Dell 2400

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richiehubby

hi im thinking of upgrading my pc.
i firstly wanted a new graphics card n just put in some ram but from opening the pc i have pci n 2 get a decent graphics card i need 2 have PCI express so i need 2 get a new mother board, so i thought i might as well upgrade the cpu 2. the problem is i dont know whats compatible with what so really need your help. so mainly what mother board is compatable with what cpu thats decent.


richard
 
I would use caution in making changes to the Dell Dimension 2400. It seems to me a better choice would be to start with a new case and build your own. There are simply too many problems with the 2400.
It is too small to install proper cooling. It doesn't have adequate room for a motherboard with a new cooling fan and CPU.
If you don't replace the motherboard, you have power supply issues where many others will not work in that unit. Memory is barely average. The Dell 2xxx series is among Dell's highest failure machines... with motherboard, cooling fan, and CPU issues.
Careful shopping at www.newegg.com, www.tigerdirect.com, www.directron.com, www.CDW.com, www.compusa.com, www.zipzoomfly.com, www.outpost.com, www.techdepot.com, and a few others will enable you to put together a better system for about the same money you would spend on the Dell Dimension 2400... and you could sell the Dell to somebody for $125 to $150 with a little luck.
 
oh ok then, so if i got all new motherboard, cpu, memory, could i still use the hard drive n dvdrom with that.
also with all those upgrades what speed of power supply would be needed would 400W be ok?
 
Yes, you can use the hard drive, CDRom, and sometimes even memory...
For the AGP video card, a power supply of 400 Watts or more will work nicely. The memory you have will be either DDR PC2700 or DDR PC3200, and they are usually interchangeable, but the pc2700 is slightly slower. There are BioStar and MSI boards at www.directron.com and www.tigerdirect.com that will work. Get anyboard that will take an PATA, ATA, or EIDE hard drive. What you have to watch for is the video graphics... You can get a board with onboard video graphics, or buy an AGP or PCI EXpress video graphics card. It is very important to know which graphics card you want to use... as there is no interchangeability between AGP and PCI-Express. The Dell 2400 uses onboard video and has neither a PCI Express nor an AGP video card.
 
Sorry, but it is a bit too much board... good one... but...

It is a SATA motherboard. You have a PATA hard drive. Also the memory utilized is quite different. It would run your DVDROM just fine, but it would require a different power supply than what you have in the Dell.
However, SATA hard drives are very low priced nowadays... running from $39 US to $130 US for 40 GB to 500 GB
 
Basically, you need a whole new comp.

Look for IDE slots. Each IDE slot will take 2 HDD/CD or DVD ROM or RW.

Most motherboard these days have 2 IDE slots, which means 4 HDD/optical drives. Your Dell should have 2 IDE slots, so if the new motherboard has 2 IDE slots, you're fine.

A whole new comp will involve buying a new processor and RAM. Your old system is basically worthless now, and nothing other than HDD and optical drives should be used.

And you can use a 400W PSU to power a brand new comp, as long as you don't put in anything too high powered.

But the best thing you can do now is tell us your budget, and what you do on your comp (try to be as specific as possible), and we'll get back to you on whats the best we can recommend within that budget. Also include on what you will reuse (HDD and optical drives, 400W PSU (we'll need brand), anything else?)
 
yes i a want to keep the hard drive and optical drive
ive bought a new 400w power supply so wont need that.
i use my computer for photoshop and video editing which most of the time my computer struggles to do anything else aswell. im now looking at gaming but my computer just carnt hack it nad freezes. im want to get the Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950Pro 512MB PCI-e graphics card so the new comp will have to be compatable with that.
i wana spend about $900.
 
If that is US$, should be able to fit all that in.... I'm wondering about the graphics card though.

You didn't mention what brand power supply you got. There is a world of difference between an unbranded power supply, and a good, branded power supply. And at 400W, its going to matter if you're going to run a power hungry card like the X1950Pro.

but with that budget, you should be able to fit that, a Core2Duo E6320/E6420, 2Gb PC6400 RAM (maybe even PC6400 C4), and a good 965P motherboard.

You might want to look at my specs, I've just got my comp, and it came up to be about AUD$1000 (sans fancy cooling, hard drive, optical drive, case). After conversion it should be well within your budget. Just have to change my 256mb X1950Pro to the 512mb version.

Basically:
CPU: E6420 - 191
Motherboard: Gigabyte P965-DS3 - 139.99
RAM: Gskill F2-6400CL4D-2GBPK (2gb) - 119.99
Graphics card: Sapphire X1950Pro 512mb (Sapphire X1950 comes with higher rated GDDR than others) - 189.99

Total - 641, excluding delivery. I'd replace the power supply if you really want to spend 800 bux. You might want a new case. Solve both problems by getting the Antec Sonata II, which costs 99.99, which comes with a really solid 450W PSU. Another option might be to get a new HDD. Or just save up the money. Or the best option is to wire the money directly into the CMH college fund. :D:D
 
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