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Second Opinion on
Aloha,
I'm a writer/author who needs several apps running at once. My current Dimension 9200 setup is OK (2CPU, 1.8GHz, 32-bit, 1GB) but I'd like to explore how to increase speed and performance. In fact, I'd like to FLY!
Anyone out there have any suggestions?
I asked Dell and they recommend that I buy a new harddrive with 1.5KB, although I still have puh-lenty of space left on my current HD. I bought the HD:
1.5TB SATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive 32MB IntelliPower 3.5IN Caviar Green
... and now am wondering if I should go ahead with the install or would this be for nada (nothing) and something else would be better, e.g., new processor?
Please advise. (Speak slowly and clearly, I am not an advanced tech genius).
My best,
KimCaroline
dcgtls
940 Posts
1
October 10th, 2009 10:00
You can upgrade you CPU to a Q6600 2.4 quad core, Upgrade your memory to 3GB or 4GB.
The max CPU's that you can use are E6700 and Q6700.
The max memory is 4GB running the 32bit version of windows but you will ony use a max of 3.5GB. The max memory for 64bit windows is 8GB and it will use it all. I have found for me the sweet spot is 6GB.
If you want to upgrade to the 64bit version you might still be able to get Dell to send it to you for free.
As for the hard drive you can always install the new drive as a secondary drive and use it to backup all of your files. You can just copy them to the new drive or get a software like Ghost or Acronis True Image and it will make a complete copy of your main drive so that when the drive failes you can easily get all of you data back.
KimCaroline
10 Posts
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October 10th, 2009 10:00
Thank you so much!
Best wishes,
Kim
curteye
7 Posts
0
October 22nd, 2009 09:00
dcgtls - there seems to be much debate about whether or not Dimension 9200 can have a max of 8GB of RAM or not. I was wondering what your take is on the issue? I have one myself and about to make the conversion to 64-bit windows, but nothing seems to be conclusive except that a similar model (XPS 410) can handle it. Any insight would be very helpful.
Thanks in advance
dcgtls
940 Posts
0
October 22nd, 2009 15:00
The 9200 is the same system as the XPS 410, the only difference is the bezel that has the model name on it. If you have a 64bit version of Windows it will run 8GB with no issues and will acctualy use all of it. I was running 8GB in mine but then decided to save money when my GF wanted to upgrade hers and I put 4GB from my system into hers and now run both systems with 6GB. I have found that 6GB is the sweet spot on these systems. The only time that I miss the full 8GB is when I am doind video editing and encoding to DVD.
KimCaroline
10 Posts
0
October 23rd, 2009 11:00
I think I've hit a roadblock in my quest to upgrade on the cheap... my Intel processor is soldered onto the motherboard which means I can't replace it, right? But can I add another one? Would my computer recognize the new hardware?
Thanks again,
Kim