My heads wrecked ......

paddyc

Folks

I have a Dell Latitude Cpx but the MB is cracked and so not working anymore.. Theres a DVD ROM 256MB RAM 12Gb etc etc on it so I would like to fix it and go with it again.

I bought off boards a Dell Latitude Cp bare bones system, basically a case and MB, no RAM, drives, HD etc this was fine as I was goingto build one out of the 2.

NOw the battery, HD and DVD rom all fit but the RAM is completely different, cut a long story short I now have 2 buggered machines that cant be made into 1.

Where do i go from here, do I ebay all the parts or can Dell supply me, wheres cheap

whats the difference between Cpx and Cp latitudes ???

thanks

paddy

p.s. I intend to fix both of them cos i pissed at myself for collecting them all so dumping them or selling them is not an option.

Drazhar

Firstly, sounds like one of the boards takes RD-RAM, a lovely (crap) memory standard that existed between SDRAM and DDR, and which Dell made the huge mistake of using. I hope the board thats working is SDRAM, as RDRAM is feckin expensive, especially if you buy it from dell (dont buy it from them)

If i were you, i'd cut my losses and fork out for a new system. I'f you have the know how, build your own, that way you can check that all the parts are fairly future proof and will all work together. Hold onto the CPU the DVD and maybe the AGP card if its decent, also, ya can hold onto the chassis, that should save ya a few bucks

Also, if you do go throw a 3rd party board into the chassis, change the PSU, ive heard stories that dell tweak them to only suit their boards, and that they'll fry any others ut onto them

Dr Bolouswki

www.crucial.com can sell you the correct memory and you can select it by Dell system type so you can be certain of getting the correct memory for the mobo

Dell's prices are not too cool for parts

Contrary to the post above, Rambus memory is actually superior to DDR ram, but is more expensive to produce, hence DDR took off better. I don't think you can blame Dell for offering what was the best avaiable memory at the time..

Anyway, might make no odds, it mighn't be Rambus...

Woden

and i don't think you can blame dell tbh when it was intel who supported rdram, and dell make intel machines....

Drazhar

my appologies, i thought RAMBUS was inferior to DDR, my bad, but still, it is way more expensive than DDR, and it's gonna be further pushed into the closet with the improvement of DDR memory modules and DDR2 (http://www.micron.com/products/dram/ddr2sdram/)

Also, for RAMBUS memory, http://www.upgradestore.co.uk/acatalog/Desktop.html
though i didnt check the prices against the crucial site

paddyc

This came ot me at 3am this morning ....

Could I take the MB outa the laptop with nothing in it, and place it in the laptop thats perfect only it MB is cracked/smashed ??

How hard is it to remove/replace MB's in laptops, I'd imagine its hard to put together again? any thoughts ?


paddy

maxheadroom

if you go to dell's support website (liked from the front page of dell.ie) and bang in the service tags for the machines, you should be able to find complete disassembly / re-assembly instructions.

What I'd suggest you do is leave the mb in place in the second system and transfer the components across, assuming both screens are intact. If not, then choose the best looking case... Also bear in mind that you may need to buy new ram (go to www.crucial.com to find out which type and then look at www.shopformemory.ie to see if its cheaper)

OfflerCrocGod

Originally posted by Drazhar
and it's gonna be further pushed into the closet with the improvement of DDR memory modules and DDR2

Haven't heard of XDR then?, RAMBUS is going nowhere, oh and DDR2 will take a year before it will really come into its own - the first year it will be beaten by its older DDR in price and performance; it takes time for a new technology to mature.