Hello all,
I've recently been looking to upgrade my computers RAM to assist in gaming. However, because the computer was a surprise present that my dad bought from Dell, it runs RDRAM. Being that I'd rather spend $240 on better things than 512 MB of ram, I was told that getting a new motherboard would be the best option.
Because of this, I started to look around. Of course, my knowledge of computers is limited, and I'm a complete idiot when it comes to the actual components. I know my way around, but when searching for a new motherboard I am way out of my league. My friend, who is quite a bit more versed in these things than I am, told me to check here before buying anything to make sure that I have a good motherboard for my computer.
So, I'm posting here with the request that anybody who knows what they're doing more than I do help me out to make sure I don't screw up my computer and waste $200 on new parts for nothing. First off, I'll start with what I'm looking at buying: I've found some PC3200 512MB 184-pin DDR ram at a good price at Newegg.com. I'm planning on getting two sticks of that, as well as a new motherboard. The motherboard I'm looking at is the one right here.
My computer is a Dell Dimension 8250. It's running a Pentium 4 2.4 gHz processor and a Radeon 9700 video card. As far as the rest of the specs go, I had no idea so I looked them up on Dell. Unfortunately, what they gave doesn't seem to be very well organized, so I'll do my best to make it readable:
Assembly(?):
ASSEMBLY, CARD (CIRCUIT), PLANAR (MOTHERBOARD), NETWORK INTERFACE CARD/CONTROLLERS, DIM8250
Processor: PROCESSOR, 80532, 2.4G, 512K, 533, SOCKET N, C1
RAM: RAMBUS INLINE MEMORY MODULE, 256, 533MHZ, 128X16, 8C (Two of these)
RAM: CARD (CIRCUIT), MEMORY BOARD, MEMORY, PRINTED WIRING BOARD, CONTINUITY, RAMBUS (Two of these)
General Hardware:
DVD/CD-ROM Drives LITEON DVD-ROM LTD163
SAMSUNG CD-R/RW SW-240B
Disk Drives WDC WD600BB-75CAA0 55.87Gb
Display Adapters RADEON 9500 PRO / 9700 128Mb (AGP)
NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440 with AGP8X (Microsoft Corporation) (PCI)
Floppy Disk Drives (Standard floppy disk drives) Floppy disk drive
IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers Intel(r) 82801BA Bus Master IDE Controller
Primary IDE Channel
Secondary IDE Channel
Keyboards Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mice and Other Pointing Devices Microsoft USB Wheel Mouse Optical
Microsoft PS/2 Port Mouse (IntelliPoint)
Monitors Dell E772c - Dell Computer Corp.
Default Monitor -
Default Monitor -
Sound Devices Creative SB Live! Series (WDM)
USB Controllers VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Companion Controller
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Companion Controller
VIA USB Enhanced Host Controller
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Companion Controller
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Companion Controller
VIA USB Enhanced Host Controller
Network Adapter:
Adapters Intel(R) PRO/100 M Network Connection - Packet Scheduler Miniport
Hopefully that's all the information you will all need. If you do need more, please just let me know. The biggest thing is mostly if what I'm choosing as far as motherboard goes will be compatible with system hardware like cds, etc. If you can all just let me know, I'd greatly appreciate any help or advice. Thank you all in advance!
Scott Jensen
I've recently been looking to upgrade my computers RAM to assist in gaming. However, because the computer was a surprise present that my dad bought from Dell, it runs RDRAM. Being that I'd rather spend $240 on better things than 512 MB of ram, I was told that getting a new motherboard would be the best option.
Because of this, I started to look around. Of course, my knowledge of computers is limited, and I'm a complete idiot when it comes to the actual components. I know my way around, but when searching for a new motherboard I am way out of my league. My friend, who is quite a bit more versed in these things than I am, told me to check here before buying anything to make sure that I have a good motherboard for my computer.
So, I'm posting here with the request that anybody who knows what they're doing more than I do help me out to make sure I don't screw up my computer and waste $200 on new parts for nothing. First off, I'll start with what I'm looking at buying: I've found some PC3200 512MB 184-pin DDR ram at a good price at Newegg.com. I'm planning on getting two sticks of that, as well as a new motherboard. The motherboard I'm looking at is the one right here.
My computer is a Dell Dimension 8250. It's running a Pentium 4 2.4 gHz processor and a Radeon 9700 video card. As far as the rest of the specs go, I had no idea so I looked them up on Dell. Unfortunately, what they gave doesn't seem to be very well organized, so I'll do my best to make it readable:
Assembly(?):
ASSEMBLY, CARD (CIRCUIT), PLANAR (MOTHERBOARD), NETWORK INTERFACE CARD/CONTROLLERS, DIM8250
Processor: PROCESSOR, 80532, 2.4G, 512K, 533, SOCKET N, C1
RAM: RAMBUS INLINE MEMORY MODULE, 256, 533MHZ, 128X16, 8C (Two of these)
RAM: CARD (CIRCUIT), MEMORY BOARD, MEMORY, PRINTED WIRING BOARD, CONTINUITY, RAMBUS (Two of these)
General Hardware:
DVD/CD-ROM Drives LITEON DVD-ROM LTD163
SAMSUNG CD-R/RW SW-240B
Disk Drives WDC WD600BB-75CAA0 55.87Gb
Display Adapters RADEON 9500 PRO / 9700 128Mb (AGP)
NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440 with AGP8X (Microsoft Corporation) (PCI)
Floppy Disk Drives (Standard floppy disk drives) Floppy disk drive
IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers Intel(r) 82801BA Bus Master IDE Controller
Primary IDE Channel
Secondary IDE Channel
Keyboards Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mice and Other Pointing Devices Microsoft USB Wheel Mouse Optical
Microsoft PS/2 Port Mouse (IntelliPoint)
Monitors Dell E772c - Dell Computer Corp.
Default Monitor -
Default Monitor -
Sound Devices Creative SB Live! Series (WDM)
USB Controllers VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Companion Controller
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Companion Controller
VIA USB Enhanced Host Controller
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Companion Controller
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Companion Controller
VIA USB Enhanced Host Controller
Network Adapter:
Adapters Intel(R) PRO/100 M Network Connection - Packet Scheduler Miniport
Hopefully that's all the information you will all need. If you do need more, please just let me know. The biggest thing is mostly if what I'm choosing as far as motherboard goes will be compatible with system hardware like cds, etc. If you can all just let me know, I'd greatly appreciate any help or advice. Thank you all in advance!
Scott Jensen
