Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
1 Message
0
4297
November 8th, 2016 07:00
Worthwhile to upgrade Dimension 9200?
I'm happily running Windows 10 1607 on my Dimension 9200 (vintage 2007), which has a 32-bit OS on a 64-bit processor but only 2GB of RAM. Am thinking of moving from standard broadband to fibre to improve download speeds.
Would it also be worthwhile: i) to install additional RAM, to increase the total to 4GB or 8GB, and ii) also to move from 32-bit to 64-bit operation? Are those changes possible with this PC? Should I move from 32 to 64-bit before buying the extra RAM? Would I do best to buy a new PC (probably the most expensive option)?
Would be very grateful for any advice.
No Events found!
speedstep
11 Legend
•
47K Posts
1
November 8th, 2016 09:00
Maxing it at 4 gigs and adding an ASUS Radeon 6450 will breathe some life into it.
https://www.amazon.com/Asus-Radeon-Silence-Profile-PCI-Express/dp/B004X8EO6Q
Bonus with the new card is that you can move to a newer unit should you decide to upgrade.
ejn63
11 Legend
•
87.5K Posts
•
321.3K Points
0
November 8th, 2016 09:00
Max RAM for this system is 4G total, making a 64-bit OS relatively pointless (you don't gain much).
If the system is sufficiently powerful otherwise, and particularly if it's still running its original hard drive, replacing the hard drive with a solid state drive will make the biggest overall impact on performance.
2-J
84 Posts
0
November 9th, 2016 15:00
Max ram for the 9200 is 8Gb. Maybe 'officially' it's 4Gb (maybe because that's all Dell originally tested in it possibly because 2Gb sticks weren't available when it was released), but simply search this forum and you will see plenty of threads saying 8Gb works in the 9200; it does work and I have 8Gb in my 9200 as well.
My 9200 (with QX6800 processor installed, Q6700 also works well) is my main PC and I use it every day for work and gaming. Not sure if it's cost effective to fully upgrade it, I would say look on ebay and such and see if you can pick up any good deals on a processor, card and / or RAM, to see if it's the right option for you.
speedstep
11 Legend
•
47K Posts
1
November 10th, 2016 06:00
Only LOW DENSITY INTEL Compatible Ram works and its DDR2 which is harder to find now.
High Density, ECC, Buffered, ram does not and will not EVER work.
Chipsets typically do not allow more than 4 gigs when Intel makes it so. This is the case for an Optiplex GX 620 with 2 gig dimms. You can put 8 in and it will be seen by the bios but the max due to the INTEL 945 chipset useable ram is 3.50 gigs regardless of 64 bit os or EMT64 capable CPU.
The 9200 motherboard uses the intel 965 chipset.
The 9200/XPS 410 supports a maximum of 8GB of RAM.
Below are the compatible 2x2GB kits
You can use 533MHz, 667MHz or 800MHz depending on the FSB of your CPU.
Crucial 2x2GB kit - CT2CP25664AA800 DDR2 PC2-6400 800MHz
Kingston 2x2GB kit - KVR800D2K2 DDR2 PC2-6400 800MHz
Corsair XMS2 2GB (1x2GB) DDR2 800 MHz (PC2 6400)
XPS 435T/9000
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00160P77Y
Getting a newer system Like a Dell Precision T3500 allows 16 gigs or more of ram with faster processors and a much better power supply supporting dual GPUS.
Typically these systems now are less than the cost of Older DDR2 Ram and Windows 7 alone.