I think that the answer is no from some of the other posts that I've read but here goes. I'm planning on upgrading a GX270. It currently has a P4 2.8 GHz CPU with 1 MB of L2. I'm assuming that I can't drop a Dual Core into this thing is that correct?
It seems that this thing will only handle 4 GB of memory...is that correct? It currently has 2 MB installed.
If it doesn't make any sense to upgrad the CPU, does it make sense to add a SATA drive (3 Gbps) and a controller card plus bring the RAM up to 4 GB?
Thanks ahead of time.
Paul
1. Dual Core CPU question = I believe Celeron D and Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.4GHZ should work from what i have seen.
2. Max RAM= Small Desktop 4GB , SMT (Small MINI-Tower) 4GB, SFF 2GB.
3. Really its up to you on upgrading. Depending on what you use the system for etc...
How much do you want to spend?
I just built a Dual Core 4000+ PC with 2GB DDR2, 2-160GB SATA HDD's in RAID0 (very fast) a 460 watt psu w/ active pfc, and a GeForce 8600GT, in a NEW case etc.... I reused a DVD rom drive i had.....
all that for like $550.... so its up to you what you feel is worth it.... My system would blow the doors off yours even with all the upgrades you mentioned...
Sometimes its not worth upgrading a lot off items in an old system. Now if it was a GX280 i would say yes, because a gx280 would probably keep up with my new system if I put in the same video card(work PC). Even though the GX280 has RAM of only half the speed...
GX280 = PC2-3200
Athlon X2 64 4000+ = PC2-6400
Benchmarks on the GX280 on RAM are faster, probably due to Dells BIOS and limited HIGHER-end ram etc....
Also, 4GB will give you at best 3.25GB in 32-bit Windows. The GX270 doesn't support x64 processors if I'm not mistaken, so running XP x64 or Vista x64 isn't an option.
In other words, putting in more than 3GB is a waste, and unless you're running something very specific that needs that much memory, you won't notice an upgrade from 2GB to 3GB.
I would agree that trying to max this system out may not be worth the money; save up a little longer and buy a new system like a Vostro 400 or so, or maybe a lower end Optiplex 745 or 755 or so (tower models for all, as those are the only ones that can handle powersupply upgrades in the future and can support full height videocards. Alternatively maybe an Inspiron desktop model can be found from time to time for less than $400, which would run circles around your GX270, even when fully beefed up.
Thanks much for the reply. Our equipment budget is tight and because we're a non profit that is part of an educational institution, swapping out the motherboard, etc isn't an option. I agree that you can put together a powerful system for not a lot of money these days.
For right now, adding memory and a serial disk seems to make the most sense. If nothing else, I can always re-use the disk (500GB, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache...$130!!!) later on.
Unfortunately, we can't buy used systems (not my rules) so going with this upgrade for now makes the most sense. I agree, that at some point replacing it with a 745 (what I'm using now) makes the most sense.
lpprikej
650 Posts
0
September 25th, 2007 17:00
1. Dual Core CPU question = I believe Celeron D and Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.4GHZ should work from what i have seen.
2. Max RAM= Small Desktop 4GB , SMT (Small MINI-Tower) 4GB, SFF 2GB.
3. Really its up to you on upgrading. Depending on what you use the system for etc...
How much do you want to spend?
I just built a Dual Core 4000+ PC with 2GB DDR2, 2-160GB SATA HDD's in RAID0 (very fast) a 460 watt psu w/ active pfc, and a GeForce 8600GT, in a NEW case etc.... I reused a DVD rom drive i had.....
all that for like $550.... so its up to you what you feel is worth it.... My system would blow the doors off yours even with all the upgrades you mentioned...
Sometimes its not worth upgrading a lot off items in an old system. Now if it was a GX280 i would say yes, because a gx280 would probably keep up with my new system if I put in the same video card(work PC). Even though the GX280 has RAM of only half the speed...
GX280 = PC2-3200
Athlon X2 64 4000+ = PC2-6400
Benchmarks on the GX280 on RAM are faster, probably due to Dells BIOS and limited HIGHER-end ram etc....
Dev Mgr
4 Operator
•
9.3K Posts
0
September 26th, 2007 03:00
In other words, putting in more than 3GB is a waste, and unless you're running something very specific that needs that much memory, you won't notice an upgrade from 2GB to 3GB.
I would agree that trying to max this system out may not be worth the money; save up a little longer and buy a new system like a Vostro 400 or so, or maybe a lower end Optiplex 745 or 755 or so (tower models for all, as those are the only ones that can handle powersupply upgrades in the future and can support full height videocards. Alternatively maybe an Inspiron desktop model can be found from time to time for less than $400, which would run circles around your GX270, even when fully beefed up.
pczerny
6 Posts
0
September 26th, 2007 13:00
pczerny
6 Posts
0
September 26th, 2007 13:00
lpprikej
650 Posts
0
September 27th, 2007 12:00