Upgrading a dell

Mutant_Fruit

A friend of mine has a Dell Dimension 8250 (i tihnk its called).

A 2.8ghz machine with 256mb RDram. Now, he really needs to upgrade the ram in that beast to 1gig, but its RDram and is VERY pricey.

Would i be better off getting a cheap socket 478 mobo, replacement PSU and 1gig of DDR3200 and slotting that in? I'm thinking along the lines of MEMORY MOBO and PSU. Is there a cheaper PSU on that site that'd come recommended? And is that ram a good match for the processor?

Alternatively a cheap source of two warrentied 512meg sticks of RDRam would be nice.

EDIT: Also, would i have trouble slotting a new mobo into that dell box? I know dell have their own motherboards, but are they the "standard" shape? Will the connectors on the new board fit in the slots in the dell case (if you know what i mean)?

EDIT2: How do i know whether its socket 478 or 775?

DemonOfTheFall

If his Dell has RDRam i think it has to be 478. 775 is all DDR2

duridian

with upgrading Dells I can only tell you that my rule of thumb is if the side panel slides off to access, it is do-able, and if the case opens by 'splitting' out in two halves from a hinge at the front it is considerably more difficult. I find the first type tend to comply better with ATX standards and tend to have removable i/o shields, and removable motherboard standoffs, whereas the latter tend to have i/o shields that are part of the case and also tend to have motherboard standoffs which are non removable. Needless to say this makes it a bit of a mechanical engineering task to fit a non-Dell board to some of their chassis. Another thing is the front panel and front usb, very straightforward on some (I hooked up an Abit board to the standard connectors on a Dimension 2400 recently, everything except the front audio was the same), others can be much harder to figure the wiring eg. 4500.

[Edit] Looking at this I am unsure which category your model fits, it seems to have a removable i/o shield but has the awkward front connection. You will have to suss out what the situation is with the motherboard standoffs as I cannot tell from the images of the 8250 online.

uberpixie

shop4memory.com are selling rdram that works with a dell 8250 for €227,
postage is free.

I myself would sooner take a rap on the knuckles and buy the ram than crush my soul messing inside a dell case for an age trying to make the stuff work.

The stuff you are looking at costs €150 + postage.

Messing with the dell to save € is madness and more heart ache than you need imho.

Yes the ram cost around €80 more than getting the parts but its a hell of a lot less hassle and will definately work.

Either get the ram or go whole hog and sell the pc and build your mate a new one from scratch.

Less hassle all round.

rsynnott

You may be able to find second-hand RDRAM, now that the first generation P4s are getting old.

Mutant_Fruit

Yes, but he wants (and probably needs) a gig of ram. €534 for 1 gig of RDram is significantly more expensive than about buying a new mobo/psu/1 gig DDR-ram combination for about €160.

Unless 1 gig of ram can be found cheaper €300, then its not an option really.

If i can't pick up second hand RDram, is there anywhere i can check to find out if a standard ATX mobo will actually fit into the Dell case?

uberpixie

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

Yes, but he wants (and probably needs) a gig of ram. €534 for 1 gig of RDram is significantly more expensive than about buying a new mobo/psu/1 gig DDR-ram combination for about €160.

Unless 1 gig of ram can be found cheaper €300, then its not an option really.

If i can't pick up second hand RDram, is there anywhere i can check to find out if a standard ATX mobo will actually fit into the Dell case?

Fair enough if your friend really needs it.

Just buy a new case? With psu.....

Bog antec with 350W psu? €80
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=305075&cks=PRL

PSU will cost you about €40 to buy anyway, another €40 on top for a case that will take the mobo easily won't break the bank. And be a lot less hassle.

RicardoSmith

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

Yes, but he wants (and probably needs) a gig of ram. €534 for 1 gig of RDram is significantly more expensive than about buying a new mobo/psu/1 gig DDR-ram combination for about €160.

Unless 1 gig of ram can be found cheaper €300, then its not an option really.

If i can't pick up second hand RDram, is there anywhere i can check to find out if a standard ATX mobo will actually fit into the Dell case?

Why bother sell it and get another one...


Price incl. VAT excl. del: EUR 591.28
Price excl. VAT & del: EUR 488.66
Dimension 4700, Pentium 4, 3.2GHz, MiniTower
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
Memory: 512MB (2 X 256, NON-ECC400MHZ DDRII)
Hard Disk Drive: 160GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
Video: 128MB PCI Express ATI RadeonTM X300 SE
Modem: V.92 Data Fax Modem Ire/Spn
16 X DVD +/- RW

Mutant_Fruit

Because once again, thats €600 euro... 4 times what the upgrade would cost. There, its not going to happen.

It has to be second hand RDram, or a cheap upgrade.

RicardoSmith

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

Because once again, thats €600 euro... 4 times what the upgrade would cost. There, its not going to happen.

It has to be second hand RDram, or a cheap upgrade.

Would you not sell the old machine for 300-400. Leaving 200-300 as the difference. Works out the same as an upgrade. The new machine is PCI express, 3.2GHz, and SATA, DVDRW etc. Whereas your upgrade leaves you with no further upgrade path. Upgrading that machine is dead money. In 6 months that RDRAM would be worth nothing.

Scruff

Richardo speaks wisely, but i'd say you'd get 250-350 for the pc.

CyberGhost

I have 8250, and it's mobo is non standard, you will have to make LOTS of modifications to fit a new one in.

it's just not worth it

Mutant_Fruit

CyberGhost wrote:

I have 8250, and it's mobo is non standard, you will have to make LOTS of modifications to fit a new one in.

it's just not worth it

Rightio, thats all i really needed to know. Now i know upgrading isn't going to be worth it. So i'm down to finding the cheapest source of RDRam i can get.

As for selling and buying a new one. I couldn't really recommend this as an option to the guy, as its only about 18-24 months old, its still quite a fast machine, its just crippled due to lack of ram. This would definately be a last resort.

RicardoSmith

Watch the cost of the upgrade. You a quickly reach a point when it dosen't make financial sense. Get the ram 2nd hand on some of the UK forums. Its still dead money though.

maidhc

I have has a Dell 8250 as well, although I got 512mb at the time. It makes no sense to upgrade it for the reasons given by everyone so far. I think you should really look to the buyandsell, and just sell the box. It's going to be a 3 year old computer in no length of time, and not worth the money.

They were an overpriced heap of I won't say what, and it really isn't worth ploughing more money into it. Mine is certainly getting the road once its not able to do what I want it to.