Anyone upgraded Memory on a Dell P4?

GerryBoy · 31-01-2003 4:28am #1

Howdy,

Has anyone upgraded the memory on a P4 system?

My system is a Dimension 8100 P4 1.4 GHz with a 32MB Geforce 2 MX video card. Currently have 128 MB. System isn't the fastest - maybe its the XP pro O/S? Very sluggish running 3D games, etc.

Anyway, I know I have to stick to RDRAM (expensive!). I have had a look at what www.komplett.ie have on offer, but I was wondering if there are any pitfalls I should avoid?

As far as I know, if I want 512MB I have to buy 2 X 256's. Can I still use the 2 X 64's I have?

Cheerz,
Ger.

Dr. Dre · 31-01-2003 11:04am

Hmmm, is that graphics 'on-board' or as an AGP card ? It's a pretty low spec card if you are looking to be playing recent games, and the processor wont set the world on fire either.

I would double check to see if it is infact RDRAM that is in use, and yes I think you have to use 2 sticks of whatever RAM you get.

HTH

Occidental · 31-01-2003 12:16pm

The system has a total of 4 sockets and comes with 2 x 64mb ECC modules as standard. You can add either ECC or RDRAM in matched pairs and RDRAM will work fine with the existing ECC mem (though you will of course loose ECC functions). Max mem the system will take is 2GB. The graphics are card based, so you can swap out.

GerryBoy · 31-01-2003 8:50pm

Thanks to Occidental and the good doctor!

Fair enough - I think I'll add a GFX Card to my shopping list. Any suggestions on a good one (prefferably with TV out)?

Where would you guys recommend buying these items and what kind of description should I be looking for (for the RAM)?

I presume there is a price premium for using
ECC RAM - whats the advantage of it?

Roughly how much can I expect to pay?

Dr. Dre · 02-02-2003 1:17am

RDRAM comes in ECC & Non-ECC flavours, so no problems there.

So I'd suggest www.komplett.ie is your destination with regard to where to buy your stuff. (They have a board here under the community > comercial interaction menu)

OK, thing is they only have the memory in 128Mb sticks and you will need two of these weighing in at around €120 (total).
Komplett part number is 103266

As far as graphics cards go, well, I'll point you at what I think is the best value for money in the current day, your looking for a GeForce 4 Ti200 , it's not the latest and greatest but they are quite good value at around €170, the latest cards are too expensive at the moment in my opinion. The creative and gainward brands on the komplett website both have TV out functionality.
Komplett part numbers are 114414 & 114326
So there you go, you're nearly €300 poorer

GerryBoy · 02-02-2003 2:03am

Cheeyarz!
Thanks for the part numbers, I'll take a look at 'em.
€300? I guess I'll be looking for some overtime!

jk2001 · 09-02-2003 9:32pm

Hi GerryBoy,
U porbably went ahead with your purchase already - nevertheless, here's a few more comments:

The Dim 8100 actually shipped with non-ECC memory (well, 95% of them did) and if you use your system for normal home-use this is fine - only if this is used as a server should you consider ECC memory.

As a rule of thumb you should install the "largest" modules in the first slots in your system - which means you should insert your new 2x 256Mb in the first two slots, and move the 2x 64Mb to the 2 slots that are now occupied by C-RIMMs (the green PCB's currently in the empty slots).

This will help you get the best performance from your memory.

Btw - other Irish retailers stock the 256Mb and 512Mb versions of this RDRAM memory

Hope this is of some help....

Cheers
jayo

GerryBoy · 10-02-2003 6:25pm

Thanks Jayo,

Actually I have not made any purchases yet. If you know of a cheaper source than komplett, I'd love to hear it.

BTW, interesting info re: Non-ECC RAM. I am going to the states in a few weeks, and I was thinking of picking up some while I'm there (at least the exchange rate is relatively favourable).

Ger.

elexes · 13-02-2003 10:34am

btw if ur wondeirng dell sell the rd ram for 500 euros for 512 mb's of it . just so u know u actually saved on some cash

parasite · 17-02-2003 12:54am

hrmm ...do all dells use rdram ?? mine is only about 3 months old (2300)
is there any way to find out ????

Dr. Dre · 17-02-2003 1:05am

Not all dells use RDRAM, some can use DDR. There should be a code on he back of your PC, if you go to the support pages of dell's site you can enter this code and it should give you some information about your system.

parasite · 17-02-2003 10:48am

yeah last time i tried it, it wasn't particularly specific, something like... "your dell is good, there's a monitor, keyboard and a mouse" :rolleyes:

gah i'll try again

Dr. Dre · 17-02-2003 12:17pm

"your dell is good, there's a monitor, keyboard and a mouse"

Ok then, do a search for sisoft Sandra on google and go to the first entry and download this application, it will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about your system.

quaalude · 17-02-2003 1:57pm

If you go to http://www.kingston.com and bang in the make/model of PC you'll find all you need to know about what RAM your machine can take.

I buy RAM from http://www.everymancomputers in Dun Laoghaire by quoting this Kingston number to them.

quaalude · 17-02-2003 1:59pm

Sorry - link is -

http://www.everymancomputers.com/

parasite · 17-02-2003 2:02pm

i dunno that kingston thang only goes up to p3 dell
will try sandra later ...

quaalude · 17-02-2003 2:08pm

Kingston has P4s also.

I found the info for Dell Dimension 8100 in 2 clicks.

Saruman · 17-02-2003 2:15pm

try www.crucial.com
Should have your model listed.

parasite · 17-02-2003 2:19pm

can you find 2300 p4 ...even if you do get a result it doesn't say rd or ddr or whatever ...?

i'll go back to dell & try them again

thanks ...

edit: thx suramon, that looks about right sdram - is that any good ? how much should i look to pay for a 256 stick ???

oh and on another forum i asked about the difference bewtween ram, like say :http://komplett.ie/k/kl.asp?AvdID=1&CatID=17&GrpID=4&t=1502&l=2 there's massive fluctutations in price, is there really much difference ?

superfly · 17-02-2003 2:27pm

have you had a look at the Geforce 4 Ti 4800SE on Komplett, which seems like a great card as it is a 4600 with 8x support for about €190

Saruman · 17-02-2003 2:37pm

Hang on whats all the talk about SDRAM?? Is it not RDRAM he has?? Correct me if im wrong but there is no hope of SDRAM working in an RDRAM slot...

And Komplett does in fact have plenty of RDRAM modules of 256mb etc.. Im assuming its PC800, the standard RDRAM type... Get Dell to confirm and if so then buy it.

http://www.komplett.ie/k/kl.asp?AvdID=1&CatID=17&GrpID=2&t=483&l=2

parasite · 17-02-2003 2:41pm

i'm talking about *me* not the original poster, i went to crucial and they said sdram

i'm gonna have to get onto dell

drjolt · 17-02-2003 9:51pm

Some DELL BIOSes will tell you the type and speed of the RAM modules, look under 'memory info' or somesuch. Just today I upgraded a Precision 330 which was supplied with a pair of PC600 modules by adding a pair of PC800 modules [all non-ECC], and the system runs fine using all four.

parasite · 18-02-2003 12:35am

ok i was a little harsh on the dell website earlier

...just a bad experience ...but i ran their diagnostic thang and it says sdram ...so ummm.... yeah ....is generic good enough ? what should i look to pay for 256 ? and does the 100/133 refer to cpu's external clock speed ? or not ...ummmm
hrmmm

parasite · 18-02-2003 12:54am

so the dell thing says sdram, but intel say my chipset is rdram as do these guys http://www.memoryx.net/pc6-11210.html

Anyone upgraded Memory on a Dell P4?

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