PC gaming Tech → upgrade advice, memory and/or 10000rpm hard drive?

Hello all. apologize for being tech newbie, more I read forums etc. so much to know,
Been gaming long time, mostly quake, have a dell xps four years old.
Would a couple of 1GB or 2GB memory cards help? would going to a 10000rpm harddrive, and loading all other stuff onto old one, help? newegg is out of them right now,...

Here is my system: thanks, any advice appreciated.

Operating System System Model Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (build 2600) Dell Computer Corporation Dimension XPS
Enclosure Type: Mini-Tower Processor a Main Circuit Board b 3.00 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
8 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: Dell Computer Corp. 0G0729
Bus Clock: 800 megahertz
BIOS: Dell Computer Corporation A01 04/28/2003 Drives Memory Modules c,d 119.99 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
75.49 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

_NEC DVD+RW ND-1100A [CD-ROM drive]
SAMSUNG DVD-ROM SD-616T [CD-ROM drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

Memorex Flashdrive 303B USB Device [Hard drive] (24 MB) -- drive 1
WDC WD1200JB-75CRA0 [Hard drive] (120.00 GB) -- drive 0, s/n WD-WMA8C4103522, rev 16.06V16, SMART Status: Healthy 512 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'CHANNEL A DIMM 0' has 256 MB
Slot 'CHANNEL B DIMM 0' has 256 MB
Slot 'CHANNEL A DIMM 1' is Empty
Slot 'CHANNEL B DIMM 1' is Empty Local Drive Volumes

c: (NTFS on drive 0) 119.99 GB 75.49 GB free

Microsoft XPS Document Writer on XPSPort:
Controllers Display Standard floppy disk controller
Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 24D1
Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 24DB
Primary IDE Channel [Controller]
Secondary IDE Channel [Controller] RADEON 9800 SERIES [Display adapter]
RADEON 9800 SERIES - Secondary [Display adapter]
DELL P1130 [Monitor] (19.7"vis, s/n 6D251359705W, May 2003) Bus Adapters Multimedia Intel(R) 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24D2
Intel(R) 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24D4
Intel(R) 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24D7
Intel(R) 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24DE
Intel(R) 82801EB USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 24DD Creative Audigy Audio Processor (WDM) Communications Other Devices BCM V.92 56K Modem

OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
HID-compliant device (2x)
USB Human Interface Device (2x)
Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Logitech HID-compliant G5 Laser Mouse
USB Composite Device
USB Mass Storage Device
USB Root Hub (5x)

I would go get (2) 1 gig ram kit from Newegg. Not sure what model you have the Dell though. Since you have 4 memory slots, I would move the (2) 256 memory to the last four slots and put the new memory in the first. That will give you a total of 2.5 gig of ram which will put new life in your pc.

I agree, If you computer can handle that big of a memory kit, 2.5 Gb RAM will certainly give you your biggest performance increase. Personally, I wouldn't buy a 10,000 RPM drive. I had one in a PC that was built around the same time yours was and when I upgraded to something larger fro Seagate, I did not notice that much of a performance hit. Personally I would recommend picking up a couple nice 7,000 RPM drives and running them in a RAID 0 if you are looking for speed.

hey, thanks.
looking at new egg, there are at least a few choices for the dual memory, don't understand the timing and latency,
how to pick the best one,
also, don't know about dual drives in RAID 0, could I buy another 7500 like I already have and do that?
I will do the memory first, just need to know which one to order, thanks,

What is the model number of your Dell?

I can find the serial number, service tag number, etc., but can't find the model number, where would that be found?

its a dell xps from april 2003 build date

umm, if I do the dual 7500 hard drives, would two 2GB memories be better than two 1GB memories?
even without the dual hardrive setup thing, you guys saying the 1GB memory cards are gonna be about the same improvement as going with 2GB memory?
thanks,

I agree. I would skip the 10k rpm hard drive. I have a Raptor and I dont notice any real difference betwee that drive and my old 7200 rpm one other than I have a lot less space. I was expecting some much better transfer times but so far I have been disappointed.

NO, not really. What people are suggesting is that you start with a 2GB memory kit (which includes two 1GB sticks). That will provide the most performance increase over anything else you have listed. A 4GB memory kit (two 2GB sticks) would not be very useful because with a 32-bit version of XP you won't be able to use a lot of the extra memory anyway. Don't even think about upgrading to a 10k rpm HDD until you've changed pretty much everything in that system; 7200 rpm is still the standard for regular builds and that is certainly not the choke point of your system.

Personally I would also recommend against trying to re-use your current memory. Chances are your two 256kb sticks are years behind in technology and will slow down the new memory considerably. Unfortunately, on a system dating back to 2003 it probably used DDR1 memory, which is getting difficult to find and very pricey (the current generation is DDR3).

Honestly, 4 years out of a desktop system used for gaming is quite commendable. Depending on your budget you might be better off building yourself a new computer, i.e. new motherboard, power supply, CPU, memory and graphics card. Everything else you have can pretty much be re-used. That may be a bit more expensive now but it'll save you from buying expensive parts like two-generations-behind memory that you won't be able to re-use anyway when you do decide to change the whole thing (which will be soon because that system is so old that you will always have bottlenecks somewhere when you try to play recent games).

You can go here »accessories.us.dell.com/ ··· direct=1 Click on the Analyze Button to analyze your system and get the actual model number. 200, 400, etc series.

Since we don't know if what your Dell is actually, then we can safely assume that your old memory will still be usable. Such as if the speed is 533, 667, etc.

thx. the advisor feature is not available it says, but an accessory search is, they do have the 1GB memory availabe for my computer, supposedly, doesn't say price though.
__________________________________________________________
DELL
1 GB Module for a Dell Dimension XPS Series System
Units Req. 2
Storage Capacity: 1 GB
Technology: DDR SDRAM
Memory Speed: 400 MHz ( PC3200 )
__________________________________________________________

tried belarc and all it says for my model is:

Operating System:
Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (build 2600)
System Model:
Dell Computer Corporation Dimension XPS
System Service Tag: *******(support for this PC)
Chassis Serial Number: *******
Enclosure Type: Mini-Tower

maybe I can call newegg and see if they have the memory cards dell is selling?
thanks,

looks like dell wants 200 bucks for the pair of 1GB mememory
newegg is much less for DDR3, but don't know if they have the old technology like you are saying,

It appears you need original DDR memory. 1 GB is around $60, so 2 should be around $120. The PC3200 is likely to be important too.

I second the recommendation to ditch the old RAM in favor of only the new RAM, but if you really want the extra 512 MB, make sure you set it up in dual channel mode. I'll explain.

You have 4 memory slots. Slots 1 and 3 are one channel, and slots 2 and 4 are another. If you put a matched pair of memory sticks both into the same channel, you will get better performance than if they are in separate channels.

First thing, before you order, (Shut down the computer first) take the chip from slot 2 (Channel B DIMM 0) and move it to slot 3 (Channel A DIMM 1). When you power up again, you should see a "Dual Channel Mode Enabled" message on the POST screen. This will provide you with a slight increase in performance. You will still want to upgrade to 2 GB of RAM in the end.

Do you know if Hyperthreading is enabled on that machine? That P4 chip should be capable of it. You'd have to look in the BIOS settings for how to enable it if it's not. I'm not familiar with the XPS BIOS screen, all I have worked with are Precisions.

If you want more tips, PM me. I'm very familiar with older Dell systems. If you send me your service tag number, that might make it easier to help you.

If you're willing, I would actually go for more RAM and maybe a new video card. If your slot type of AGP, you'll be limited but will still be able to get a good card; if you have PCIe you'll be able to update to just about anything.

Hi, I am ready to order from newegg the memory sticks, going to order 2 1GB sticks, DDR , about posting my service tag number, I didn't do that because I didn't know if that opens my computer to any security issue putting it on internet, not that anyone would give a deal about what info is in my computer, heh.

Omen, I wouldn't mind some help with some upgrades, if you are still offering, how do I pm you? Playing Q4 online now days, these guys with new systems seem to have such a big advantage, four years ago my computer was pretty good, now not so. I do have a fast internet connection, so that helps.
thanks

Ahh, didn't realize you're not registered when I was typing.

I don't believe that the service tag exposes you to any risk, it just allows you to look up the original configuration such as hardware on Dell's site.

E-mail me at omenq at hotmail dot com and I can offer more help.

You don't have to ditch your old ram. It is PC3200 which is what your new ram will be. Windows will use it also.

I do agree with installing all the ram in dual channel configuration as mentioned above.

That will be a nice upgrade. Enjoy it.

You might want to check and see if the motherboard even supports dual channel memory.

If it does, dual channel significantly can increase performance on older AMD and Intel platforms.

Not so much with the newer C2D/C2E systems.