Help required Upgrading a Dell

bennyc

Dell Dimension 3000 thinking of getting a new sys board and pcie graphics has anyone any advise will I need a new case psu etc

Its a p4 3.0 800 FSB with 2 X 256 pc 3400

Endurance Man

My guess is you will need a new case and psu. A friend of mine tryed installing an after market board in his and none of the screw holes met up .
Salvage the chip/ram/hdd/dvd/ and soundcard if it had one .
Also im guessing thats a socket 478? Im not sure you can get Mobo's for those with PCIX anymore? They are phasing out the 478socket all together.

Gurgle

Dell use non-generic parts wherever possible.
Generally this applies to Case, M/Board and PSU - Theres very little they can do to make the other components un-replaceable.

Does your Motherboard have an AGP slot ?
If so, you're better off just getting a decent AGP graphics card until you're ready to go for a new processor et all.
And buy some RAM man

Endurance Man

Ye, your gonna have trouble finding a decent 478socket mobo, Komplett dont even stock them anymore.

bennyc

no agp slot and only 2 ram ports pain in the ass tbh I saw a good enouth looking pci card here any opinions would be good

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=304713&cks=PLC

I dont think I can justify getting the lot just yet as I only have the machine 14 months and it cost me 1000 all in
I like games but wouldent be going after HL2 but would like the option of call of duty etc would these be much improvement on the 96MB onboard I have

Endurance Man

bennyc wrote:

no agp slot and only 2 ram ports pain in the ass tbh I saw a good enouth looking pci card here any opinions would be good

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=304713&cks=PLC

I dont think I can justify getting the lot just yet as I only have the machine 14 months and it cost me 1000 all in
I like games but wouldent be going after HL2 but would like the option of call of duty etc would these be much improvement on the 96MB onboard I have

That card is kinda terrible , would not waste 100euro on it, your not gonna see any huge improvments.

Khannie

No AGP slot? Is there a PCI express slot? Or do you have integrated graphics?

Man....that's so terrible. And by terrible, I mean crap.

Shod.

Endurance Man

Khannie wrote:

No AGP slot? Is there a PCI express slot? Or do you have integrated graphics?

Man....that's so terrible. And by terrible, I mean crap.

Shod.

Thats dell , they cut as many corners as possible with there desktops. When you buy one your bascially stuck with exaclty what you bought, no upgrading is allowed, they will make sure of it!

bennyc

just found out I will need from komplett :eek:
New Case
New PSU
New Motherboard
New RAM
A Graphics Card
This is taking it that the motherboard will have onboard sound / Lan

So all I can salvage is the HDD and the DVD ( i already bought a dvdrw from komplett when i got the machine) did not bother with a floppy drive at then time so one of those if I image the disk which is the plan as I only have a 40GIG .


I think I will go for the graphics and free up some of the RAM taken up by the onboard also a 300GIG HD ( I suppose I will have issues here too as there is no space for a second one or IDE port for that matter)

SickBoy

Endurance Man wrote:

Thats dell , they cut as many corners as possible with there desktops. When you buy one your bascially stuck with exaclty what you bought, no upgrading is allowed, they will make sure of it!

What a load of crap! If people actually read the specs of the system they plan on purchasing instead of buying the cheapest system they could on the Dell site then posts like this would be few and far between.
Any system Dell sell is upgradable to a point. People whinging about not having the ability to upgrade to an AGP or PCIe graphics card because of the lack of the required slot are victims of their own stingyness.

PS
I'l like to point out that I'm not having a go at the OP.

Endurance Man

SickBoy wrote:

What a load of crap! If people actually read the specs of the system they plan on purchasing instead of buying the cheapest system they could on the Dell site then posts like this would be few and far between.
Any system Dell sell is upgradable to a point. People whinging about not having the ability to upgrade to an AGP or PCIe graphics card because of the lack of the required slot are victims of their own stingyness.

PS
I'l like to point out that I'm not having a go at the OP.

So your saying that you can infact stick an after market mobo in there cases?, and that you can use there PSU's with after market hardware?
Im affraid you cannot! They do limit your ability to upgrade.

SickBoy

Endurance Man wrote:

So your saying that you can infact stick an after market mobo in there cases?, and that you can use there PSU's with after market hardware?
Im affraid you cannot! They do limit your ability to upgrade.

I said "to a point"

bennyc

SickBoy wrote:

What a load of crap! If people actually read the specs of the system they plan on purchasing instead of buying the cheapest system they could on the Dell site then posts like this would be few and far between.
Any system Dell sell is upgradable to a point. People whinging about not having the ability to upgrade to an AGP or PCIe graphics card because of the lack of the required slot are victims of their own stingyness.

PS
I'l like to point out that I'm not having a go at the OP.

Thats fair enough to a point but when I was checking out the machine day one what dell fail to mention is that the agp port and two extra ram ports are ripped out whats left is a silver line on the main board. for the three purposly removed ports.

Anyway back to the origional am I relly better off with the onboard graphics than a pci card ? could someone recommend a pci card

Endurance Man

bennyc wrote:

Thats fair enough to a point but when I was checking out the machine day one what dell fail to mention is that the agp port and two extra ram ports are ripped out whats left is a silver line on the main board. for the three purposly removed ports.

Anyway back to the origional am I relly better off with the onboard graphics than a pci card ? could someone recommend a pci card

I would not buy that card from komplett, it really is a waste of 100euro. I THINK they do a 6600 in pci version but its REALLY expensive and not worth it. You dont have to many options with that board .
You really are better off just getting a new mobo and a really cheapy case for now. Even the onboard GFX on a new mobo might be better .

kmb

Hi,Might be interested in buying the leftovers,would do sister for basic duties,Pm me a price if you decide to go that way....

regards kieran

bennyc

Just a funny update on this I called dell tech support / sales looking for a system board and was told to buy one form pc world as "we are a rip off"


Should have called that line the first time when buying the machine

TerrorFirmer

Endurance Man wrote:

Thats dell , they cut as many corners as possible with there desktops. When you buy one your bascially stuck with exaclty what you bought, no upgrading is allowed, they will make sure of it!

Well thats a tad silly! Upgrading is grand. I bought a dell 8400 last year and have replaced the gfx, ram, hd, and some other stuff. Its upgradable to a certain level, not the easiest and almost impossible change mobo/psu, but in fairness if you buy a Dell PC usually you wouldn't be the kind of person that'd build their own PC!

Apart from that, what do you expect for the dirt cheap price of a 3000 system?

Wolverine_1999

Khannie wrote:

No AGP slot? Is there a PCI express slot? Or do you have integrated graphics?

Man....that's so terrible. And by terrible, I mean crap.

Shod.

DELL computers are for people who don't have a clue about computers, to be quite honest...

If you want a decent DELL, and want to upgrade, e.t.c... you have to know what you are buying, as I did

I have a DELL with 4 HDD, 2 DVD drives as well as a GeForce 6800.. I want to upgrade to a 7800gt, and have upgraded the PSU to a 480 Antec.

To upgrade the PSU, you would have to make sure that it is not a proprietory component PSU, which mine wasn't. You just have to compare the pin outs of the PSU connector with a standard ATX 20/24 connector, and you will know straight away if it is the same.

I know it is still a "DELL", but from my own experience, I have found DELL components to be very reliable, in comparison to building your own system.

So with a few upgrades, I now have my own specified working DELL, with the components that I want.

commited

bennyc wrote:

Just a funny update on this I called dell tech support / sales looking for a system board and was told to buy one form pc world as "we are a rip off"


Should have called that line the first time when buying the machine

Well thats a bit odd - PC world arent exactly cheap and you'll run into the same obstacle whether you buy form PC world or online - you'll still have to change the case & psu to fit a new motherboard.
Take this opportunity to build a proper pc and never darken a retail manufacturers door again.

EOA_Mushy

Moral of the story:
If your going to use a computer, BUILD IT YOURSELF!

Admittidly I am presently useing a dell.... However its the 1st computer I have bought that i did not build. (and soon to be changed) Cheap is good for reasons, but nothing beats the reliability of your own creation.