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NY22
@mindspring.com

NY22

Anon

Looking to upgrade my Dell Dimension 2400 to the max!

Does anyone know what I can do to upgrade my Dell Dimension 2400 to it's maximum performance rate. Right now I've got two optical drives: DVD-ROM and DVD-RAM, 2 GB of RAM (two sticks of 512) running in Single-Channel mode, a 400 GB hard drive, a Dell Multimedia Keyboard and Dell Optical Mouse, a 17 Inch Dell Flat Panel monitor and a pair of 2.1 Dell speakers, and finally I'm using a Intel Pentium 4 2.80 Ghz Processor. This computer works great for me but as far as the main components go (Audio, Network, and Video) I'm using all of the ones intergrated onto the board. I was wondering if anyone could give me any suggestions as to how to max out this Entry-level PC that I've owned for so long and that works great for what I need it to work for. Just a few ideas of what I'm looking to buy are bellow:

Audio: »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 29102005

Network: »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 33124107

Video: »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 14129062

Basically I'm trying to go as far as I can with this system. Everything else seems to be working perfectly fine but I want to try and upgrade this machine as far as I go. I use the computer mostly for a little bit of everything, hope that helps. I'm definitly trying to get a good Video Card (the best one I can get for PCI slots [yes I know, it sucks] as I'm looking into starting to do Video editing. All help is appreciated, thanks in adavnce.
NY22

NY22

Anon

Oh and that's another thing. My system only takes DDR-SDRAM, would that mean that the Graphics Card that I have choosen that has GDDR2 RAM on it wouldn't work since there is DDR2 on the Graphics board and the system RAM is DDR-SDRAM? Will this work?
pandora
Premium Member
join:2001-06-01
Outland

pandora to NY22

Premium Member

to NY22
said by NY22 :

Does anyone know what I can do to upgrade my Dell Dimension 2400 to it's maximum performance rate. Right now I've got two optical drives: DVD-ROM and DVD-RAM, 2 GB of RAM (two sticks of 512) running in Single-Channel mode, a 400 GB hard drive, a Dell Multimedia Keyboard and Dell Optical Mouse, a 17 Inch Dell Flat Panel monitor and a pair of 2.1 Dell speakers, and finally I'm using a Intel Pentium 4 2.80 Ghz Processor. This computer works great for me but as far as the main components go (Audio, Network, and Video) I'm using all of the ones intergrated onto the board. I was wondering if anyone could give me any suggestions as to how to max out this Entry-level PC that I've owned for so long and that works great for what I need it to work for. Just a few ideas of what I'm looking to buy are bellow:

Audio: »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 29102005

Network: »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 33124107

Video: »www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 14129062

Basically I'm trying to go as far as I can with this system. Everything else seems to be working perfectly fine but I want to try and upgrade this machine as far as I go. I use the computer mostly for a little bit of everything, hope that helps. I'm definitly trying to get a good Video Card (the best one I can get for PCI slots [yes I know, it sucks] as I'm looking into starting to do Video editing. All help is appreciated, thanks in adavnce.
I am in the process, of upgrading my old Dell Dimension 2400's. The upgrade is not a new video card, or more memory, or hard drive or anything else. The upgrade is to a Dell E520 or E521. I've elected to go the E521 route.

The Dimension 2400 is older technology, without an AGP slot or any PCI express slots. Only a PCI video card can be plugged in, it will never have very decent video performance.

My suggestion is to save on any upgrade to any component of the Dell Dimension 2400 you have, and keep checking xpbargains, slickdeals, fatwallet and what not looking for a great price on a Dell E520 or E521. You will be amazed at the improvement, even if you go for a new system with an integrated graphics controller. Later you'll have at least some choice of a more modern video controller.

Note however, that the Dimension E520 and E521 are restricted to single slot PCI express video cards and cannot do anything very fancy by modern standards.

However the new Dell Dimension 2400 is probably the Dell Dimension E521 or E520.

Good luck!

Note: I just checked the Dell online outlet store, an E521 dual core AMD X2 64 dual core 3600+ system with 1GB of memory, Vista Home Basic, and a 160GB hard drive, costs $309. That would present one heck of an improvement over your current system.

asdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net

asdfdfdfdf to NY22

Anon

to NY22
quote:
This computer works great for me ... PC that I've owned for so long and that works great for what I need it to work for.

I'm going to try to talk you out of doing anything. There is no reason to upgrade when you are satisfied with the system. You are just wasting money changing components just to be changing them. Unless you are not satisfied with the sound there is no point in replacing the integrated with a sound card. Also, if you aren't satisfied, you need to make sure you have decent speakers because poor quality speakers will have more to do with sound quality than your sound chip. If you are having problems with static/pops with sound let us know.
The other upgrades you are considering aren't going to accomplish much of anything for you.
quote:
My system only takes DDR-SDRAM, would that mean that the Graphics Card that I have choosen that has GDDR2 RAM on it wouldn't work since there is DDR2 on the Graphics board and the system RAM is DDR-SDRAM? Will this work?
Yes it would work. The system ram interface has no bearing on the video card ram.

NY22
@mindspring.com

NY22 to NY22

Anon

to NY22
Has anyone had any luck using this Graphics Card on a Dell that they own?

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 14129062
pandora
Premium Member
join:2001-06-01
Outland

pandora

Premium Member

The old PowerEdge 400SC's came with a PCI video card. It was awful compared to the lowest AGP card. The Dell Dimension 2400, has serious limitations regarding performance for which there really is no work around.

asdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net

asdfdfdfdf to NY22

Anon

to NY22
You might consider this 5200 series:

»www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 14130255

$120 is a lot of money to pay/

NY22
@mindspring.com

NY22 to NY22

Anon

to NY22
I'm still looking for the best way to do this. For one thing, I hate that since I have a DELL motherboard, I have to deal with Single Channel mode running on 2 GB of RAM. Would someone please tell me how much this would make a difference in the speed of my computer? Not only that, has anyone every replaced the DELL motherboard with one directly from an On-line Site (Newegg) or Retailer? Is it better since you have more access to the BIOS and everything? My Dell Dimension 2400 is out of warranty obviously so now I'm pretty much just using all third party parts, which surprisingly are faster and problem free so for. I've maxed out the Processor to the Max I can go on my Motherboard, which is Intel Pentium 4 2.80 GHz, not sure if this chip has HT technology built into it or not but even if it does, I've got no option in my BIOS to turn it on, so what good does that do me. I'm thinking about just replacing the Motherboard with a similar one, except one that has an AGP slot on it so at least I can go a little bit farther with the Graphics Card, or maybe there's one with PCI-E. I'm so lost in what to do with this system, everything else in it is working fine but I'd like to upgrade some of the components, I guess you would say the core components. Anyone think they can help someone as lost as I am?
NY22

NY22 to NY22

Anon

to NY22
Report.zip
51,014 bytes
(Report.mht)
Here is a summary of my system that I got from EVEREST. Maybe this will help people help me figure out a way to max out this system. Don't feel like buying a new one yet, just feel like getting up to as much as I can with it.
pandora
Premium Member
join:2001-06-01
Outland

pandora to NY22

Premium Member

to NY22
I'd suggest a visit to Dell.com, small business. A Dell E521 AMD 64 X2 4000+ system with 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive runs about $399 new. From the outlet, perhaps $100 cheaper. That IS the upgrade from a Dell Dimension 2400.

asdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net

asdfdfdfdf to NY22

Anon

to NY22
Single or dual channel is the least of your worries. I wouldn't concern myself with that.

You are sitting on a 200 or 250 watt power supply, so there isn't much point in considering trying to get a new motherboard, cpu, graphics card into your present system.

At this point, if you really want the main guts replaced then it is time to start from scratch.

BobbytheBrain
@sbcglobal.net

BobbytheBrain to NY22

Anon

to NY22
Only reasonable motherboard replacement for a 2400 would be the one used in the Dimension 4600. You can find them on Ebay, but this solution is probably not cost effective.

micro_dot
@sbcglobal.net

micro_dot

Anon

Why would it have to be the mobo from the 4600? Couldn't he just put any mATX board in there? Not that I think this would be a wise use of funds, but if he were so inclined, what's stopping him from going that route? Is the 2400 case too proprietary to use a third party mATX board?

As to the OP's question...
If it were me, I would probably just build a new computer depending on what my needs were. I also like pandora's advice about getting the E521 since it would be quite an upgrade at a very reasonable price, assuming you could get it for under $400.

NY22
@mindspring.com

NY22 to NY22

Anon

to NY22
Well considering the Video Card is only for PCI and I only have a PCI slot on my DELL machine and my DELL Windows XP disc will only install if there is a DELL motherboard on the system, and because I don't feel like buying a new system right now, I'm going to upgrade the Video Card. Is the Video Card that I posted in the original post good enough for PCI? Is it as far as I can go? Is ATI or NVIDIA better?
NY22

NY22 to NY22

Anon

to NY22
Anyone?
ChiTang
MVM
join:2002-08-23
Alhambra, CA

ChiTang to NY22

MVM

to NY22
You want to spend some money on it, have it 24K gold plated.

asdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net

asdfdfdfdf to NY22

Anon

to NY22
quote:
Is the Video Card that I posted in the original post good enough for PCI?
The question should be is it good enough to accomplish what you want to accomplish or to enhance your computing experience in some way, based on what you use the system for.
quote:
Is it as far as I can go?
The 1300 is about the best pci card you will be able to get(best as defined below),
quote:
Is ATI or NVIDIA better?
Neither is better as a general statement. It depends upon the price range and use of the card and changes as prices shift.

A 1300 is faster than the 5200 I recommended IF you are playing games, but gaming doesn't seem to be a concern. You have mentioned video editing. I don't see any benefit of a 1300 card vs. a 5200 card.
If you simply want the fastest card you can get (fastest as in 3d game performance) then go with the 1300.

NY22
@mindspring.com

NY22

Anon

Went with the ATI X1300 PCI Card and....sadly it's not working correctly with my DELL Dimension 2400. I tried disabling the Onboard Graphics in my BIOS but I don't have a choice. It only gives me the option to turn it to Auto (have it Auto-Detect the card and if there is an Add-in one it will automatically disable it) or Onboard, which means it will ignore any add-in cards and only recognize just the Onboard. Not to mention when I bought, my boot screen is showing in 8-bit color (my DELL Bios screen) so I'm thinking it doesn't like ATI for some reason. Never had an ATI card before and this being my first....and problably last card I ever get from them as I've had 4 NVIDIAs in the past and none have given me a problem. Anyone have any reccomednations on what the best NVIDIA Graphics Card I can get for this system? I thank you for your patience in taking the time to read this and help me out. Thank You all.

P.S. All the other things I ordered worked perfect. I even changed some of the things I ordered.

asdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net

asdfdfdfdf to NY22

Anon

to NY22
Did you properly install the drivers?

First you need to set the graphics driver, in your operating system settings, to the standard vga driver.

Then you should reboot and change your bios setting to auto.

Then you should shut the machine down and install the card.

Then you will need to boot the machine and install the drivers for your graphics card.

If you did this and it is not working correctly can you be more specific about how it is not working correctly, beyond the 8 bit color.
asdfdfdfdf

asdfdfdfdf to NY22

Anon

to NY22
Make sure when you change the bios setting to auto that you SAVE your bios settings. Changing it alone doesn't work.

NY22
@uu.net

NY22 to asdfdfdfdf

Anon

to asdfdfdfdf
What it seems to be is that this ATI card I have here doesn't have it's own BIOS and it's going through the system BIOS. I have install the drivers within Windows XP and that seems to work fine and everything, the games install and run perfect with no problem. Something is not going right at boot up though, what it seems is that the BIOS screen is showing up before the graphics card is ready which is why my BIOS screen is showing inverted colors. When I had NVIDIA card installed it would come up with a black screen with white text in the left corner of the screen that says something like this:

NVIDIA FX 5200
256.00 MB

Then it would show the regular system BIOS in the correct colors. Either way, the graphics with this card in gaming is amazing I must say, it satisfied my needs but I'm not big on that something during boot-up isn't working correctly. I had heard that this system doesn't like ATI cards but I figured I would give it a shot. So I'm probably going to switch to an NVIDIA Graphics Card as I have owned more of them and have never had a problem with them. PLEASE NOTE: I am not saying ATI sucks, both cards are good in my opinion but I need to find something that will work to it's full extent. I thank everyone on this board for all your help and I hope I can get this system running with a new graphics card or find a fix for the problem with this card. Thanks again.

-David

asdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net

asdfdfdfdf to NY22

Anon

to NY22
If that is the only problem, you can get into the bios and read your screen output and it otherwise runs fine I would simply live with it and leave well enough alone.

NY22
@mindspring.com

NY22 to NY22

Anon

to NY22
Yeah, I don't like how this Video Card is working for me. I'm RMAing it and getting another one. The only question I have now is....what is the best PCI Video Card I can get that will function correctly on a Dimension 2400 system? What is the best PCI Video Card that exists to date?

asdfdfdfdf
@Level3.net

asdfdfdfdf to NY22

Anon

to NY22
You really don't have any options.
You are running a 5200 right now.
The 1300, that you don't like, is about the best you can get for pci. You could get something like a 6200, but it isn't going to be much of a jump over your 5200.

"Yeah, I don't like how this Video Card is working for me."

If you mean, by this, that you aren't really happy with the performance benefit then you should forget about upgrading that machine because none of your options, like the 6200, are going to satisfy either. The simple fact is all pci cards are very low end.

Matth
@ntl.com

Matth

Anon

The 6200 is available in PCI, and the "baby" of the 6000 series should be a lot better than the 5200 - a card which was never that great even within that generation.

Regardless, it is not going to be a good value upgrade, the phrase "If I were you, I wouldn't start from here" (as used when giving directions from an awkward place, fits it perfectly.

From an onboard that's only fit for "business graphics" to a choice of overpriced, entry level PCI cards, that's the stark choice.