Cheap Upgrade

[jaxom101]

Im building a new Super System but want to keep my Old System for the Kids. I have a Dell Dimension 8200 with
Pentium 4 2.8 ghz
1 gb Ram

I was wondering what my best options were for around the $200-$300 Mark.

Also should i stay with Win XP or Upgrade to Win 7?

[faint545]

I wouldn't upgrade the Dell Dimension 8200. You most likely wont gain enough performance to justify the amount spent. Don't upgrade the 8200 to Windows 7. Keep it light. Windows 7 was made for modern machines, not old.

The only upgrade you can do on that machine is RAM, GPU, and HDD. The max RAM supported is 2GB so if you really want to, you can get 1 more GB and as far a GPU goes, the 8200 has AGP and it's pretty hard to find AGP these days (i'm pretty sure).

[Nikon]

stick with xp, and only possible upgrade that might be useful is some ram, another 1gb would max out a 32bit install. its really not worth it to sink any more cash into it.

[jaxom101]

Would it do any good to drop in a bigger CPU? It seem most that would fit this are around the $50 area? Other then that the 1gb Mem would be the only thing then.

[faint545]

Not really worth it IMO.

[jaxom101]

Thanks for the info. I guess I just drop in the Memory and Move it over for my New System. I do have to drop in a New DVD/CD burner but its been a good Computer for a long time.

But with my new system I wont look back. It was the First Prebuilt I ever bought because I didnt have the time to spend on it at the time.

[glc]

Ram upgrades for an 8200 are very expensive - it takes RDRAM.

Do you have four 256mb modules or two 512mb modules in it now?

Video card upgrades can be iffy - the factory power supply can't handle much more than what it already has.

[jaxom101]

Originally Posted by glc Ram upgrades for an 8200 are very expensive - it takes RDRAM. Do you have four 256mb modules or two 512mb modules in it now? Video card upgrades can be iffy - the factory power supply can't handle much more than what it already has.

Im not even sure any more untill I tear it apart. I play STO now in lower settings and its always worked fine so unless its easy I guess I wont mess with it other then the New Drive.

[Kidd]

Originally Posted by faint545 ...... Don't upgrade the 8200 to Windows 7. Keep it light. Windows 7 was made for modern machines, not old.

I agree with the advice, because of the cost of the OS, and the cheapest option (OEM) won't allow you to transfer the license when this PC is no longer viable. A new OS is worth more than the hardware in this situation. (Personally, the next time I have a PC worth less $ than Windows, I'm taking Linux for a spin.)

As far as 'light', Win7 64 is cruising at 25MB RAM use right now for me. I think XP uses about 20MB. And while it is built for compatibility with new stuff (my XP wifi card wouldn't work with Win7), the main site (or maybe the newsletter) linked to a video of a PC running the Win7 RC on a Pentium 3. This was before the official release, but still. That's some fairly old hardware running very new software.

[glc]

To give you an idea, here's what 8200 memory costs. It must be installed in pairs. If you have four 256's in it, you gotta pull it to upgrade it.

1gb kit (2x512): $340 (PC800-40ns)
512mb kit (2x256): $160 (PC800-40ns)

If you have a 2.8 GHz processor, that's 533 FSB and you MUST use 40ns ram. NO processor upgrade is possible, that's maxed out already.

Also, all 4 slots must be populated with something - either 2 pairs of ram or one pair of ram and one pair of CRIMM's (continuity cards). They look like ram modules but with no chips on them.