different architects, the 8400 uses a 775pin vs 478pin, uses ddr2 vs ddr, uses pci express instead of normal agp and pci bus. it has a larger case and psu. if its similar in price, get the 8400.
Thanks, Dan and Rick. I'll have a look @ the specs Dan mentions, but must admit that I don't know the significance of what he mentions above.
Is the idea that, for arguments sake, this year's 4600 is last year's 8200 and this year's 8300 is next year's 4700?
{For the past few months I've been caught in the dilemma over whether to hang on to what I've got [XPS T500, 21 Gb HD, 640 RAM, Win98 (an OS I've had it with)] and add an HD and an XP upgrade or cut bait and get a new machine, keeping te T500 as a second/backup machine "as is."}
no, this yr had the 8300 and 4600 the 8400 replaces the 8300 the 4700 replaces the 4600. intel has introduced new tech, ie, new chipsets, pci express, new socket design among other things. dell is now offering this new tech. the cases are different in size as the 8300/8400 are larger then the 4600/4700.
Yep ... I agree with NVRambo ... it very much depends on why you are thinking of upgrading. I'm working now on an XPS T500, upgraded to 1.4 GHz celeron, etc. (specs below), and it's a grand box of tricks. I've ordered an 8400, but mainly as I do a lot maths at times and some programs take 1 or 2 days at present to complete (one running as I type!) ... if it wasn't for that ... while I play the odd round of golf, and MS Flight Sim 2000 Prof, and have no problems at all. Other than while doing the maths the CPU is rarely flat out, so it is grand for web dev, word processing, internet, and smallish amounts of sound and video editing (can get a bit annoying if doing a lot of video editing, waiting for files to build).
Definitely decide why you actually want to upgrade, and then look at your options ...
Multi Boot: DOS+Win 3.1/Win 2000 Professional(SP4)/Win 98SE XPS T500 - Upgraded to 1.4GHz Celeron (Powerleap) BIOS A11 448 Mb 13.6 Gb IBM 371360, 7200rpm Maxtor UATA card 40Gb Maxtor 80Gb Maxtor 19" FP1901 (17" Dell P790 as a backup) Plextor PX-708UF external USB 2.0 DVD rewriter Hitachi DVD 8x Plexwriter 16/10/40A SoundBlaster live! 1024 Cinemaster Hardware Decoder SideWinder ForceFeedback II GeForce2 GTS (32Mb) Iomega Zip 250Mb USB Canon BJC 2100 Trust AMI 250SP Wireless Optical Mouse Belkin 6 port USB hub Fuji S602-Zoom Soligor CR-106 Six in one card reader
I was basically under the impression that upgrading a 5-yr-old machine wasn't really worth the $$$.
I've already added RAM, bringing it from 128 to 640, as well as a Linksys NIC so I could go DSL. [This cost about $130 total].
I had also considered:
1)Powerleap upgrade: PL-iP3/T 1.4 GHz Intel Celeron ($120)
2)Promise ATA 133 card [for HDs + zip] ($25)
3)Maxtor 120 Gb HD ($100)
4) XP Home Upgrade ($100)
I don't do any gaming or video editing at all, no heavy music editing other than editing MP3s from time to time. The biggest gas hog I've got are some photo editing programs, such as Canon EZZoom. I work alot in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator as well.
I definitely do not want to get a marginal new machine and no matter how I tweak new system specs, I come in @ ~ $1800. Can't see having the cash till next year sometime. Would the add'l ~$350 be well spent till then?
>> If, however, when you are waiting for the PC to complete a task you can hear lots of disk activity then it could be an I/O bottleneck
Absolutely--I'm always hearing crackling and whirring as it hangs. And sometimes all it does is hang...and hang...abd hang.
>>>You didn't give your full specs but your PC has 2 IDE ports, each of which has two channels.
I've got my CD burner [primary] and CD-ROM [slave] on one IDE [as per instrux that came with the burner] and just my HD on the other IDE. My zip is not connected.
>>>You could get a fast HD and put it in place of your current system disk, but probably not worth the hassle overall due to bus speeds in the XPS T.
This was what I read widely I *should* do [rather than have the larger HD as a data disk only].
>>>Try to judge the benefit of investing now, and how long that will last you, compared with investing more and how long that might last.
Think it's time to cut bait and not invest any more in this machine. This upgrade is sounding like a bit more than I can handle, DIY-wise, for what it would yield.
I'm not a techie, so consider opinions expressed within that context ...
>1)Powerleap upgrade: PL-iP3/T 1.4 GHz Intel Celeron ($120) Going from 500MHz to 1.4GHz is a decent improvement, and worth $120 ... IMO. You will still have the XPS T FSB speed of 100 MHz as some limitation, compared to the 400 or 800 FSB on the newer PC's, and upcoming 1066. But if the current T500 is broadly working OK, but is just flat out on CPU at times then this upgrade will certainly help, and I'd expect you will notice a difference. If, however, when you are waiting for the PC to complete a task you can hear lots of disk activity then it could be an I/O bottleneck and changing the CPU will have little effect on that specific problem, but your app's will start faster, and allow faster manipulation of images, for example.
>2)Promise ATA 133 card [for HDs + zip] ($25) Unless you specifically want ATA 133 for some reason, and don't have free ports then I don't know if I'd bother ... I have the Maxtor UATA-100 card (which is in fact the Promise card rebadged as far as I know) and it gave me more IDE ports but no gains in speed ... Handy enough if you want to keep one primary device per cable, which is alledged to improve things if you have a lot of IO going on on multiple devices at the same time, eg burning a CD from data on a disk ... I wouldn't have both these devices on the same port if possible. You didn't give your full specs but your PC has 2 IDE ports, each of which has two channels. Whether you have any free will depend on how many CD/DVD/HDs you have upgraded to. I saw no performance gain from the UATA-100 card over and above the XPS T's 66 interface ... which could be down to the speed of the PCI bus ... not sure ... beyond my knowledge.
Depending on amount of image manipulation, and type of images involved, you might see an improvement with a better graphics card, but with static images this is a very long shot ... but thought I'd mention it. No idea what to recommend, but if you got the GeForce 256 then there are fair cheap cards out there that are better than this ... but it is a long shot.
>3)Maxtor 120 Gb HD ($100) If you need the storage then grand ... You could get a fast HD and put it in place of your current system disk, but probably not worth the hassle overall due to bus speeds in the XPS T. Probably best used as a data storage disk, which is probably what you have planned. If you get a decent HD you *may* see some improvement in save/open times. Disks are up to two times faster now-a-days then when the T's were produced I've heard (I only read that yesterday!), so this could go you some performance boost, but it may not be that noticeable.
>4) XP Home Upgrade ($100) I'd only bother if a) you want more stability ... if you are moving from 98 or 98SE you won't believe how few reboots, freezes and hangs you will avoid with XP (I have 2000 Pro, but am assuming XP Home is as good or better), and/or b) you want to use programs that will only work with XP Home (ie won't work with your existing setup). If you buy a PC in a year or two you'll get the latest op sys with it, so I'd leave this out unless really needed.
Hope that helps in some way ... but I know from making similar decisions for myself that it is very hard to know in advance what you will get from any upgrade, and it often doesn't live up to expectations. When I went from 500 MHz to 1GHz, there was hardly anything that I noticed at all!!! The move to 1.4 strangely enough, did show up with faster app starts, and more CPU bandwidth for multiple program operation. Try to judge the benefit of investing now, and how long that will last you, comapred with investing more and how long that might last. For you specified requirements, if it was me, I'd only upgrade my existing system. The downside is that you are then committing to an older technology for a while, and that latest version of Photoshop (or whatever) just might not run, or might run poorly.
You could try the CPU only upgrade, and then if that doesn't show significant improvement at least you have only thrown $120 at it. If that works then look at other additions.
IDE set-up sounds perfect as is. Considering speed of the Zip disk (which is slow enough) you would probably be OK putting this on as the slave on system disk port ... very little conflict (I think) here ... I'd try it anyway, if it was me. I'm assuming zip is an internal IDE zip. The port will not be saturated with traffic as it tries to read/write to both disk and zip, since the zip won't be able to keep up with the disk anyway.
The "hang and hang and hang" could be the operating system going into overdrive ... There is some way of seeing the CPU in 98 and 98SE, but I can't recall ... It's taskmanager in 2000 Pro, so maybe there is the same in 98 ... But this kind'a thing could also be memory and paging (which is the use of disk space in place of actual memory when memory begins to run low) ... it could hang for good if it can't allocate enough space in the current pagefile .... Just can't recall enough about 98 to advise/comment here.
I wouldn't bother with the fast as the system disk purely as that mainly speeds up app loading and paging (assuming pagefile is on the system disk, which it must be in your current set-up), but I suspected (you didn't say) that your delays might be purely on file open/save ... So I'd use it as a data disk, and put the page file over there too ... just make sure to keep it defraged, and with some space available as this could hang the system otherwise ... (again I think! :)). In general you shouldn't fill a disk to beyond about 80%, and it should be defrag'ed now and again, so this might be worth doing on your current system.
The DIY part is easy enough ... Many people have done the CPU upgrade, and I had never done a PC upgrade before my first 500 MHz to 1 GHz upgrade, with a guide from www.roberthancock.com .... it was simple enough, once I had the antistatic strap, and took my time to ensure I was getting it as per instructions. I think PowerLeap had info on their site also.
I'm a mathematician, so the kind'a thing that I'd do is work out the possible lifetime, and then divide the cost by the expected lifetime and that would give you a simple write off cost per unit time.
Also ... and finally ... I'd suss out a bit more what is the cause of the delays/hangs before doing anything, as you could very easily find that a new, top of the range desktop, might still not solve your problems ... I have a program that takes a day or two (or more at times!) to complete ... and no matter what sort of desktop PC I throw at it it still is gonna take ages to complete ... but I can speed it up relatively speaking, eg cut it from 2 days down to 1. Similarly, depending on the cause of your delays/hangs you may not be able to eliminate them at all, but will most likely be able to cut them down a bit.
... or else you could just buy a new PC and see what happens ...
****scratch this post, as CmA has more than effectively covered the issue!******
Hmm.
I'd upgrade to Windows XP, as that could travel with you to another system if you wipe the XPS T when you're done. The NIC can also travel to the next system should it be needed, or if an integrated NIC fails in future.
The Promise card and hard disk can be moved into any new system (though the card likely won't be needed).
The big question of what you're doing is the powerleap upgrade, and CmA can tell you as to whether that performance versus dollars bump is worth it, and also once you do it, it's done and can't be moved over to another newer PC.
You guys are doing more with your XPS T's than am I. As you can tell from my sig, however, I do love these older Dell beige boxes, as they're bullet-proof.
CmA has gven me some useful things to think about, but I really don't know how to check on those system hang issues--it has gotten a lot less frequent since I upgraded the RAM [first to 384 then to the current 640]. I'm really convinced that I've been facing more OS problems than anything. Although I'm now runnig PestPatrol, Spybot, Adaware, and switched from McAfee to Norton, I think I've had some residue things in my registry that have taken a while to get rid of.
Of the possibilities I mentioned, I'm the least wild about doing the Powerleap upgrade in terms of what it might yield in terms of real benefits.
NVRambo said: I'd upgrade to Windows XP, as that could travel with you to another system if you wipe the XPS T when you're done.
But wouldn't I end up getting an OS with a Dell no matter what? [I mean I don't think I can get one w/o, correct?
NVRambo also said: The NIC can also travel to the next system should it be needed, or if an integrated NIC fails in future.
Thanks for pointing this out--I was really unsure when pricing new systems whether I needed both the preinstalled gigabyte ethernet and a 10/100 card.
Lastly, NVRambo said: The hard disk can be moved into any new system
Hadn't considered that I could use the HD later on.
On the OS - sure IF you buy another OEM system, you'll have an OS with that machine. BUT, should you decide to build instead or at some future point, you can never have too many legal, licensed OS CDs. Also, if you keep the XPS T after buying the new machine, you'll want XP on it in any event.
The hard disk is a gimme. An extra hard disk is like a best friend. You may need it to replace a failed drive at some point, or you can move it over to another machine as a data/slave drive. Nothing but upside.
The NIC is also an inexpensive helpful tool. Gigabit cards only function as such (so far as I know) with equally rated routers and switches. Again, having a backup NIC (I have 2 old 3Com PCIs here) is no harm.
CmA is all over your situation, as he's living the upgrades you're looking at - good, solid information.
Also don't rule out the possibility of building one somewhere down the line. It's a great experience.
If adding more RAM made such a diff then that is certainly telling you something ... Can you describe what you do to "cause" a "hang"/delay (like are you saving or opening or transforming or what?) and do you open several images in say Photoshop at once? What OS are you using, I assumed 98 or 98 SE but you didn't say. If you do get a new PC then I'd suggest that you at least go for 1 Gb, but you'll find upgrading mem on the XPS T probably cheaper than any of the newer stuff ... I used Kingston RAM with success, and there web site helps you select the correct type. Maybe you have no slots free, but could upgrade more there.
The PowerLeap was simple ... honestly. If you've put in a PCI card, which it looks like you have then the PowerLeap is little extra ... read up the rob hancock web site for full pictures and details and see what you think, but I found that I had the whole job done in a few minutes (I had read all the info beforehand as I hadn't had the box open before!), and it was grand. Make sure to upgrade sound card (if you have one) to latest drivers before the upgrade, as this caused me minor problems, otherwise it all went smooth. The 500 MHz --> 1.4 GHz is quite an upgrade, so my gut feeling is that if your 500 MHz is almost satisfying your needs, then 1.4 GHz will certainly be grand as a CPU.
The HD is a worthwhile upgrade, as you can move your pagefile to that disk as I mentioned before (sorry but I have no recall on how to do this in 98, if that is what you have), and that will also help. Someone with 98 might/will step in to help you more on the pagefile and system investigation info ...
... but I did get the feeling from your previous post that you would kind'a like to get a new PC ... and then all the analysis, tune-ups and so on are just delaying your buying pleasure!!!
dan39
1.2K Posts
0
July 6th, 2004 16:00
rickmktg
2 Intern
•
11.9K Posts
0
July 6th, 2004 23:00
dan39
1.2K Posts
0
July 7th, 2004 00:00
dg27
675 Posts
0
July 7th, 2004 01:00
Thanks, Dan and Rick. I'll have a look @ the specs Dan mentions, but must admit that I don't know the significance of what he mentions above.
Is the idea that, for arguments sake, this year's 4600 is last year's 8200 and this year's 8300 is next year's 4700?
{For the past few months I've been caught in the dilemma over whether to hang on to what I've got [XPS T500, 21 Gb HD, 640 RAM, Win98 (an OS I've had it with)] and add an HD and an XP upgrade or cut bait and get a new machine, keeping te T500 as a second/backup machine "as is."}
NVRambo
1.9K Posts
0
July 7th, 2004 03:00
I'm running an XPS T 500 / 512mb / 13gb / 64mb video card / 16x CDRW right now with a retail copy of Windows XP Home.
What's not to like :)
That is unless you're gaming or hitting the wall with some other use/application.
dan39
1.2K Posts
0
July 7th, 2004 03:00
CmA
154 Posts
0
July 7th, 2004 08:00
Yep ... I agree with NVRambo ... it very much depends on why you are thinking of upgrading. I'm working now on an XPS T500, upgraded to 1.4 GHz celeron, etc. (specs below), and it's a grand box of tricks. I've ordered an 8400, but mainly as I do a lot maths at times and some programs take 1 or 2 days at present to complete (one running as I type!) ... if it wasn't for that ... while I play the odd round of golf, and MS Flight Sim 2000 Prof, and have no problems at all. Other than while doing the maths the CPU is rarely flat out, so it is grand for web dev, word processing, internet, and smallish amounts of sound and video editing (can get a bit annoying if doing a lot of video editing, waiting for files to build).
Definitely decide why you actually want to upgrade, and then look at your options ...
Multi Boot: DOS+Win 3.1/Win 2000 Professional(SP4)/Win 98SE
XPS T500 - Upgraded to 1.4GHz Celeron (Powerleap)
BIOS A11
448 Mb
13.6 Gb IBM 371360, 7200rpm
Maxtor UATA card
40Gb Maxtor
80Gb Maxtor
19" FP1901 (17" Dell P790 as a backup)
Plextor PX-708UF external USB 2.0 DVD rewriter
Hitachi DVD 8x
Plexwriter 16/10/40A
SoundBlaster live! 1024
Cinemaster Hardware Decoder
SideWinder ForceFeedback II
GeForce2 GTS (32Mb)
Iomega Zip 250Mb USB
Canon BJC 2100
Trust AMI 250SP Wireless Optical Mouse
Belkin 6 port USB hub
Fuji S602-Zoom
Soligor CR-106 Six in one card reader
dg27
675 Posts
0
July 7th, 2004 11:00
I was basically under the impression that upgrading a 5-yr-old machine wasn't really worth the $$$.
I've already added RAM, bringing it from 128 to 640, as well as a Linksys NIC so I could go DSL. [This cost about $130 total].
I had also considered:
1)Powerleap upgrade: PL-iP3/T 1.4 GHz Intel Celeron ($120)
2)Promise ATA 133 card [for HDs + zip] ($25)
3)Maxtor 120 Gb HD ($100)
4) XP Home Upgrade ($100)
I don't do any gaming or video editing at all, no heavy music editing other than editing MP3s from time to time. The biggest gas hog I've got are some photo editing programs, such as Canon EZZoom. I work alot in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator as well.
I definitely do not want to get a marginal new machine and no matter how I tweak new system specs, I come in @ ~ $1800. Can't see having the cash till next year sometime. Would the add'l ~$350 be well spent till then?
dg27
675 Posts
0
July 7th, 2004 12:00
Thanks for the truly comprehensive reply.
>> If, however, when you are waiting for the PC to complete a task you can hear lots of disk activity then it could be an I/O bottleneck
Absolutely--I'm always hearing crackling and whirring as it hangs. And sometimes all it does is hang...and hang...abd hang.
>>>You didn't give your full specs but your PC has 2 IDE ports, each of which has two channels.
I've got my CD burner [primary] and CD-ROM [slave] on one IDE [as per instrux that came with the burner] and just my HD on the other IDE. My zip is not connected.
>>>You could get a fast HD and put it in place of your current system disk, but probably not worth the hassle overall due to bus speeds in the XPS T.
This was what I read widely I *should* do [rather than have the larger HD as a data disk only].
>>>Try to judge the benefit of investing now, and how long that will last you, compared with investing more and how long that might last.
Think it's time to cut bait and not invest any more in this machine. This upgrade is sounding like a bit more than I can handle, DIY-wise, for what it would yield.
Thanks.
dg
CmA
154 Posts
0
July 7th, 2004 12:00
I'm not a techie, so consider opinions expressed within that context ...
>1)Powerleap upgrade: PL-iP3/T 1.4 GHz Intel Celeron ($120)
Going from 500MHz to 1.4GHz is a decent improvement, and worth $120 ... IMO. You will still have the XPS T FSB speed of 100 MHz as some limitation, compared to the 400 or 800 FSB on the newer PC's, and upcoming 1066. But if the current T500 is broadly working OK, but is just flat out on CPU at times then this upgrade will certainly help, and I'd expect you will notice a difference. If, however, when you are waiting for the PC to complete a task you can hear lots of disk activity then it could be an I/O bottleneck and changing the CPU will have little effect on that specific problem, but your app's will start faster, and allow faster manipulation of images, for example.
>2)Promise ATA 133 card [for HDs + zip] ($25)
Unless you specifically want ATA 133 for some reason, and don't have free ports then I don't know if I'd bother ... I have the Maxtor UATA-100 card (which is in fact the Promise card rebadged as far as I know) and it gave me more IDE ports but no gains in speed ... Handy enough if you want to keep one primary device per cable, which is alledged to improve things if you have a lot of IO going on on multiple devices at the same time, eg burning a CD from data on a disk ... I wouldn't have both these devices on the same port if possible. You didn't give your full specs but your PC has 2 IDE ports, each of which has two channels. Whether you have any free will depend on how many CD/DVD/HDs you have upgraded to. I saw no performance gain from the UATA-100 card over and above the XPS T's 66 interface ... which could be down to the speed of the PCI bus ... not sure ... beyond my knowledge.
Depending on amount of image manipulation, and type of images involved, you might see an improvement with a better graphics card, but with static images this is a very long shot ... but thought I'd mention it. No idea what to recommend, but if you got the GeForce 256 then there are fair cheap cards out there that are better than this ... but it is a long shot.
>3)Maxtor 120 Gb HD ($100)
If you need the storage then grand ... You could get a fast HD and put it in place of your current system disk, but probably not worth the hassle overall due to bus speeds in the XPS T. Probably best used as a data storage disk, which is probably what you have planned. If you get a decent HD you *may* see some improvement in save/open times. Disks are up to two times faster now-a-days then when the T's were produced I've heard (I only read that yesterday!), so this could go you some performance boost, but it may not be that noticeable.
>4) XP Home Upgrade ($100)
I'd only bother if a) you want more stability ... if you are moving from 98 or 98SE you won't believe how few reboots, freezes and hangs you will avoid with XP (I have 2000 Pro, but am assuming XP Home is as good or better), and/or b) you want to use programs that will only work with XP Home (ie won't work with your existing setup). If you buy a PC in a year or two you'll get the latest op sys with it, so I'd leave this out unless really needed.
Hope that helps in some way ... but I know from making similar decisions for myself that it is very hard to know in advance what you will get from any upgrade, and it often doesn't live up to expectations. When I went from 500 MHz to 1GHz, there was hardly anything that I noticed at all!!! The move to 1.4 strangely enough, did show up with faster app starts, and more CPU bandwidth for multiple program operation. Try to judge the benefit of investing now, and how long that will last you, comapred with investing more and how long that might last. For you specified requirements, if it was me, I'd only upgrade my existing system. The downside is that you are then committing to an older technology for a while, and that latest version of Photoshop (or whatever) just might not run, or might run poorly.
You could try the CPU only upgrade, and then if that doesn't show significant improvement at least you have only thrown $120 at it. If that works then look at other additions.
Message Edited by CmA on 07-07-2004 02:15 PM
CmA
154 Posts
0
July 7th, 2004 14:00
IDE set-up sounds perfect as is. Considering speed of the Zip disk (which is slow enough) you would probably be OK putting this on as the slave on system disk port ... very little conflict (I think) here ... I'd try it anyway, if it was me. I'm assuming zip is an internal IDE zip. The port will not be saturated with traffic as it tries to read/write to both disk and zip, since the zip won't be able to keep up with the disk anyway.
The "hang and hang and hang" could be the operating system going into overdrive ... There is some way of seeing the CPU in 98 and 98SE, but I can't recall ... It's taskmanager in 2000 Pro, so maybe there is the same in 98 ... But this kind'a thing could also be memory and paging (which is the use of disk space in place of actual memory when memory begins to run low) ... it could hang for good if it can't allocate enough space in the current pagefile .... Just can't recall enough about 98 to advise/comment here.
I wouldn't bother with the fast as the system disk purely as that mainly speeds up app loading and paging (assuming pagefile is on the system disk, which it must be in your current set-up), but I suspected (you didn't say) that your delays might be purely on file open/save ... So I'd use it as a data disk, and put the page file over there too ... just make sure to keep it defraged, and with some space available as this could hang the system otherwise ... (again I think! :)). In general you shouldn't fill a disk to beyond about 80%, and it should be defrag'ed now and again, so this might be worth doing on your current system.
The DIY part is easy enough ... Many people have done the CPU upgrade, and I had never done a PC upgrade before my first 500 MHz to 1 GHz upgrade, with a guide from www.roberthancock.com .... it was simple enough, once I had the antistatic strap, and took my time to ensure I was getting it as per instructions. I think PowerLeap had info on their site also.
I'm a mathematician, so the kind'a thing that I'd do is work out the possible lifetime, and then divide the cost by the expected lifetime and that would give you a simple write off cost per unit time.
Also ... and finally ... I'd suss out a bit more what is the cause of the delays/hangs before doing anything, as you could very easily find that a new, top of the range desktop, might still not solve your problems ... I have a program that takes a day or two (or more at times!) to complete ... and no matter what sort of desktop PC I throw at it it still is gonna take ages to complete ... but I can speed it up relatively speaking, eg cut it from 2 days down to 1. Similarly, depending on the cause of your delays/hangs you may not be able to eliminate them at all, but will most likely be able to cut them down a bit.
... or else you could just buy a new PC and see what happens ...
NVRambo
1.9K Posts
0
July 7th, 2004 15:00
****scratch this post, as CmA has more than effectively covered the issue!******
Hmm.
I'd upgrade to Windows XP, as that could travel with you to another system if you wipe the XPS T when you're done. The NIC can also travel to the next system should it be needed, or if an integrated NIC fails in future.
The Promise card and hard disk can be moved into any new system (though the card likely won't be needed).
The big question of what you're doing is the powerleap upgrade, and CmA can tell you as to whether that performance versus dollars bump is worth it, and also once you do it, it's done and can't be moved over to another newer PC.
You guys are doing more with your XPS T's than am I. As you can tell from my sig, however, I do love these older Dell beige boxes, as they're bullet-proof.
Message Edited by NVRambo on 07-07-2004 11:21 AM
dg27
675 Posts
0
July 7th, 2004 16:00
CmA has gven me some useful things to think about, but I really don't know how to check on those system hang issues--it has gotten a lot less frequent since I upgraded the RAM [first to 384 then to the current 640]. I'm really convinced that I've been facing more OS problems than anything. Although I'm now runnig PestPatrol, Spybot, Adaware, and switched from McAfee to Norton, I think I've had some residue things in my registry that have taken a while to get rid of.
Of the possibilities I mentioned, I'm the least wild about doing the Powerleap upgrade in terms of what it might yield in terms of real benefits.
NVRambo said: I'd upgrade to Windows XP, as that could travel with you to another system if you wipe the XPS T when you're done.
But wouldn't I end up getting an OS with a Dell no matter what? [I mean I don't think I can get one w/o, correct?
NVRambo also said: The NIC can also travel to the next system should it be needed, or if an integrated NIC fails in future.
Thanks for pointing this out--I was really unsure when pricing new systems whether I needed both the preinstalled gigabyte ethernet and a 10/100 card.
Lastly, NVRambo said: The hard disk can be moved into any new system
Hadn't considered that I could use the HD later on.
Thanks for weighing in.
dg
NVRambo
1.9K Posts
0
July 7th, 2004 17:00
No problem, bud.
On the OS - sure IF you buy another OEM system, you'll have an OS with that machine. BUT, should you decide to build instead or at some future point, you can never have too many legal, licensed OS CDs. Also, if you keep the XPS T after buying the new machine, you'll want XP on it in any event.
The hard disk is a gimme. An extra hard disk is like a best friend. You may need it to replace a failed drive at some point, or you can move it over to another machine as a data/slave drive. Nothing but upside.
The NIC is also an inexpensive helpful tool. Gigabit cards only function as such (so far as I know) with equally rated routers and switches. Again, having a backup NIC (I have 2 old 3Com PCIs here) is no harm.
CmA is all over your situation, as he's living the upgrades you're looking at - good, solid information.
Also don't rule out the possibility of building one somewhere down the line. It's a great experience.
Good luck.
CmA
154 Posts
0
July 7th, 2004 18:00
If adding more RAM made such a diff then that is certainly telling you something ... Can you describe what you do to "cause" a "hang"/delay (like are you saving or opening or transforming or what?) and do you open several images in say Photoshop at once? What OS are you using, I assumed 98 or 98 SE but you didn't say. If you do get a new PC then I'd suggest that you at least go for 1 Gb, but you'll find upgrading mem on the XPS T probably cheaper than any of the newer stuff ... I used Kingston RAM with success, and there web site helps you select the correct type. Maybe you have no slots free, but could upgrade more there.
The PowerLeap was simple ... honestly. If you've put in a PCI card, which it looks like you have then the PowerLeap is little extra ... read up the rob hancock web site for full pictures and details and see what you think, but I found that I had the whole job done in a few minutes (I had read all the info beforehand as I hadn't had the box open before!), and it was grand. Make sure to upgrade sound card (if you have one) to latest drivers before the upgrade, as this caused me minor problems, otherwise it all went smooth. The 500 MHz --> 1.4 GHz is quite an upgrade, so my gut feeling is that if your 500 MHz is almost satisfying your needs, then 1.4 GHz will certainly be grand as a CPU.
The HD is a worthwhile upgrade, as you can move your pagefile to that disk as I mentioned before (sorry but I have no recall on how to do this in 98, if that is what you have), and that will also help. Someone with 98 might/will step in to help you more on the pagefile and system investigation info ...
... but I did get the feeling from your previous post that you would kind'a like to get a new PC ... and then all the analysis, tune-ups and so on are just delaying your buying pleasure!!!