Dell 4600 Questions

[Messermeister]

Just picked this up for $384:

Order detail - order placed 2004-04-29 19:31:57

Dell Dimension 4600 Micro-Tower: Pentium(r) 4 Processor at 2.8GHz with 533MHz front side bus Microsoft(r) Windows XP Home
Qty: 1
Unit Price: $534.00

Microsoft(r) Windows XP Home
256 MB DDR 333MHz NON-ECC SDRAM (2 DIMMs)
No Floppy Drive
120 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
56Kbps Data/Fax Modem
48X CD-RW Drive
WordPerfect Productivity Suite 11.0
DELL Picture Studio Paint Shop
McAfee 5.0 Security Software - 90-Day Trial
Microsoft Money
Microsoft Encyclopedia 2004
DELL JUKEBOX BASIC
Turbo Tax 2003 Software
MOD,KIT,CDSK,AOL9.0,BUDROM,DAO .01
Dell Media Experience Software
PAINT SHOP PRO 4.0 STANDARD
Shipping
Logitec 2-button Scroll Mouse
QuietKey Keyboard
Resource CD and Documentation
Cable

Enhance your order by shopping the Software and Peripherals site.
- $0.00

$75 off any refurbished Dimension priced up to $549
- $75.00

Dell Outlet - Home Customers Only: Save $75 off any refurbished Dimension priced between $500 to $849

Expires on 2004-04-30 23:59:59 - $75.00
Dimension 4xxx STD: 1 Yr On-Site Service, 1 Yr Pho
Qty: 1
Unit Price: $0.00

ADDITIONAL DISCOUNT AND COUPONS
------------------------------------------------

Get Free Ground Shipping on refurbished desktops and notebooks and Free Ground Shipping on Dell Axim X3 400MHz OR Dell Digital Jukebox (MP3 Player) with purchase of refurbished desktop or notebook!

Expires on 2004-04-30 23:59:59 - $99.00


Sub-Total: $384.00
Shipping Discount: -$99.00
Shipping: $0.00
Estimated Tax: $0.00
Total: $384.00


OK so...

1) What is the difference between 400 mhz and 333 mhz RAM? I head its wether or not your FSB is 533 or 800 mhz. Unreliable source. Also how can I tell if its DDR 2700/3200 etc and how do the different types mix with eachother?

2) Serial ATA means I can hook up a 10k RPM hd with the 7200 RPM drive right? And there are still EIDE connectors?

3) Going to pick up a graphics card too. Will I be able to use the onboard card to create dual monitors?

As always any help is appreciated.

 

[mechBgon]

I suggest altering your order to include WinXP Professional. Unless I'm mistaken, WinXP Home doesn't support multiple displays from two or more video cards, whereas WinXP Pro supports as many as nine. Also, could you confirm for us that the system has an AGP slot on it? Plugging in a PCI video card would give you dual-head capability... something like a Radeon 7000 or GeForce4MX perhaps. Or you could get a dual-head AGP card that takes over the job from the onboard video completely, and if there's any 3D gaming in your future, that's what you should do. For a good value in a dual-head AGP card, wait about a month for the price to drop on the Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB and get that.

DDR400 is PC3200. DDR333 is PC2700. The system will run all the RAM at the speed of the slowest individual module. If you got two DDR333 modules and later wanted to expand, you could either get a second matched pair of modules (333 or 400) or replace the existing pair with a higher-capacity pair (again, 333 or 400). The motherboard will probably insist on running them at certain speeds depending on the FSB of the CPU that's installed, so if you pair DDR400 modules with a 533MHz bus, it's probably going to run them at DDR333 speeds anyway. Bigger picture: probably not something you'll detect by seat-of-the-pants means. Having more RAM would be desirable, though. 512MB is the least I'd recommend.

If you check the system's specs it should say what ports and slots it has. It most certainly has IDE ports, since it has an IDE optical drive.

 

[Messermeister]

Thanks for the help...I was planning on a 9800 Pro probably around the time WOW or Darkfall Online comes out. I will up the RAM then too, maybe sooner. My old computer is a Dell Dimension 8000 with RDRAM, its going to become a server and possibly a bedroom entertainment system. I've got WinXP Pro, and 2000 Server with a license from an old job. I'm debating 2k Pro on the new system vs XP pro, I'm not a big XP fan its too intrusive IMO.

Nine displays is freaking nuts, I guess it would be good if you used a computer to set up a security system, but other than that who could possibly track that many units?

 

[Messermeister]

Also I've got a Pioneer A0-3 DVD-RW that got a firmware upgrade, I will replace it when the dual layer burners come out.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Messermeister
Thanks for the help...I was planning on a 9800 Pro probably around the time WOW or Darkfall Online comes out. I will up the RAM then too, maybe sooner. My old computer is a Dell Dimension 8000 with RDRAM, its going to become a server and possibly a bedroom entertainment system. I've got WinXP Pro, and 2000 Server with a license from an old job. I'm debating 2k Pro on the new system vs XP pro, I'm not a big XP fan its too intrusive IMO.

Nine displays is freaking nuts, I guess it would be good if you used a computer to set up a security system, but other than that who could possibly track that many units?

I think stockbroker-type people use the crazy 9-display setups maybe. 🙂 You can customize (or should we say de-customize) WinXP Pro so that it looks mostly like Win2000 Pro if it's the visual aspect that you don't like, by the way.

 

[Messermeister]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: Messermeister
Thanks for the help...I was planning on a 9800 Pro probably around the time WOW or Darkfall Online comes out. I will up the RAM then too, maybe sooner. My old computer is a Dell Dimension 8000 with RDRAM, its going to become a server and possibly a bedroom entertainment system. I've got WinXP Pro, and 2000 Server with a license from an old job. I'm debating 2k Pro on the new system vs XP pro, I'm not a big XP fan its too intrusive IMO.

Nine displays is freaking nuts, I guess it would be good if you used a computer to set up a security system, but other than that who could possibly track that many units?

I think stockbroker-type people use the crazy 9-display setups maybe. 🙂 You can customize (or should we say de-customize) WinXP Pro so that it looks mostly like Win2000 Pro if it's the visual aspect that you don't like, by the way.

Its not the visual...its the mouse overs that I can't figure out how to turn off, the over abundance of menus and selection criteria, and the invasive hardware/program installs that you always have to go back and tweak. The auto install of wireless stuff is a real pain in the butt.