Looking of advice on Dell 690 Workstation upgrade options

Dabzarch

Hi there,

Where to start...

I am looking a options on how to upgrade my Dell System if anyway possible. I have no specific budget in mind as i am unsure what can be done. It has been years since I done any sort of PC build...

I have just wiped the harddrive and reinstalled Windows XP pro hoping the performance would be greatly improved. Although it has i still feel it has alot more to give.

I mainly use the work station for AutoCAD, Photoshop, 3D applications etc... I wouldn't consider myself a hardcore user on the 3D side but it is still important.

The current build is as follows:

I would like to ramp up the ram. I'm not sure what kind of ram (there are 16 risers? available in total) the system is capable of taking...There is currently 4 x 1gb modules installed. I understand the issue with Win XP Pro only using up to 3GB? I am planning on purchasing Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit edition and adding additional hard drives for storage space.

What options are available regarding the processor?. See attached PDF with images showing the inside of tower...

The big question is...am i better off getting a whole new piece of kit?

Also I have no intention of using it for gaming...

Cheers for looking.

cherryghost

Well technically your workstation there can support up to 64GB of ram :pac:

In my honest opinion, you don't need an increase in RAM for what you're doing. Unless all those applications are run simultaneously then I would recommend 6-8GB. Upgrading to Windows 7 unlocks .76GB extra so don't underestimate that.

If you really want to upgrade something, upgrade the OS. You really don't need much else to upgrade except the Hard Drive's of course. Just buy some drives and SATA cables and add them in.

Dabzarch

cherryghost, thanks for quick reply...

On the hard drives can you recommend any particular drive? I was thinking of adding maybe two 1TB drives but im unsure of which brand to go with for reliability etc...

Also is there a better quality RAM i can add? i know it is a DDR3.

cherryghost

Sorry for my stupidness, but where are the connectors for the HDs? I assume it's just under the shaded area there in just below the hard drives.

From personal experience AutoCAD files aren't that large, photoshop really depends on what you're handling, i.e raw images, and 3D applications favour faster drives.

Based on reviews and boards.ie feedback, the Samsung F3 series are widely renowned for reliability and fast read/write speeds. If the data is important to you, which I assume it is, you could throw 2 of those babies in and run them in RAID, so you can have a backup of your data on the other hard drive at all times.

You've got 3 spaces to play around with for the hard drives anyway, so alls good

Moon54

That's a pretty solid machine that won't need much upgrading. The Windows 7 64-bit upgrade alone will give the machine a nice boost. I wouldn't be immediately worried about upgrading the RAM, more is better, but depends what you are doing. The 4GB you have is a good starting point.

Hard-drive-wise, I'd recommend a 1 TB Samsung SpinPoint F3 Desktop Class HD103SJ or similar, as a system drive. It spins at 7,200 rpm, some of the Samsung F2 & F4's spin at the lower 5,400 rpm, so watch out for that. Or better yet, double up on the drives as Cherry suggested, a RAID setup would give you piece of mind, especially if used for business.

Graphics-wise, I'd recommend upgrading, but there's no need for a top of the line card. Any ATI/NVidia 512MB or 1GB graphics card would be a good upgrade in itself. My 2-year old Ati 4850 still works real well with Photoshop, and I'm sure your AutoCad would benefit from the upgrade.

Dabzarch

Thanks for the info on the hard drives.. I must look a bit more into RAID to familiarise my self.

Would the Nvidia quatro FX3500 still be a good card? Just wondering how upgrading to a new card as suggested who be of benefit?

It seems to make sense to upgrade to Win 7 Pro/Ultimate 64bit to try get the best of of the machine.

Cheers.

Moon54

Yeah, I'd take it in stages.

The hard drive is quite old, 5 yrs I'm guessing, so a new hard drive and upgrading the OS to Windows 7 64-bit should make a big difference for you. You've got 4GB RAM to start with, which is great.

Then, you never know, you might find the Nvidia Quatro works better with the new OS....
but it's a 256MB card, so that'd be the next thing to upgrade!