Help!!!! (Page 7)

OGEB1103 · Post by **OGEB1103** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 2:55 pm

Go to page 7...ignore the first posts...

Hello there...

I have a question for those people who know more about the inside of computers than me...

I'm looking to getting more RAM...At the moment i have 512MB, and are wanting to get 2GB so my games (specifically BF2142 when it comes out) run faster when i have the graphic settings up high. I already knew that my dad had installed an extra 256MB of RAM (computer came with 256 at start so in total now 512) when i put in my new graphics card a few years back (nVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 PCI 128MB DDR if it helps(not bloody likely)). I recently checked the user manual for my computer (Dell Dimension 2400 Series; again if it helps) and found that the total RAM allowed was only 1GB, and this was a real dissapointment for me. So now that i have rambled on for a bit, i'll ask the real question: Can i upgrade my computer easily so that the maximum RAM is increased?
Thankyou for listening/reading...

OGEB

geoman777 · Post by **geoman777** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 3:15 pm

I remember I had the same problem, my cap was 512 mb, and i never installed any more...

Im just wondering if you will have enough slots to hold the ram. I have 2 256 sticks in there and there is only 2 slots.

2_lowiq_clone · Post by **2_lowiq_clone** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 4:24 pm

and that is the single reason why i haven't owned a name brand PC, ever. the name brand guys don't like people upgrading their computers, so they put limits and caps on them. My computer is custom built, so I can add on to it when need be. you could probably swing around a compusa or best buy, and see if you can find a cheap stick o' ram.

Post by **[RDH]Zerted** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 4:41 pm

Memory limits are normaly based on the motherboard. Companies don't limit the amount of RAM you can use, the motherboard does that. If your motherboard is capped at 1GB, don't waste money buying more than that. You want two 512MB sitcks. Getting a newer graphics would help more for your gamming graphics, but more memory will help you in other areas if you keep many programs open.

OGEB1103 · Post by **OGEB1103** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 5:05 pm

So you're saying, get 2 x 512 sticks so 1GB of ram and then get a better graphcis card with more memory on that should work fairly similiar...

Post by **guru** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 5:26 pm

some stuff to remember, there are under 10 games that use 64 motherboards so dont bother upgrading to those mb's yet. As for vid cards no os or video game on the planet actually uses the 512mb on a 512 mb video card so a 256 pci express is perfect for any game on the market. Regarding ram get the max your mb will allow(look it up on the specs at the website for your manufact.) , probably 2 sticks of 1 gb each. 2 gb is peak and again other then mmo or bf2 type games most wont even use all of your 2gb ram.

OGEB1103 · Post by **OGEB1103** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 5:29 pm

hmmm, did u really read what i wrote guru? I have a graphics card with 128MB and my peak is 1GB, you were kinda saying that the ram i wanted to get is what you should get?!!!

2_lowiq_clone · Post by **2_lowiq_clone** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 8:43 pm

my 256 MG 9600 xtasy video card does the trick for pretty much all the games I have. shop around, and think of what you'll be doing with it. if you into gaming, an ATI 265 MG card will do it. they also make all-in-wonder 256 MG cards for T.V. and such. you might want to talk to someone at compusa for a list of other good cards, but the only brand i trust is ATI.

Post by **ShadowHawk** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 11:13 pm

Basically, yeah oge. He was laying out the maxes for you so later on if you upgrade, you won't waste money and overkill. 2x512, fastest speed your MB supports, a 256 pci-e card, if your mb supports it, 8x agp if not, (do they even make pci cards anymore? You got a rare antique there bud.

) and if you decide to gut you pretty dell and get a new case and MB, cheap soundcard (you can salvage the rest like mem, hdd, fdd, cd-rw), a path I highly recommend because of the lack of an agp slot, integrated everything, 250 watt p/s, and only 3 free pci, one being taken up by your 5200, don't get a 64-bit mb yet. It's overkill for now (at least until vista comes out).

Now that your in info overload, practically, just upgrade your ram to the 2x512 pc2700s and I don't think you can go further because I don't recall anyone making a 256 pci gfx card that's worth a dang. Could be wrong though. If you want to go further, BYO and salvage what you can to make it as cheap as possible.

xwingguy · Post by **xwingguy** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 11:43 pm

ShadowHawk wrote: (do they even make pci cards anymore? You got a rare antique there bud. )

They do. PCI is the only bus I have. (It sux)

OGEB1103 · Post by **OGEB1103** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 6:15 am

Hmmm...i sort of have a plan atm.
1. Get 2 x 512 so 1GB of ram (gonna look on ebay for some cheap ones)
2. Get a bigger moniter ( my current is 15" and res of 1024 x 768, which even with the crappy card i have atm is not big enough)
3. Get a sound card ( i found some nice ones on ebay for only £1 and they were some of the newsest ones)
4. If required get a new graphics card with more memory on that.

Anybody have any other ideas?

OGEB1103 · Post by **OGEB1103** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 6:29 am

Ah man i now realise how rubbish my comp really is:
Take a look here: http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/index.htm
This is the list of intel motherboards, if you go down the Desktop list right to the bottom, before the "Retired Intel Desktop Boards" you will see the mb that i have: Intel 845GV
I fell really sad now

Mine is the last one that they sell

Leviathan · Post by **Leviathan** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 9:01 am

One last thing anyway : According to what I may have read so far along this thread, I have not actually remarked the mentioning of Precise Details regarding the exact Technical Specifications associated to the concerned Personal Computer, although the latest Information you have talked about previously is eventually rather welcome and helpful. Indeed, if the sort of Random Access Memory handled by your current INTEL® Motherboard is really the one indicated through the above Location, then I would instead attempt getting either another Graphics Card or even a brand-new Platform intended to replace the one you are trying to upgrade...

OGEB1103 · Post by **OGEB1103** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 9:33 am

Yes that is an option i had been thinking about. Here are my pc specs if you want (this i copied out of manual)

Microprocessor
Microprocessor type: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 (2.66 GHz)
L1 cache: 8 KB first-level
L2 cache: 256- or 512-KB (displayed in the system setup program) pipelined-burst, eight-way set associative, write-back SRAM

System Information
System chip set: Intel 845GV
DMA channels: seven
Interrupt levels: 24 APIC mode
System BIOS chip: 4 Mb (512 KB)
System clock: 400- or 533-MHz data rate

Expansion Bus
Bus types: PCI
Bus speed: PCI 33 MHz
PCI connectors: three
PCI connector size: 120 pins
PCI connector data width (max): 32 bits

Memory
Architecture: DDR SDRAM
Memory connectors: two
Memory capacities: 128-, 256-, 512-MB
Minimum memory: 128 MB shared DDR SDRAM
Maximum memory: 1 GB
Memory type: PC2700 (333-MHz) DDR SDRAM (non-ECC)

Drives
Externally accessible: two 5.25-inch bays, one 3.5-inch bay
Internally accessible: one bay for 1-inch-high IDE hard drive

Ports and Connectors
Externally accessible
Serial: 9-pion connector; 16550C-compatible
Parallel: 25-hole connector (bidirectional)
Video: 15-hole connector
Keyboard: 6-pin mini-DIN connector
Mouse: 6-pin mini-DIN connector
USB: two front-panel and four back-panel USB 2.0-compliant connectors
Audio: three back miniature connectors for line-in, line-out and microphone
Headphone: one front miniature connector for line-out
Internally accessible
Primary IDE channel: 40-pin connector on PCI local bus
Secondary IDE channel: 40-pin connector on PCI local bus
Floppy drive: 34-pin connector

Video
Video controller: integrated Intel 3D Extreme Graphics

Audio
Audio controller: integrated audio

Network
Network controller: integrated 10/100 Ethernet

Controls and Lights
Power control: push button
Front-panel power light: solid green for power-on state; blinking green for standby state; amber
Hard-drive access light: green

Power
DC power supply:
Wattage: 200W or 250W
Heat dissipation: 682 or 853 BTU (fully-loaded computer without monitor)
Voltage: 100 to 120V at 60Hz; 200 to 240V at 50Hz
Backup battery: 3-V CR2032 coin cell

Physical
Height x Width x Depth: 36.8 x 18.4 x 42.6 cm
Weight: 10.4 kg

Quite a lot but might help late on

Leviathan · Post by **Leviathan** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 9:48 am

Off-topic : All these Precise Details might suffice for now, but I am henceforth wondering whether the Chipset embedded onto your current INTEL® Motherboard is indeed the one you have quoted previously, since the Specificities associated to it and the Informations you have provided to us earlier are way far from being that comparable, which is especially applicable towards the Section dealing with the kind of Physical Memory handled by your Mainboard, and that's why I would wish you to check out this Element as soon as possible, so as to make sure you won't proceed to unhelpful purchases...

OGEB1103 · Post by **OGEB1103** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 10:11 am

I think by chipset you mean my graphics card, which is a GeForce FX 5200 which i added my self so yes the specs would change afterwards cos i was just copying the specs out of the manual.

Leviathan · Post by **Leviathan** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:00 am

I was originally referring to the INTEL® Chipset exploited by your actual Motherboard, and which has incidentally appeared as being an INTEL® 845GV according to what you may have told us previously, and for that reason, I would want you to compare both the Technical Specifications supplied through this topic's previous page and the Specificities mentioned into this web-page in order to determine that the exact content of your Personal Computer's Case is way far from being actually that easy to describe...

Post by **[RDH]Zerted** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 2:14 pm

OGEB1103 wrote:...Anybody have any other ideas?

I would say:
1. Get a new graphics card (doesn't matter if has more memory or not)
2. Get 2 x 512 so 1GB of ram (I would recommend 2 sticks of the same type/brand)
3. Get a bigger moniter
4. Get a sound card (don't forget there is no point in having a sound card that outputs better quality then your speakers)

Post by **ShadowHawk** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 12:53 am

Very good advice, though I personally would switch one with two. But I also do a lot of things besides gaming. Unless you get a great deal, don't get a 5.1 or 7.1 soundcard but stick to name brands. There are a lot of cheap soundcards out there, but you get what you pay for. Changing the SC on your system is a great idea though for the integrated one taxes your cpu resorces and some of that RAM, making it sound really crappy when playing a CPU intensive game. A separate one has its own processor and ram on a self contained evironment so things sound and run better. But the reason you shouldn't go with the surround cards is exactly what Zerted said, no point in having a sound card that outputs better quality then your speakers.

If you plan to get surround speakers, make sure you have the room for proper placement. Surround is just that, surrounds you. In my comp room I could do it, it is dedicated for the computer so I can mount them anywhere I needed. But say if it was in my bedroom, placement would be very difficult because you have the bed, dresser, and comp desk occupying a limited space. If sharing a room, like a sibling or a family room like the den or living room, forget it. T.V. takes priority over computer. It gets cable

. Love that southpark, history channel, cartoon network (yes I'm a kid at heart), and sci-fi channel. (wife hates southpark. Well only one thing to say to her, "screw you guys, I'm going home."

)

OGEB1103 · Post by **OGEB1103** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 6:24 am

Well actually im starting to think of priorities in a way that makes upgrading later on less hassel. Meaning that if i bought a new graphics card i'm limited to PCI which im guessing is going out for PCI-express and if that is the case then the only 2 possibilities now would be more ram and a new moniter because at the moment i can get pretty fine quality graphics with this card but it just really slows the comp down, and i can get even better with a higher res screen. If you tell me that PCI isn't old theni will have to rethink this. I'm just trying to save money here...
I'm also thinking that perhaps getting a completely new comp will be better so can anybody recomend any better manufacturures?

Help!!!! (Page 7)

Help!!!! (Page 7)

RE: Upgrading Memory (RAM) possible?

RE: Upgrading Memory (RAM) possible?

RE: Upgrading Memory (RAM) possible?

RE: Upgrading Memory (RAM) possible?

RE: Upgrading Memory (RAM) possible?

RE: Upgrading Memory (RAM) possible?

RE: Upgrading Memory (RAM) possible?