Computer Build

[Dan05979]

Whats up guys, I need some advice;

 

My coworker tried to pull a fast one one me. He had a Dell xps 200 from around the 2005 2006 era, He recently had the hard drive wiped and windows 7 installed. He wanted to sell it to me for $400, no monitor. I took it home and turned it on, its running on an intel d processor with 1gb of mem and 80gb hard drive. Windows 7 was an "enterprise version" and on the main screen it said "this is not a genuine copy of windows 7" I gave him 100 bucks for the computer and told him to go scratch.

 

I bought a 23" led lcd LG monitor, 2tb hard drive, 4gb memory (ddr2), windows ultimate, blu ray drive, galaxy ge force 9600 low profile (tower is slim) video card with the HDMI and i'm looking to upgrade the processor to intel core 2 quad processor lga 775. My question is, is this a good combo and Where do I begin to install? hard drive first? then install the new win7? help me out here. Thanks.

[Cait Sith]

Whats up guys, I need some advice;

 

My coworker tried to pull a fast one one me. He had a Dell xps 200 from around the 2005 2006 era, He recently had the hard drive wiped and windows 7 installed. He wanted to sell it to me for $400, no monitor. I took it home and turned it on, its running on an intel d processor with 1gb of mem and 80gb hard drive. Windows 7 was an "enterprise version" and on the main screen it said "this is not a genuine copy of windows 7" I gave him 100 bucks for the computer and told him to go scratch.

 

I bought a 23" led lcd LG monitor, 2tb hard drive, 4gb memory (ddr2), windows ultimate, blu ray drive, galaxy ge force 9600 low profile (tower is slim) video card with the HDMI and i'm looking to upgrade the processor to intel core 2 quad processor lga 775. My question is, is this a good combo and Where do I begin to install? hard drive first? then install the new win7? help me out here. Thanks.

 

If you are looking for really good processors, check out the intel i3, i5 or i7 processors, though depending on the merchants, it might put a hole in your wallet. All parts must be installed safely onto the PC first, then you install Windows 7.

[Dan05979]

If you are looking for really good processors, check out the intel i3, i5 or i7 processors, though depending on the merchants, it might put a hole in your wallet. All parts must be installed safely onto the PC first, then you install Windows 7.

 

The only thing I'm worried about is if buy the i3-5-or seven, the chip has to be 'LGA775' and also I'm afraid it might not work on my older system or overheat. so......

 

Also, there are 4 slots for mem, 2 are being used for 1 gb, can I leave the old mem on and use the other 2 slots for the 2 gb, making a total of 5 gb or just replace the old 1gb with the new 4gb?

[Cait Sith]

The only thing I'm worried about is if buy the i3-5-or seven, the chip has to be 'LGA775' and also I'm afraid it might not work on my older system or overheat. so......

 

Also, there are 4 slots for mem, 2 are being used for 1 gb, can I leave the old mem on and use the other 2 slots for the 2 gb, making a total of 5 gb or just replace the old 1gb with the new 4gb?

 

Good point.

 

That I'm not sure of. As I am more used to building/modifying custom desktops. Considering that this is a Dell, not sure about this.

[Dan05979]

I'm waiting for win7 to come in the mail and also the mem. As soon as this comes together I'm going to give it a shot. I feel I spent way less than an equivalent new system.

[Messino]

The best CPU you can get for the Dell xps 200 motherboard is a Pentium D 8XXX seris chip with max supportable memory of 4 GB and you ahve to install it in pairs if you just have one 4 gb memory module it might be a problem.. The real problem is the case. It is notorius for overheating and popping a few capacitors because it is so cramped in there. You also need to check the specs of the videocard. Most Dell computers come with a barely adequate power supply and sometims need to upgrade the power supply with video cards that draw more current.

[Dan05979]

The best CPU you can get for the Dell xps 200 motherboard is a Pentium D 8XXX seris chip with max supportable memory of 4 GB and you ahve to install it in pairs if you just have one 4 gb memory module it might be a problem.. The real problem is the case. It is notorius for overheating and popping a few capacitors because it is so cramped in there. You also need to check the specs of the videocard. Most Dell computers come with a barely adequate power supply and sometims need to upgrade the power supply with video cards that draw more current.

 

I have to look up on that power supply issue with the video card, thank you. I read up on the overheating issue also and hopefully it wont be a problem since I wont be doing any heavy gaming. I bought 2 2gb mem cards, since there are 4 slots and 2 of them are occupied with 2 512mb cards, should I leave them in there or just start over fresh?

 

Also, what is this 'overclocking' business about?

[Messino]

I have to look up on that power supply issue with the video card, thank you. I read up on the overheating issue also and hopefully it wont be a problem since I wont be doing any heavy gaming. I bought 2 2gb mem cards, since there are 4 slots and 2 of them are occupied with 2 512mb cards, should I leave them in there or just start over fresh?

 

Also, what is this 'overclocking' business about?

 

You will prob have to remove the two 512mb sticks. that pc comes with a 275 power supply. the 54 watt version of he 9700 requires a 300 watt and the 96 watt version requires a 400 watt ps. I worked on these pcs before and the only thing i had to deal with was the power supplies. I wouldnt go with overclocking. Its when people try to squeeze as much speed as pssible out of the cpu by modifying the the clock speed and front side bus multipliers one way or another with will drain more power and cause more heat. theres not really much of a noticable difference if you overclock anyway..

[Dan05979]

You will prob have to remove the two 512mb sticks. that pc comes with a 275 power supply. the 54 watt version of he 9700 requires a 300 watt and the 96 watt version requires a 400 watt ps. I worked on these pcs before and the only thing i had to deal with was the power supplies. I wouldnt go with overclocking. Its when people try to squeeze as much speed as pssible out of the cpu by modifying the the clock speed and front side bus multipliers one way or another with will drain more power and cause more heat. theres not really much of a noticable difference if you overclock anyway..

 

So how can I increase the power supply in this to run the 9600, and will getting the Intel Core 2 Quad Processor work or make a difference?

[Messino]

So how can I increase the power supply in this to run the 9600, and will getting the Intel Core 2 Quad Processor work or make a difference?

 

You can buy a powersupply upgrade for the computer but you cant use a core 2 with this motherboard you can only use pentium D class at the most

[Dan05979]

You can buy a powersupply upgrade for the computer but you cant use a core 2 with this motherboard you can only use pentium D class at the most

 

Thanks, ok so where can I find this power supply and any recomondations to what pentium d i should use or leave the one thats in the computer alone?

[Messino]

Thanks, ok so where can I find this power supply and any recomondations to what pentium d i should use or leave the one thats in the computer alone?

 

not sure whats in there now see how it is once you get the memory and everything installed, you can always upgrade later without changing much

[Dan05979]

not sure whats in there now see how it is once you get the memory and everything installed, you can always upgrade later without changing much

 

10-4, i'm waiting for a few more things before I do this, probably by this weekend. So I need to upgrade the power supply? who sells this?

[Messino]

You would have to do a search for that model number in google and powersupply and there should be a bunch of vendors

[SoSpectacular]

Dell computers are built in a way that modifying them is a bit difficult unless you figure out the exact specs of the motherboard. When I took the time to revamp my Dell Dimension E510 back in June 2009 I examined the motherboard/processor/memory/power supply and the PCI-e slots (added a new graphics card) then did some research. Depending on the case your Dell uses you're going to have to find a power supply that can fit/screw in properly, the 500-watt I got for it was specially made for Dell computers. As for a processor the motherboard can only accept a certain type, my Dell also came stock with an Intel Pentium D Dual Core 2.8GHz (the exact model number I forgot, it probably is the 905) and it'll only take an upgrade in the Pentium D series despite the LGA775 socket... So, do your research on the system extensively. I don't know much about the XPS series, however.

[Dan05979]

Dell computers are built in a way that modifying them is a bit difficult unless you figure out the exact specs of the motherboard. When I took the time to revamp my Dell Dimension E510 back in June 2009 I examined the motherboard/processor/memory/power supply and the PCI-e slots (added a new graphics card) then did some research. Depending on the case your Dell uses you're going to have to find a power supply that can fit/screw in properly, the 500-watt I got for it was specially made for Dell computers. As for a processor the motherboard can only accept a certain type, my Dell also came stock with an Intel Pentium D Dual Core 2.8GHz (the exact model number I forgot, it probably is the 905) and it'll only take an upgrade in the Pentium D series despite the LGA775 socket... So, do your research on the system extensively. I don't know much about the XPS series, however.

 

Since this xps is in a slimline case I Know upgrades are a little tough. I mainly just going to be using it for internet and music and maybe a few blu-rays, I'm not too concerned because by the end of this year I'm looking at the Apple imac27.

[SevenEleven]

Well if you're going to look at a few blu rays, then the graphic card will definitely need a step up. The integrated (onboard) graphic card won't cut it with HD content. What you could upgrade to is also dependent on the motherboard specs. (And then it gets spread out to being dependent on your memory and clock speeds)

[SoSpectacular]

Well if you're going to look at a few blu rays, then the graphic card will definitely need a step up. The integrated (onboard) graphic card won't cut it with HD content. What you could upgrade to is also dependent on the motherboard specs. (And then it gets spread out to being dependent on your memory and clock speeds)

 

Indeed, find out what type of graphics card will fit in your system if you're currently using an on-board chip, most video cards these days are crafted for the PCI-Express x16 slot format, and most motherboards these days have at least one of these slots.

 

Figure out the type (Either DDR2/DDR3, 800/1200MHz, whatever) of memory your computer has, you'll probably want around 2-4 GBs of RAM- any more won't cut it unless you're on a Windows 64-bit operating system.

[Dan05979]

Indeed, find out what type of graphics card will fit in your system if you're currently using an on-board chip, most video cards these days are crafted for the PCI-Express x16 slot format, and most motherboards these days have at least one of these slots.

 

Figure out the type (Either DDR2/DDR3, 800/1200MHz, whatever) of memory your computer has, you'll probably want around 2-4 GBs of RAM- any more won't cut it unless you're on a Windows 64-bit operating system.

 

Good advice, I'm a little worried about the power supply issue with my new video card but if worse comes to worse, I'll take it to an expert.