Want to upgrade my Dell

[bitlazy]

I have had my Dell Dimension 4600 for almost two years. I would like to upgrade it so that I don't have to for a little while. The main areas that I want to upgrade are the hard drive, mainly just add another one, my memory, and my video card. Here's the components my computer currently has:

1. Pentium 4 2.40 GHz
2. 40 GB hard drive...IDE/ATA
3. 64 MB DDR nVidia GeForce4 MX
4. 256MB memory

I have been to crucial.com to look at what memory I should get and I have researched a little about the hard drive. The one that I would like to get is the Western Digital Cavial SE WD2000JN 200GB 7200 RPM. It can be found here http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144129

Please let me know of any other suggestions and also if I am headed in the right direction.

[hobey19]

i would recommend a seagate because their warranty is better and WD has been having problems lately. its a little more expensive, but worth it IMO

the other thing, too, which others may be able to offer more insight on, is if you update too much, you may be pushing the limits of your PSU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148032


edit: what are you using your comp for? it will gives us a better idea on vid card recommendations


craig

[cuog]

You may want to go to cruicial.com (i think i spelled it right) and see if they have another 256 MB stick to put in there, you may want to try and upgrade to a gig if your budget allows

[bitlazy]

I use my computer to listen to music, watch movies...and i also play a few games on it. I already went to crucial.com and they gave me two 518 sticks of memory that would make computer perform better. I have to add two at a time. I can upgrade up to 4 gigs of memory if I really wanted to. Anyone have any good suggestions for a better video card...mine is only a 64 MB one.

[kstatefan40]

Since the video card you have in there is AGP 8x, you shouldn't have much of a problem finding an upgrade - personally, I'm an ATI guy, but it really doesn't matter much. You could go with either of these choices from ATI:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102326
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102362

In terms of memory / clock speed, the first choice is cheaper and faster than the second. I would probably go with that one, but you could go with the 9800 if you budget allows.

I'll let someone else with knowledge on the nVidia side of things post links to a comparable product from them.

HTH

[Cricket]

I already went to crucial.com and they gave me two 518 sticks of memory that would make computer perform better. I have to add two at a time.Does that DELL use RAMBUS?Anyone have any good suggestions for a better video card...mine is only a 64 MB one.Almost anything will be better than that GeForce 4 MX that's in there now.

:) Cricket

[glc]

If it had Rambus, Crucial would not list upgrades - they don't do rambus. The 4600 uses a 845 series chipset.

The power supply can handle a 9800 Pro - that was the top factory option on a 4600. If it can handle a 9800 Pro, it should also be able to handle a 6600GT.

[bitlazy]

Another question..How hard will the upgrades be to install? And thanks for all your help.

[hobey19]

not hard at all, and you have all of us here to walk you through any problems you have;)

craig

[cuog]

Another question..How hard will the upgrades be to install? And thanks for all your help.

Basically as follows:

Hard Drive:
1) set jumper correctly(on HD and mobo(if applicable))
2) Attach IDE cable
3) attach power cable


At any point attach to case

=====

RAM
1) line up with correct slot
2) push in proper direction

=====
Vid Card
1) same as above plus install all the drivers and monitor

Its really simple but not quite as what i just described there(thats the basic summary of the steps) are some formating things that need to be done sometimes but you do that with windows when you bootup

But as long as you feel confident in your abilities you can put it all together quite easily, I have asembled all the electronic components to a computer(with mobo already in case) in less then five minutes just to give an idea of how quick it can be if no problems arise

However you should not go that quick i was racing a friend of mine with old comps so take your time and double check everything before powering up and you'll be fine


Sorry for the long message but thats what i tell everyone i know who is about to undertake building/modifying their computer.

__The one the only(fortuneately) cuog

[bitlazy]

Thanks for everything. I'm sure I'll have more questions once I purchase everything.

[THECOMPUTERN()()B]

i thought you couldnt upgrade the processor or hard drive on dells

[Marke522]

You might have to get creative with the placement of the 2nd hardrive. On my HP a810e the 1st one was sideways on the wall, so I had to find an old tower that had a tray I could mount to the bottom of my floppy drive bays.

The new harddrive should come with a ribbon cable that has a slot for 2 drives. Sometimes on prebuilds the IDE cable only has a spot for the master.

If you've ever made anything with Lego's or with an Erector set then you should be able to get it done without too much trouble.

[cuog]

upgrading the HD is easy to do on a dell most of them have enough space for one or two and the proccessor is not a speciall dell unit the PSU and mobo are pretty much dell only though and the RAM is specific to dell but there are manufacturers that make it

[thefultonhow]

Dell only puts one hard drive bay into their entry-level models (Dimension 2400 and 3000), but the 4600 and 4700 have two, so that won't be a problem. The 4600 uses the 865G chipset, so it runs dual-channel RAM. Buying from Crucial is not necessary because the system is pretty new -- you can buy from Newegg instead. And finally, I would recommend the 9800 Pro rather than the 9600XT -- yeah, the 9600XT has a faster clock speed, but the 9800 Pro has a more sophisticated archetecture and will give better performance.

[bitlazy]

What brands of memory are good? I don't know brands of memory all that well.

[glc]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440