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Upgrades for Dimension 8300
Hi all,
I'm new to this community and am looking for help.
My desktop PC is about 6 years old now (Dimension 8300) with an XP operating system. My Notebook is a Vostro 1500 which runs on Vista - I have Vista Business as the operating system.
I'm looking to have both PC's running on the same operating system. Ideally I would like to upgrade to Windows 7 on both but don't know if this is possible bearing in mind the limitations with my Dimension 8300 in particular. What would I need to buy in order to upgrade my processor speed and memory to be able to run Windows 7 on my Dimension 8300? Also is it possible to update all the necessary drivers?
I have thought about upgrading the Dimension 8300 so that it will run on Vista but Dell Support think that I might have trouble acquiring suitable drivers.
Can anyone help please?
Steve
Woodford_461998
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December 31st, 2009 03:00
Thanks for the information Fireberd. I guess that I'll have to hang onto what I have for the time being. I guess that Microsoft will keep servicing XP for a few more years so there's no imminent danger of the PC falling into disrepair.
Depressing though that so much work and expense is needed to upgrade the operating system. Just a thought, could I replace the existing motherboard with a new one and solve some of the issues this way?
I reckon that it's a bit much to have to replace a PC everything few years to keep up to date with new operating systems.
Steve
ejn63
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December 31st, 2009 03:00
There's no easy way to replace the board in these systems - the case design is obsolete and won't fit aftermarket boards.
The GX270 is out of data from a CPU, RAM, video card, hard drive/CD drive, and other standpoints - it's better replaced than upgraded.
fireberd
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December 31st, 2009 03:00
The 8300 is not a very good candidate for upgrading. Both the hardware limitations and the fact there are no Dell drivers available for the hardware devices - and Dell drivers are needed for most of the hardware as it has a Dell custom motherboard - not a "retail standard" motherboard.
For Windows 7, you need at a minimum Vista drivers and in particular the sound as the XP driver is not compatible (sound is handled differently in Vista and Win 7). Even if you could upgrade the memory and video card for Vista/Win 7, you would need to install a separate Win 7 compatible sound card. By the time you spend the $$ upgrading you are well on the way to buying a new Windows 7 PC.
Woodford_461998
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December 31st, 2009 04:00
Thanks for the advice - however depressing!
Steve