Need Assistance fixing my Kid's Dell Dimenssion 2400

[darrenwnc]

Hello all.. This is my first post.

Here is my situation:

My son was farting around with his Dell Dimenssion 2400 and in the process bent the pins on his processor. I have looked over the socket (FPGA 478) and it doesn't look like there is any damage there. The particulars for the MB follows:

Board: Dell Computer Corp 0K5148 A01
Bus Clock: 400 Mhz
Proc: Intel Celeron 2.4G
8K Pri memory cache
128K secondary mem cache
socket: FPGA 478

I have been flirting around with a couple of possibilities for fixing it. Please tell me if I am off the mark and provide any wisdom to aid in my adventure...

First I was thinking of rewarding his curiosity by replacing the MB and processor with a higher end micro ATX board and more robust processor. These are what I had in mind, taking into account IDE support for the current HD and DVD Drive, power supply connections (250W) and DDR PC2700 184 pin memory currently in the system:

Motherboard: newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186129

Processor: newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819112234

On the other hand, being the cheap father that I am, I was also thinking of just replacing the processor (and, BTW, making it his Christmas Present). I was looking at a larger processor that I believe the board will support. Going from a 2.4G Intel Celeron to either a:

Intel P4 2.8G: newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116215

or a

Intel P4 3.0G: Intel Pentium 4 3.0E Prescott 3.0GHz Socket 478 RoHS Version Processor Model NE80546PG0801M - OEM

I understand that changing the MB means a new Windows XP liscense, and I am already prepared for that in the event I go with a new MP.

Any wisdon and insight into my dilemma would be greatly appreciated.

 

[robin_bga]

Hi,
Most case, we are happy when our parents buy us something new, we usually don't care whether its cheap or not, provided its new.
I certainly think that u r on the right track.From yo selection, I would think of the following
P4 3Ghz
Intel Board
I think that would be more robust and very powerful machine that he will be more careful with, and u should tell him to be more careful that if its broke, well no other.
Cheers
Robin
U r a nice father

 

[kpo6969]

I would just get the P4 3.06 if you go that route.
The one you linked to at Newegg is 800mhz though. I believe you need the harder to find 533mhz.
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim2400/en/sm_en/specs.htm
here's one if you go that route:
http://www.starmicro.net/detail.aspx?ID=121
costs more but no need for new OS
putting new mobo's in a Dell is next to impossible and maybe not practical for a system of that age
just giving you another way to look at it

 

[link590o]

if it were me, i'd say chuck the damn thing.

i have the exact same desktop and i hate this thing. i've had to make so many modifications to it to make it run moderately smooth. it has a lot of trouble doing some of the simple things. for instance, i experience horrific lag if i decide i want to do a video skype. and if i want to play call of duty 2, i have to settle for 800x600 resolution at 25 frames per second. and that's WITH the modifications i have made. i had to add a video card, a hard drive, memory, and i tweaked a lot of settings.

do yourself and your kid a favor and save whatever you can from that thing and get a more up to date system. sure you can fix it and make it last another year or two, but it won't last very much more than that. i've had mine for about 8 years. and it's just about had it. and so have i.

there are lots of parts on newegg you can put together and create a very nice system with for a small amount of cash considering. i can build a nice dual core amd system for about 400-500 dollars. you already have a few key parts. hard drive, cables, peripherals, cd drives...that will save a crap load of money when buying a new system.

and if you build the system, you can show your kid how it's done, and show the various "do"s and "do not"s. that way, he gets a new system that you can simply upgrade later for cheap, and he learns how not to break his computer and cause you problems.

to reiterate though and be clear: i only suggest this alternative because i have the same machine, and i think it is a piece of junk that isn't worth putting money into. that's opinion. feel free to do as you like. but it will end up being cheaper in the long run to use my suggestion.

 

[beef_jerky4104]

I say get a new PC.

 

[Rik]

What exactly is an MP?

 

[beef_jerky4104]

Pretty sure he meant to say MB as in Motherboard, even though that is a bad and stupid abbreviation because MB means Megabyte already.

 

[Rik]

Not so sure about that.

I understand that changing the MB means a new Windows XP liscense, and I am already prepared for that in the event I go with a new MP.

 

[link590o]

hey. thanks for seconding my opinion there, beef! i thought for a minute i'd be the only one to suggest it.

 

[darrenwnc]

Thanks for the encouragement! The TechSpot rookie is just getting his wings...

 

[darrenwnc]

I appreciate all the input and the guidance you folks are providing. Looks like i'm just going to go with a new box...but this time make it myself.

Again, thanks folks

Darren

 

[link590o]

no problem. we're happy to help. hope you stay with us for a while. you'll learn a lot of neat stuff here.

 

[darrenwnc]

Pretty sure he meant to say MB as in Motherboard, even though that is a bad and stupid abbreviation because MB means Megabyte already.

Thanks for the positive encouragement Beef!

 

[samjohnson]

Great choice in building one yourself. Dells are not worth fixing them up to be able to play at least the kinda recent games. I have a E310 that I was going to take apart and use some parts from it and build another but it was easer to just do it from scratch. If you need any help on selecting parts don't hesitate to post what you are looking at getting, in this thread.