OptiPlex GX1 500Mbr+ PIII 500MHz, BIOS Version A10, Max HDD/RAM Support?

Up to 137 Gbytes will "work"; above this there may be issues - but it depends on OS etc e.g. FAT32 partitions can't be bigger than 32Gbytes.  There's a display limitation on the GX1 bios to 65535 Mbytes.  Many larger disks come with software that enables such disks to be supported, but you are definitely safe with up to 120Gbyte disks using e.g. XP.

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@peterfelgate wrote:
Up to 137 Gbytes will "work"; above this there may be issues - but it depends on OS etc e.g. FAT32 partitions can't be bigger than 32Gbytes.  There's a display limitation on the GX1 bios to 65535 Mbytes.  Many larger disks come with software that enables such disks to be supported, but you are definitely safe with up to 120Gbyte disks using e.g. XP.

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Fat32 Partitions can be several terabytes. If you use a WIN98 startup Disk to format the partition then up to 80 Gigabytes is fine. Past that Scandisk wont be able to fix problems in WIN98 or WIN98SE due to out of memory Errors. As long as you keep the Drive at 80 gigs or less you will not have problems. The Drive will not display larger than
65535 megs in the bios but it will format properly for drives larger than that.

There is also an FDISK Patch for WIN98 and WIN98SE so that it displays the proper disk size when partitioning. Windows ME does not have that problem. However WIN2000 will not install onto a WINME created partition but XP will. 2000 and XP will not format larger than 32 gigs in FAT32 but will in NTFS.

I prefer to make WIN98 FAT32 Partitions that are bootable with command.com you make those with FORMAT C: /S from a WIN98SE startup Disk. WIN98 FAT32 Partitions work fine with windows 2000/XP/2003.

Max Ram on the GX1 is 768 megs using LOW DENSITY 16 x 8 chipset non buffered Non Registered PC100 SDRAM.

WIN98 will not like more than 512Megs of Ram. This is a limitation in WIN98 and does not affect 2000 or XP. Windows NT can use FAT32 with a driver but not as a boot volume.
You must make a 2 gig Boot Partition to use NT with FAT32.

hi
I have recently acquired a gx1 (PIII 500) and gx110 (PIII 733)from my work place who were throwing them out. They are replacing my PII 300Mh so are a big improvent for me. I want to put some bigger HDD in as I have a tv card which does capturing and will need to archive my files and stuff. I was going to get 160G drives, but have been put off by the various issues posted. Ideally i do not want to get another IDE controller card as i have the small form factor chasis and only 2 PCI slots free which i have already used up. I am using XP with SP2. I have read  that the contorller only handles upto 130G so would i not be ablee to use a 160G? If I use the drive externally using USB2 (via a pci USB2 card), will it work then, if i only get a 80G  drive , would that work more easily? Do i need to make sure the manufacturer provides some package to allow XP to support the drive or will XP handle it on its own? I was gonna get a Hitachi Deskstar duw to price but it doe snot have any support packages. I know Maxtor do a package and so may have to go with them. Do Western Digital provide any packages? Will ATA 100/133 drives still work in the GX1 or GX110?

thanks for the help.

k

You arent reading. 127 gig limit is an IDE 48 bit LBA Limit.
BX CHIPSET and Bios in GX1 DOES NOT EVER SUPPORT 48 BIT LBA.
NO FIXES
END OF STORY.

Thats a software problem in both BIOS and Windows.

GX110 Supports the Intel Application accelerator and later versions of the bios support 48 bit LBA.
This specific subject has been fully Explained thousands of times for both models GX1 and GX110.

Message Edited by SpeedStep on 06-22-200609:08 PM