Thanks for the reply, bacillus. I figured some more RAM would help out but didn't know if the Inspiron 6000 was just slow in general.

Also, would you know if it's possible to purchase the ATI X300 from Dell and install it myself?

unfortunately you can't upgrade your videocard on that model.

Hey bacillus, I'd like to correct you on this. :) I called Dell just to make sure and they said they sell the ATI X300 128MB upgrade for around $150. It's also sold with their "High End" Inspiron 6000 system on the Dell products page.

Anyway, I think that's a fair price but first I'm going to see if the additional RAM does the trick (ordered a 512MB stick yesterday).

Do not be fooled by the ignorance of the parts department!

Your motherboard does not have a PCI-E slot to fit the ATI X300 video card hence the reason why I said you will be unable to upgrade your video card.

Well, I don't know what to say because I called them back and asked them to double-check and they said it was the correct part.

o.O

I'm assuming you've tried this before and it didn't work? Does the Inspiron 6000 use multiple motherboards?

The Inspiron 6000 model comes in two varieties, the plain 6000 and the 6000D.

The plain 6000 comes with onboard video and no slot for accommodating a discrete video card. The 6000D on the other hand does not have on-board video but does have a PCI-E slot for accommodating the ATI video card.

OK, I called Dell Parts a third time and they reconfirmed the part would fit for this laptop. I asked to speak with Technical Support and they transferred me to a very helpful representative. I explained the situation and told him about what bacillus and the parts reps said. The result is...

bacillus 1, Dell Parts 0

Thanks to bacillus for the info and saving me the frustration I would've encountered!

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@Daikuma wrote:

Do NOT order the memory from dell. Here is a link to Kingston for the 533 mhz memory that works for the 6000 on sale!

http://www.shop.kingston.com/default.asp?bannersource=comju

this link led me to a 25% off for dell systems memory link, so I got 2x512mb 533mhz memory for $155.00 including shipping and tax!

Considering that the 6000 with integrated graphics doesn't have any way to utilize any more than 8mb of your system memory (which I just found out to my utmost displeasure) you are going to need the fastest memory you can get and be sure to adjust your virtual memory to avoid bottlenecks.

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Daikuma, is Kingston the same brand which Dell uses for the Inspiron 6000? I understand Kingston is a well-known brand, but I'm just curious who the OEM is.

Also, how does one learn to adjust virtual memory to avoid bottlenecks? I've always kept it on the default setting and don't have experience playing around with it.

Thanks.

Do NOT order the memory from dell.  Here is a link to Kingston for the 533 mhz memory that works for the 6000 on sale!

http://www.shop.kingston.com/default.asp?bannersource=comju

Also, a few notes on usage with this machine

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v6v6v6 wrote:
I purchased a new Inspiron 6000 for my wife about 2 weeks ago and it seems to run very slowly. It has a Celeron 1.4GHz processor, 256MB RAM, with the integrated Intel Media Accelerator.

So far we've installed just 5 programs: Adobe Photoshop Album, Epson printer driver, Mozilla Firefox, Spybot, and PassMark's PerformanceTest 5 (benchmark software). <<<<<[You also might want to look at www.pcpitstop.com for system check ups.  They offer great suggestions for bottleneck problems]>>>>>

In general, I've noticed that it's especially slow when redrawing/refreshing the screen. For example, I'll click on the Start menu and it pauses for a bit before it shows the menu. This occurs for all subsequent submenus.

The worst lag occurs with Photoshop Album. We've got a couple thousand pictures and when we try to scroll down through them, it takes about 30 seconds before the next page appears. Any tasks outside of Photoshop Album slow down as well.  <<<<<[You definitely want to organize your images into directories and subdirectories, and really using album is not your best bet for image management.  Look into Photoshop elements, whcih has good image management as well as being an excellent image editor]>>>>>

I use a Precision M70 which has the Nvidia Quadro 256MB video card and our last desktop had a Nvidia Geforce 5700 Ultra 256MB video card, so am I just noticing the drop in quality from what I'm used to? Or does anyone else notice the slow performance? It's really unbearable and working with Photoshop Album is unacceptable.

BTW, the score from Performance Test 5 is 181. Any suggestions are appreciated!

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Daikuma, is Kingston the same brand which Dell uses for the Inspiron 6000? I understand Kingston is a well-known brand, but I'm just curious who the OEM is.

<<<<<[Dell often retails Kingston's memory through the website, but I am not sure who their OEM is.  I know that most kingston memory has a lifetime guarantee, and that I have never had any problem with their material.  I also know that they never charge as much as Dell for equivalent or superior (in this case, the 533 Mhz memory that dell still will not provide) products.]>>>>>

Also, how does one learn to adjust virtual memory to avoid bottlenecks? I've always kept it on the default setting and don't have experience playing around with it.

<<<<<[Run the Dell support tool and it will do it automatically, or...

1. Right Click on My Computer
2. Click On Properties at bottom of drop down menu
3. Click on advanced tab
4. Under Performance option, click on settings
5. Click On Advanced Tab
6. Look at Vitual Memory at bottom of Advanced Page, Click on change
7. Make sure that Recommended is at least where Initial Size is set, set maximum size as 1.5 to 2 times the minimum (initial) size, then left-click set to activate the change.
8. Click all Ok tabs to get out and restart your computer.

This should do it to put the right amount of virtual memory to make up for the minimal video card as best you can]>>>>>

There seems to be a technical constraint to using the 533MHz memory from Kingston. Here are the notes from their site:

1) This system is configurable and can ship with either DDR2-400 (KTD-INSP6000/xx) or DDR2-533 (KTD-INSP6000A/xx). These are compatible, however when mixed they default to DDR2-400.

2) Per Dell, systems configured with the Celeron processor will only run DDR2-533 memory at 400MHz.

Too bad.

V6

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@v6v6v6 wrote:
There seems to be a technical constraint to using the 533MHz memory from Kingston. Here are the notes from their site:

1) This system is configurable and can ship with either DDR2-400 (KTD-INSP6000/xx) or DDR2-533 (KTD-INSP6000A/xx). These are compatible, however when mixed they default to DDR2-400.

2) Per Dell, systems configured with the Celeron processor will only run DDR2-533 memory at 400MHz.

Too bad.

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True on the celeron restriction.  Too bad on that, but here is the thing: buy two sticks of whatever memory you want to get from Kingston (I really recommend that you get the 2x512mb for the $155.00 I paid (400 Mhz and 533 Cost the same through this special); and run 1GB Dual Channel.

Conversely, I'll sell you the extra stick of 256 (400 Mhz - dell original) I have now fairly cheaply (not like I'm using it since the upgrade) and you can use it and the stuff you have right now to run 512 MB at 400 Mhz dual channel.

Let me know, and Best of Luck!

Daikuma

Thanks for the offer, but the memory arrived this morning--got a 512MB stick. I tried running Photoshop Album and there was absolutely no lag in viewing photos compared to before. Before, we had problems scrolling down as the images were loaded into memory. Now I'm able to scroll through all 3000+ pictures with no lag.

Thanks to everyone for the help!