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Dimension 9200 general upgrade
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12-03-2010 10:07pm#1
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Not 100% sure but I'm pretty certain Dell Dimension 9200s and some XPS machines come with Delta N375P-00 PSUs with 30A on the 12V rail. We're talking very similar quality and capacity as a Corsair CX400 here, not some old Gateway P4 hulk! :P
Yeah, a CPU rated for 95W TDP (but very rarely hitting it unless OCd!) and a HD5770 would be a bit of a squeeze on the Delta 305W (22A) but on the N375P it has enough room for a jacuzzi and swimming pool!
Say in a fairly rigorous multithreaded game (i.e. not Crysis!) you'd be talking 6.5A for the CPU, 6.5A for the GPU and say ~3A for the rest of the system('s 12V power usage) so long as you don't have 58 HDDs in there
That's 16A, roughly half the PSU capacity and thus in the optimum performance zone 
Even at no-holds-barred full tilt (say Crysis or OCCT with Prime95 in the background!) you're talking 8A for the CPU, 9A for the GPU and say 4A for the system. That's ~21A sustained (not momentary) peak load, which needs to be under the 90% capacity mark. Is it 27A? Nope, just 21A. Well within the safe boundaries. Unless the PSU was already well on its way to the great fireworks party in the sky this kind of setup isn't even going to make it blink. 0 -
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Err... didn't you read any of the above?? :P We're staying the hell away from maxing the PSUs!
The proposed setup will only push the PSU to ~50% of its capacity while gaming and ~70% under torture. This is pretty much the optimum PSU (well, maybe a 400-450W unit with 32-35A would be perfect, but this 30A unit ain't far off!) for the job. Sticking in a 550W 41A beastie would be overkill. Sticking in a 52A 650W PSU would be plain bonkers!
And a 8800GT "needs" 26A on the 12V rails on a rig with a 130W TDP CPU and a small fileserver in the back for SnG. Oh, and I'm pretty sure a 9800GT is a die-shrunk 8800GT, not 8800GTS. It should need a bit less power than the 8800GT. Guess they included an extra-large RAID5 array in that calculation! :rolleyes:0 -
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Well, click click bang bang new cpu and 4g ram installed.
Ran cpu-z and got this:
Looks ok to me, how can I test if the chip is running properly?
I also got a bit of a shock when installing the ram, the old sticks were much bigger (taller) than the new ones.
I check the cpuz tab for the ram:
It says here the ram is running at 400mhz, is that right? I thought it was 800mhz (Kinstgton pc6400) ram? (probably a really stupid q that).
Anyhoo both sets of ram have registered and seem to be running fine, 4gb total.0 -
For the CPU, try running Prime95 on all cores to check stability and check CPU-z again during the run - it should show 2.4GHz (x9 mult). The reason its showing a x6 mult in that screenie is because you're not doing anything intensive with it, so thanks to SpeedStep it drops back down a notch (or three) and idles quietly to itself
As for the RAM, its DDR2 so running at 400MHz gives an effective speed of 800MHz 0 -
just to add to that, prime 95 torture test along with coretemp or realtemp( just to ensure the temps are fine ).For the CPU, try running Prime95 on all cores to check stability and check CPU-z again during the run - it should show 2.4GHz (x9 mult). The reason its showing a x6 mult in that screenie is because you're not doing anything intensive with it, so thanks to SpeedStep it drops back down a notch (or three) and idles quietly to itself
As for the RAM, its DDR2 so running at 400MHz gives an effective speed of 800MHz
q6600 + 5770 = 200W( extra with any OC ), not much left if the capicators have a 10-15% degrade :PIgnoring idiots who comment "far right" because they don't even know what it means
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my 9200 / xps 410, think it went by 2 names.. is about 3 yrs old and when i went to upgrade my ram, crucial did a check in the mobo and max was 1gb per slot... if urs is newer it may not apply to yiou. I know that 32 bit windows won't show the full 4gb ( 3.6 or something ) but 64 bit will show more but only if ur mobo supports more ram, it would be worth checking as i am gonna build my own for that reason, ofcourse if the mobo flash allows me to put more ram in i may not have to
i have a new thread with my new build on it aswell0 -
Sure my pc is the same age.The Omen 666 wrote: »my 9200 / xps 410, think it went by 2 names.. is about 3 yrs old and when i went to upgrade my ram, crucial did a check in the mobo and max was 1gb per slot... if urs is newer it may not apply to yiou. I know that 32 bit windows won't show the full 4gb ( 3.6 or something ) but 64 bit will show more but only if ur mobo supports more ram, it would be worth checking as i am gonna build my own for that reason, ofcourse if the mobo flash allows me to put more ram in i may not have to
i have a new thread with my new build on it aswell
The thing is most of these online checks go by manufacturers info, which is often wrong believe it or not.
For example is I was able to upgrade the fook out of my in laws acer laptop despite their own website saying rubbish like 'only 2gb ram supported' and the max chip supported being the one that was in it already (a really really bad celeron).
A few internet forums later and the laptop now has a low end core 2 duo and 3gb ram, working like a dream.
All I had to do was flash the bios and install the ram in a certain order.
Trust these ubergeeks here more than the manufacturers websites man, they only want to make money (of course!). These guys know what they are about.0 -
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Yes I'm on pix right now.Pixmania have 1GB HD5770s under €130. Tried posting that hours ago but got cut off when Boards went down
I hate giving these w@@kers business have had terrible customer service) but its very tempting.
I'm only dithering on whether to go for the fancy cooling on the vapor-x card or do I need to?0 -
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Nah, to hell with that!!!Don't think the stock cards are that noisy but if you really need silence then go for it
I'll just order the €130 one.
Any preferences between:
http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/4129647/art/pixmania/radeon-hd-5770-1-gb-gddr5.html#tech-specs
And:
http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/4122063/art/sapphire-technology/radeon-hd-5770-1-gb-gddr5.html#tech-specs0 -
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Mobo should be fine so long as you can source the old 65nm Core2s. Once it stops being okay you're talking New Build Time Those Dimensions are BTX units, normal PCs are ATX so if you toss the mobo you need a new case and PSU as well
I'm not 100% sure about if you should even go for a dual-core nowadays because if you have the money to hunt down a Q6*00 its a much better choice for futureproofing; more and more apps are multithreaded. If you're strapped for cash just stick any 65nm C2D you can get your hands on (45nm Core2s won't work!).
You'll need at least 2x1GB DDR2-6400 (2x2GB is better!). Graphics card depends more on your monitor resolution; if its sub-1080p then get a cheap HD5750 or if you can source one cheap somewhere a HD4770. If you have a decent Full HD monitor or intend to go that way in the near future the HD5770 is about the minimum you can shoot for. Be wary of old cards aside from the HD4770 (which is 40nm) as gaming-grade 65/55nm GPUs were infamously hot and thirsty.0 -
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Damn, I thought that a new mobo would at least let me keep my case, what happened to standardising these things?!
They were standarised. At least until Intel went and had one of their megalomanical moments and Dell elected to be the Pinky to their Brain.
They faceplanted, spectacularly.
And are cursed by every owner of a BTX-box with all its lovely built-in obsolescence... and that's a lot of people to be cursing your nameSo basically if I can source the right processor (ie not the one I linked to!) I should be okay?
Yep. They're a couple of generations behind now but the better models can still hold their own most of the time And that CPU you linked isn't even the right socket! :P Not that its much cop anyway - the i5-750 is usually a touch cheaper and utterly destroys it at most things If you want to hold off a new build as long as possible try to dig up a Q6600/6700. At least then most programs that find two 2.4GHz+ cores insufficient will most likely be multithreaded and can feast upon the other two cores! Also guessing I'll need a highed rated PSU?
We've discussed this already, read the thread if you want to hijack it! :P Summary: If you don't go mad with high-TDP graphics cards and eleventy-seven 3.5" HDDs you'll be fine. Just try to steer clear of any tempting offers of cheap second-hand HD4890s! So tempting... but so thirsty! :eek: 0 -
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Don't expect any mercy from me - I'm still using an old 19" Fujitsu!! :P
Why is HDMI so important?
ANd if that's an old install you might have to uninstall and reinstall U2 because I'm pretty sure it shouldn't be doing that... all UEngine games have a tendency to crash out occasionally, but not exactly on a Morrowindian frequency! :eek:0 -
19" I didn't think anyone still used those!!!
Its a new install of U2, haven't played it in a week or two now though, stuck into the life sapping Neverwinter Nights 2. Gawd, its addictive.
The system is performing well overall, but it gets mighty hot after a 10 hour session!!! Some graphics get a pixelly and it has crashed a couple of times (the game). So I switch off and go to bed. Probably just as well.
Oh, HDMI isn't vital I suppose, but the new card has HDMI so wouldn't a HD monitor just pop?0 -
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It really shouldn't be doing that...
Keep an eye on CCC - you might need to tweak the fan behaviour a bit in that poorly ventilated case!
I'm one of those people that tends to leave the pc on all day, and I felt the side of the case after a game-a-thon and it was well, warm.
So I popped off the case panel and left it off.
What should I do to increase the fan activity?0 -
You're in a bit of a fix IIRC as the only fan on those BTX-boxes was actually the CPU cooler fan disguised as a case fan! It was one of the reasons those cheap-ass ***s in Intel dreamed up that form factor
The problem is that's all the air in the system IIRC and its nicely pre-heated by the CPU (even if your new one is kicking out less heat than the naff old P4!) before even reaching the GPU and PSU. Those Intel techs are good at CPUs but really have rocks for brains when it comes to air cooling dynamics!
If it comes to it you might be able to use SpeedFan to hijack the CPU fan speed control and wedge it at maximum, but that's going to be noisy! (at least the CPU will be cooler!) Otherwise you'll have to leave the side off until you Dremel Time the side panel and get some ventilation cut into it (around where the graphics card would be, "above" the PCB relative to the fan as it points up rather than down in a BTX system, no point putting vents below the card with its PCB blocking off the fan!).
Also remember to dig into Catalyst Control Centre and tweak the fan speeds up on the OCing tab to try and shift more air through it until you see a difference in stability. The card could just be dodgy from the outset; if you can't even get it stable with the side panel off the case you'll need to RMA it and shout loudly at the doorknobs who shipped you a duff card! :mad:0 -
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Thanks. Haven't been playing inside the guts of a Dimension 9*00 for quite a while
Do you know what size the case fan is? Can it be replaced by an aftermarket model or does the mobo have a proprietary fan header?
And as for you Didihno, check that the fan hasn't gone kaput. If its working properly and the fan on the graphics card itself isn't freezing up then you might have a bad card after all... 0 -
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