Dell Upgrades

[stan03]

If my friend wants to upgrade ram on his dell computer do you think he ought to buy from dell or just get some ram of the same speed (PC2700) from newegg or something.

[DayUSeX]

dell has super expensive prices, but my friend was in the similiar sitaution with a 800mhz machine from dell, and the only ram that worked with it was dell ram. So go figure i would order from dell just to be on the safe side.

[stan03]

ok

[everclock]

borrow a freinds corsair/kingston/crucial/blah blah whatever and try it out, if it works, buy the same brand.

[fatccrunner]

im the guy stan03 was talking about, i just joined this, thats a good idea, thanks

[stan03]

i can lend you my ram fatccrunner....

[snowwie]

Originally posted by DayUSeX
dell has super expensive prices, but my friend was in the similiar sitaution with a 800mhz machine from dell, and the only ram that worked with it was dell ram. So go figure i would order from dell just to be on the safe side.

eh, Dell usually uses micron/crucial ram, or some other aftermarket stuff they get for cheap

crucial.com actually specializes in OEM upgrades, just put in the manufacturer and model of you pc and it will give you a great price, much better than dell will.

[fatccrunner]

Originally posted by stan03
i can lend you my ram fatccrunner....

thank you stan03, ill check into that

also,

Originally posted by snowwie


eh, Dell usually uses micron/crucial ram, or some other aftermarket stuff they get for cheap

crucial.com actually specializes in OEM upgrades, just put in the manufacturer and model of you pc and it will give you a great price, much better than dell will.

thank you, thats an awesome site and MUCH cheaper than dell, i appreciate it, thanks for the tip

[eaglescouter]

Agreed. Do the crucial.com ram configuration tool, it will send you down the right road for that machine, even if it is a Dell.

[mrspec3]

OCZ has some Dell upgrade sticks too that you could check into

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/OCZ+PC-3200+Upgrade+Modules+For+Dell+400SC+and+8300

[fatccrunner]

oh crap, now youve gone and gotten me confused lol, all i know i need is 512 DDR PC2100 and youve given me all this stuff i dont understand lol

Originally posted by mrspec3

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/OCZ+PC-3200+Upgrade+Modules+For+Dell+400SC+and+8300

sorry, but im dumb, lol thanks for the help though, but if you could help me a little more, that would be extrememely well helpful , lol thanks

[eaglescouter]

Follow this link then just walk through the dell models and you will find all of the memory options that will work on that dell machine.

Once you have a list of options, let us know and we'll try to sort them out for you.

Here's the link: http://www.crucial.com/store/listProductLine.asp?cat=RAM&mfr=Dell&submit=Go

[wanna_b_rich_13]

You can just tell me the DELL model you have and I will tell you what you need. I have memory from PC2100 to PC3200 ranging from OEM to Major brands. I have Rambus too which crucial.com does not carry.

[eaglescouter]

Originally posted by wanna_b_rich_13
You can just tell me the DELL model you have and I will tell you what you need. I have memory from PC2100 to PC3200 ranging from OEM to Major brands. I have Rambus too which crucial.com does not carry.

I don't know where this is going, but remember, no sales outside of the classified section of this forum, we don't need a moderator banning anyone here.

[wanna_b_rich_13]

Originally posted by eaglescouter


I don't know where this is going, but remember, no sales outside of the classified section of this forum, we don't need a moderator banning anyone here.

Im just trying to help him out. Everyone is telling him go here and go there but it is as simple as stating the model. If I was trying to sell something I would say "you can buy it from me!"

[fatccrunner]

thanks for the help eagle, i got the crucial site down, its just that other site, the OCZ site that was confusing me, i think im gonna stick with the crucial, ive checked it out today and i havent found anything cheaper, im not really looking for any real nice RAM, i just want my regular ole 512 DDR PC2100 for my Dimension 4550 ... i dont need rambus or anything like that or any special premium DDR or something like that, i think the crucial will do me perfect, i appreciate the help, but if anyone does have any solutions that might be cheaper (even though the crucial seems a pretty fair price) i am still open to suggestions, thank you everyone for the help

[wanna_b_rich_13]

fatccrunner. I sent you a PM.

Thanks

[stan03]

fatccrunner you told me you had PC2700

[fatccrunner]

no im pretty sure its 2100

[wanna_b_rich_13]

If you have the 4550 (400Mhz FSB series) then it probably came stock at PC2100, but also will run the 333MHz FSB if you put PC2700 in.

[stan03]

but then he would have to take out his 2100 which he doesn't want to do.

[fatccrunner]

ummm yeah, you lost me there on the 333mhz part chief, you gotta remember im dumb so take it nice and easy and slow and simple, lol, thanks :D

[stan03]

basically he is saying that you will be able to run the ram at faster speeds, which might help performance, but then again, you want more ram right?

[fatccrunner]

umm, i wanted more ram (key part of that was it being in past) because i figured that would help me out more, but if making it faster is what i should do, then i guess thats what i want to do??? i dunno... i was just planning on getting more of the same ram i had

[wanna_b_rich_13]

Originally posted by fatccrunner
ummm yeah, you lost me there on the 333mhz part chief, you gotta remember im dumb so take it nice and easy and slow and simple, lol, thanks :D

If you have PC2100 then that means your PC runs at a FSB (front side bus) of 266MHz. Your PC is also capable of running at 333MHz FSB (or PC2700).

If you take out the PC2100 and put in PC2700 your PC will run a little faster (the 333Mhz speed instead of 266MHz).

Since you do not want to take out your PC2100 you can still use PC2700, PC3200, etc memory WITH the PC2100 that you already have. It will still work with your PC2100 but you will not get any gains from running the faster memory. You will only benefit from having more memory.


Hope this explains it better.

[fatccrunner]

Ok I follow, and I dont really need to know the answer of this question because its probably irrelevant and everyone will probably get a nice, big laugh out of this but what exactly is Front Side Bus. I've heard it a LOT and ive just always kinda had a hunch but what exactly is it?... ok and right about now yall are falling out of your chairs laughing at me

[wanna_b_rich_13]

FSB is what connects the memory, CPU, and other components together on a motherboard. The faster the FSB your PC runs the faster your PC will be. IMO this is one of the most important things for speed in a PC.

[snowwie]

eh

wannabrich...hold up right there
not everything you are saying is entirely true...
What would make the ram run at 333MHz DDR is not the fsb, but an asynchronious speed to the FSB, by use of a memory divider. FSB is still 133fsb. BUt if he has a 400MHz fsb cpu then no matter what, the highest divider he will get is 266MHz DDR, and this is all assuming the dell bios allows for divder changes, or even recognizes it.

forget it. stick with the crucial stuff...PC2100 is what you want.

[wanna_b_rich_13]

Originally posted by snowwie
eh

wannabrich...hold up right there
not everything you are saying is entirely true...
What would make the ram run at 333MHz DDR is not the fsb, but an asynchronious speed to the FSB, by use of a memory divider. FSB is still 133fsb. BUt if he has a 400MHz fsb cpu then no matter what, the highest divider he will get is 266MHz DDR, and this is all assuming the dell bios allows for divder changes, or even recognizes it.

forget it. stick with the crucial stuff...PC2100 is what you want.

There may be a 400Mhz FSB CPU in the PC but I do understand that doesn't mean you can definately run at 400MHz, or even 333MHz. Like you said it depends on other factors.

My point is that if DELL has PC2700 memory for this model then surely it will be recongized by the BIOS. This isn't any different than any other mobo that uses PC2100/PC2700, Unless you know something about that model DELL that I do not.

[fatccrunner]

thanks for the FSB info and umm im still trying to keep up with what both of yall are talking about but ill figure it out... thanks

[stan03]

my understanding is what snowwie said, just by putting in 2700 ram won't increase the speed of the FSB.

[fatccrunner]

i have come up with another dell upgrade question that may not belong in this forum but i dont know where else to put it but tell me if i need to move it and i will do so or whatever... but anyway... besides upgrading the ram to 1 gb and getting a new hard drive, what else can i do to my dell computer?... i have read a post about O/Cing them but it sounds pretty iffy to me... i dont know if i want to try it considering i could completely screw up my computer and wouldnt have a decent one anymore... so is there anything else that i could do to make it faster... im open to ANY suggestions, not just specific things like ram or hd or proccessor upgrades or whatever... ANYTHING!... thanks

[stan03]

you can get raid...

[fatccrunner]

what exactly is that, ive heard it before and i know it has to do with hard drives... right?

[stan03]

yes go into the storage section and read the sticky at the top

[fatccrunner]

from what i got out of the sticky, doesnt that require 2 of the same size drives?... or am i missing something?

[stan03]

yes it does, you need to make a thread in the storage section.