX10 card worth it really? would it work with a dell standard psu? essentially all thats wanted is a new gfx card

papu

well b4 you go looking for gfx's it would be handy to find how big your psu is, open up the case and take a gander or check your papers which you bought it with it mightnt be able to handel any

btw could you post full stats of pc?

cpu, ram,

TerrorFirmer

You will need to upgrade your psu. The 5150 only has a 305w psu so the only type of cards you would get away with are the 7600GT or X1650XT class cards. An X1950Pro would be too much. As for changing the psu, you might have to take a few tools to the case to make it fit.

Don't bother with an 8600. The Performance to price ratio is terrible. I'd stick with a 7600GT - you won't need to mess around with any new power supplies and it's probably 3 times faster then whatever is in there at the moment, which is probably either an Fx5200, X300 or X600. All of which are hugely inferior to either of the two cards I've mentioned that would work straight out of the box.

Q_Ball

7600GT it is so! thanks guys

8T8

7600GT it is so! thanks guys

Just to chime in you don't need Vista for a DX10 card it works in DX9 as well, under XP it just will operate as a Direct-X 9 card.

An 8600GT is faster than a 7600GT by a small amount but enough to warrant getting one given that it offers better image quality, faster performance for relatively the same price.

Get this 8600GT for €149 it does not need external power either so it will run just fine in the 5150.

TerrorFirmer

Sorry, my mistake there. I didn't realise the 8600GT was that cheap...suppose the 8600 series isn't that bad then for people making the jump from very old cards to newer ones.

8T8

Yeah the 8600GT is a modest improvement over the 7600GT and they seem to be coming in at the same price, the 8600GTS is another kettle of fish & very much over priced for what it delivers.

papu

the 8600 can be overclocked to insane speeds ive there was a thread of one up to 1000mhz on here eariler

gamer

My advice is get 2gig ram and run all your games on it.Like bf2142 ,fear etc if they run fast in high resolution ,use the money saved to buy a large lcd monitor or a larger hard drive.Unless you are doing video editing ,i dont think 4gig will be significantly faster as opposed to 2gig ram.I presume you are running windows xp.

DirkVoodoo

OCUK delivery is £22 sterling which works out closer to €33. Not cheap but they are a good company in my dealings with them.

weeder

I went and have ordered 2Gb of ram 2x1024

should i put this in as 2x1024 and 2x512 or 1024,512,1024,512 im not sure, can someone help me

thanks
sean

uglyjohn

am i the only one who finds all this really confusing? maybe im just an idiot

how in gods name do you guys keep track of all the different card and types of ram? i have started trawling these types of forums with a view to building my own computer in about a year and its pretty damn intimidating!


anyway, keep up the good work and i will be back in a while asking advice for myself!

8T8

It's usually an inherent interest in computers/technology that allows you to keep track as without that interest the whole thing is a big mess.

Most rely on review sites that evaluate the components and over time you build up a big picture of what goes well and what doesn't.

If you have any questions about a build or if your upgrading an existing Dell system do start a new thread & mention your budget which is always helpful.

weeder

well thanks for all the help guys, wikipedia told me that i need to have the same size in each bank 0 and bank1 for it to be in dual channel but without your help id still be trying to select some ram lol

gamer

Go to crucial ram website ,click scan my pc.It tells you what type of ram you need EXACTLY, ie ddr 2 speed 2700 type ,for example.Prbly 2 one gig dimms, one in each slot.GET the fastest ram that works in your pc mobo,i think my laptop ram is ddr 512 speed 333.ITtells you the max ram that will fit in your pc,though i think 2gig is fine for winxp.get ram dimmtype ,speed that is compatible with your mobo.