Dimension 8400, replacement HDD

Question

Below is the hdd I pulled from tower. My intentions are to use this comp. for streaming YT tutorials, so I may work on my other computer. What are the important factors here that I must match for it to be compatible with the 8400 model and enough to stream video. Would like to do the at least cost, but not sure if a refurbished Hdd would be okay.

Let me know, thank y'all.

MJ

speedstep · Accepted Answer

Your Imac can run windows 7.  Under Applications, under Utilitys, BootCamp Assistant. The only 'issue' is that windows is not free.

speedstep · Answer

The Dell Dimension E310 E310n E510 E520 E521 8400 9100 9150 uses a Sata Hard drive so cost is not an issue. The GX280 Mini Tower is in the same family. To use for current streaming you require at least a Radeon HD 5450 and Windows Vista or Better or Ubuntu 12.04.5 LTS. Refurbished Hard drives don't come with a long warranty but they cost 90 percent less than new drives.

http://www.newegg.com/All-Desktop-Hard-Drives/SubCategory/ID-14?cm_sp=Cat-Internal-Hard-Drives_1-_-VisNav-_-Desktop_1&Order=PRICE

ASUS EAH6450 Silent/DI/1GD3(LP) Radeon HD 6450 1GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card

Chipset Manufacturer: AMD
Core Clock: 625MHz
Stream Processors: 160 Stream Processing Units
Effective Memory Clock: 1200MHz
Model #: EAH6450 Silent/DI/1G
Item #: N82E16814121439

rdunnill · Answer

Would like to do the at least cost, but not sure if a refurbished Hd would be okay. I've had bad luck with refurbished hard drives. They have always failed prematurely.

speedstep · Answer

Its not a matter of If Refirbished Drives or New Drives die its a matter of When. My experience with Refirb Drives is that they usually do not last more than 1 calendar year. If you only use the machine a few minutes a day and shut it off then that year could be a long time.

MJDO4 · Answer

Thank you both for answering.

I just ordered the Xp home edition software to replace what i threw away, guess that may have been a bad idea to purchase. Live and learn.

What would you two suggest for me getting into a very inexpensive machine so I may just run YT tutorials for photoshop? I work off an IMac 21.5", so I would want screen much smaller than that.

I've been giving a used iPad 1, but the screen is just too small to see the tutorials.

Need some suggestions and pricing. thanks a bunch

RoHe · Answer

If you still want to put a drive in the D8400, go for a SATA2 drive. The D8400 motherboard is only SATA1 but SATA2 drives are backward compatible with SATA1. Not all SATA3 drives are compatible with SATA1 motherboards, so don't get one of those.

The SATA2 drive will only work at SATA1 speed when connected to SATA1 motherboard, but if -down the road- you move it into some other PC which has either a SATA3 or SATA2 motherboard you'll get SATA2 speed from it.

I put a new (not refurb) Western Digital SATA2 WDC3200AAJS (320 GB) in my D8400 last year for $32 and it works fine. The original drive was only 160 GB, so now I have twice the storage capacity.

RoHe · Answer

Here to help...

Where did you buy hd? Amazon, but this specific drive is only offered by some Indian company now (fulfilled by Amazon which gives your some protection), for even less than I paid from another vendor through Amazon. Both mine and this one are "Bulk/OEM" drives so they come in a plain vanilla wrapper and you'll have to supply your own SATA data cable. (The D8400 power supply has a suitable SATA power cable already). Similar drives are also listed on that Amazon page under "...also viewed" so you can compare specs, prices, etc.

So do you still have original motherboard? Yes!

If so, does streaming video do ok? Only streaming I do is from places like youtube, and quality depends on ISP speed, CPU, video card, monitor etc. So what I may think is ok, may be terrible for you. And I don't care about streaming movies from Netflix etc on this PC.

I have windows xp home edition coming, as i had thrown it out, arggh. So i've already committed some $$ to this. You could have borrowed a Dell OEM XP disk from somebody or bought one on eBay for just a few bucks. A Dell OEM disk should install XP on the D8400 without even asking for a product key to activate it, as long as it's the same version that Dell originally installed, and it's all perfectly legal. So that might have saved you a few bucks. Keep in mind that Microsoft isn't supporting XP any longer so there are no new updates or security fixes being released, and many of the antiviral suites have stopped or will be stopping XP support. So you may be taking some risks if you go online with this PC.

I replaced the HDD when I upgraded the D8400 to Win 7 Pro last year. I didn't want to install Win 7 on the original drive which would have wiped everything, because if it failed... I removed the old drive and set it aside so I could quickly revert to XP if Win 7 didn't work. Win 7 works so now I reinstalled the old drive for secondary storage in the D8400.

My comp. friend says you need to stay with 3 gbs ( i think that was for the buffer?) The D8400 motherboard is SATA1 (1.5 GB/s) and SATA2 is 3 GB/s. That's the speed of data transfer, not the buffer capacity. A SATA2 drive is only going to transfer data at 1.5 GB/s in the D8400.

Upon searching for hd, there are low prices, but how do i know if its not refurbished? They have to tell you clearly if new/used/refurbished. The drive currently listed on Amazon says it has 3 year warranty. But warranties are only as good as the company offering them...

I get overwhelmed with searching for one, since I am not familiar with spec info.

Maybe you can link me to what i need. 160gb is just fine. Appreciate it. Probably won't find any new 160 GB drives these days, and hard to go wrong with 320 GB for ~$25 (plus tax & shipping, if any).

MJDO4 · Answer

Thanks for response. Good to know its working. Bare with me, as I am going to hit you with several questions. :o) Where did you buy hd?  So do you still have original motherboard? If so, does streaming video do ok?  I have windows xp home edition coming, as i had thrown it out, arggh.  So i've already committed some $$ to this. My comp. friend says you need to stay with 3 gbs ( i think that was for the buffer?) Upon searching for hd, there are low prices, but how do i know if its not refurbished? I get overwhelmed with searching for one, since I am not familiar with spec info.  Maybe you can link me to what i need.  160gb is just fine. Appreciate it.

MJDO4 · Answer

- I think this maybe the Indian co. your referring to:

Amazon:

Western Digital Caviar Blue 320 GB Bulk/OEM Hard Drive 3.5 Inch, 8 MB Cache, 7200 RPM SATA II WD3200AAJS

Sold by Finity India $23.00 + Free Shipping

- I just want to be able to see the photoshop tutorials clear to see what buttons they are pushing on during tutorial.

- bought XP online, used $23, kick my self because it was $13 day before but was waiting to decide to do this project or not. If I do this than maybe I can try to borrow Win 7 from someone and upgrade.

*Win 7 or Win 7 Pro?

- Yes your right, data transfer not buffer.

- My comp friend was steering me clear of to many GB's so I'm guess it won't have to search all that space when I'm not going to use it. I'm guess it would search through it, if I turned it off then back on again. I'm guessing that is what he means.

* The other think is, i am wireless internet and I understand I would have to attach an adapter($$) so comp. can search for signal, since I don't have an internal on.e

I wonder if it would just be cheaper to go buy a $200 or less used pc laptop and hook it up to my monitor. At least the laptop would have wireless internet hardware.

All your info. is extremely helpful

MJDO4 · Answer

Can i hookup my D8400 monitor(19') with this Dell 15: inspiron?

RoHe · Answer

Yes, that's the Indian vendor I saw on Amazon. Don't know anything about them.

If you want to install to Win 7 or 7 Pro, you'll have to buy a disk with a valid Product Key. You can't legally borrow a Win 7 disk (Dell OEM or retail) and install it on your old D8400 because Dell never sold the D8400 with Win 7. I paid $72 for Win 7 Pro+SP1, 32-bit, with valid Product Key last year. And Win 7 disks have gone up in price since then.

At the rate you're going, you might be better off just buy a brand new laptop and save yourself all the hassles of a DIY project. Dell has a 15" Inspiron with Pentium processor, 500 GB HDD, built-in 802.11 WiFi, etc, Win 8.1 for $300. Certainly not the fastest or fanciest laptop, but it might be adequate for your needs. Some other Dell laptop deals here.

MJDO4 · Answer

so my d8400 has via and the d15 has cdmi,    adapter? or worth it?

RoHe · Answer

You're mixing things up. Doesn't matter what the D8400 has, it only matters what the laptop and the monitor have.

It looks like the laptop has HDMI output - but confirm this. So if the monitor only has VGA input, you could get HDMI>VGA cable for ~$20. You presumably already have a VGA cable now between D8400 and monitor so you'd use that with the converter cable. Caveat: I know nothing about this cable aside from what it says on that page, so do your homework and shop around

If your monitor also has a DVI input port, there are HDMI>DVI converters too. And there are also USB>VGA and USB>DVI converters , but the USB converters seem to be more expensive.

If you decide to buy one of these converter cables, make sure it has the right "gender" plugs on both ends so it fits into the PC port and into the monitor port.

Only you can decide how much time and money to spend and what works best for you, either upgrading the D8400 or buying a new lappy...

RoHe · Answer

And one more thingy... Who knows, you might find the 15' LCD display on the lappy is so good, you don't even need the external monitor... Wouldn't that be nice!

MJDO4 · Answer

TY

Locked Topics – Desktops General

Dimension 8400, replacement HDD

Western Digital Caviar Blue 320 GB Bulk/OEM Hard Drive 3.5 Inch, 8 MB Cache, 7200 RPM SATA II WD3200AAJS

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