Hi jpeartree,

Thank you for writing to the Dell Community Forum.

The Dell Dimension 3100 supports a maximum memory of 2GB. The memory type is supports are 400- and 533-MHz DDR2 unbuffered SDRAM Memory. Memory capacities supported are 256 MB, 512 MB, or 1 GB non-ECC in each memory slot. Please refer to this link http://dell.to/1L94Odm for the service manual (Pg. 40 for specifications).

Please reply if you have any further questions.

Contrary to any intelligent alternatives, I am trying to update a Dimension 3100. Not to anything remotely like the present day, but to something closer to useful. It has 500mb of slow ram and a 40gb hard drive (IDE). I have a 180gb hard drive on hand, so my first move is going to be replacing the original. There's only cage room for one hd, so that removes worrying about running two hard drives on the puny 250 watt power supply.  My biggest issue will be the ram. If I can find two 500 mb sticks of ddr-400 ram, will the BIOS support it?  Would it support more, given that it's limited to the two motherboard ram slots? Any help from someone who knows would be appreciated!

jpeartree

The e310/3100 can support a maximum of 4gb [2x2gb modules] of memory.

The Dimension e310/3100 supports SATA hard drives, not IDE.

You can install an additional SATA hard internally in the e310/3100.

The e310 motherboard has two SATA connnectors [SATA-0 & SATA-1].

There is an open bay for a second hard drive, but you will need to buy the plastic caddy to hold the drive and a SATA [90* x 180*] data cable, there should a spare SATA power connector inside the case.

The Hard Drive caddy can be purchased from here:

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Drive-Dimension-Optiplex-Number/dp/B003BQSNA4

The Service Manual is here

:http://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_desktop/esuprt_dimension_desktops/dimension-3100_service%20manual_en-us.pdf

The 230w default power supply can support the additional hard drive and memory.

After you've physically installed the second SATA hard drive, enter the setup and check that the hard drive is set to "Auto" [on]

For windows to recognize the second hard drive, it must be partitioned and formatted, using Disc Management

You can find more info, about upgrading the Dimension 3310/3100 here:

 http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19361125.aspx

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/p/19494767/20320348#20320348

Bev.

Any help from someone who knows would be appreciated!

I have a matched 2x2gb pair of G.SKILL PC6400 working in my 3100, along with a 120gb SSD and a Blu-ray drive. The 3100 may support up to 8gb of memory, but no one has tried it, as 2x4gb matched pairs are $200.

I have confirmed that the 3100 supports greater-than-2tb drives, but such drives can't be booted from. You may be able to tuck an SSD somewhere else, however.

pci-e x1 to pci-e x16 adapters became popular with bitcoin mining again.You can find them on ebay and amazon for under $10.00 U.S.,and it will allow you to connect a more modern video card also.(In my case I used a Radeon HD5450 from dell purchased off ebay for less then $20.00.) My 3100 currently has 4Gb RAM,HD5450 video with 512Mb ram on the card, P4 processor and running Windows 10.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161354

ebay sells 2x2Gb sticks of PC2-6400 for $15 to $19.00 U.S., pci-e x1 to x16 adapter by startek is under $25 U.S. on ebay, or you can use the x1 to x16 ribbon/flex cable riser adapters available for $5.00 to $10.00, and don't forget radeon hd5450 (512mb on board ram) $12.00 on ebay. DMS-59 adapter cable,either dvi or vga are $4.00 on ebay. So,for between $45.00 to $65.00 you can have an upgraded machine. And newegg has SSD's on sale also. lol.All of these upgrades are supported by the current dell system bios. My system is running these(minus the SSD,too cheap to purchase 1 yet) on the stock power supply if you were worried about that. :emotion-1:

Or you can buy the X1 card that I linked and plug it in and be upgraded in 1 step without adapters.  Personally I wouldn't do that Because you can get a GX620 or better that has an x16 slot.  There are also brave souls who cut the slot fingers on an x16 card or cut out the back of the x1 slot and get a regular card into the x1 slot.

lol, let's just agree to disagree on the means to the ends. I see the added 4Gb of Ram & 512mb vid as being superior to the just 1 Gb of Video added. Especially when it's $10 to $15 cheaper.Granted,If I was looking for a machine I needed better performance from,I'd also get a refurbed from amazon or newegg with a C2D or C2Q & Win7 for under a $125. The main gist of this thread has been UPDATING the 3100.