Dell Dimension 4400 motherboard/processors, and RAM???

[HardWired]

I'm doing some upgrades for a friend on his Dimension 4400. It's the first time I've ever cracked open the case on a Dell and I must say I am impressed with the ease of it all and the clean build of it as well. There's plenty of room to work and it looks like it'll take an upgrade of just about any part from just about any mfgr..

Right now he's running a P4 1.6 GHz. of the 400MHz. variety. I'd like to get him to the fastest processor his mobo will support but I can't tell by the markings on the board what brand/model the board is and the type of chip it supports. He bought it in April of 2002. Will it support only the 400MHz. type P4 processor, or does anyone know if it'll run a 533MHz. (b series) processor? Just by it's age I'm assuming it won't do the 800MHz. and C series P4's. And if this board only supports the 400MHz type P4 processors, what is the highest speed they went on those? 2GHz.? 2.3?

Also I want to drop a little more ram in there for him too. It's got room for two sticks and one DIMM slot is open (I think he's running 256MB), so I'm thinking of getting a 512MB to put in there. Does anyone know the speed of the ram I should get for him? I went from an old P3 to a screaming P4 and some extremely fast ram to boot, so I'm unsure of the flavors of ram in between that will work with his board. Should I be looking at some PC2100 (233MHz.), or something a bit slower? Faster?

Any help with these two areas of concern from someone who has spent some time with Dell systems (like the Dimension 4400) would be greatly appreciated.

I'd load Sisoft Sandra and find out some of these questions myself, but he's jacked it up to where it's not even bootable, so part of the upgrade (besides the hardware) is to get a fresh new load of WinXP on there for him too.

Thanks again for any of this you may be able to answer for me...

 

[o1die]

I would visit Dell's website. I'm sure it will run the 2.2a, but I'll bet you could run the 2.4a at 400. Frankly, you might be better off just investing in a premium video card, if the system is used mostly for gaming. Popular choices are the 9800se at $150, or the nvidia 4200-4800. I get most of mine from newegg's refurbished section. Prices are 25-35% lower than new. If all else fails, call Dell customer support. For memory, don't waste your money on anything higher than pc2700. I get mine from aib.com. If you have a 256 meg stick now, get the same size if you add more.

 

[HardWired]

It looks like Intel stopped at 2.4GHz on the 400MHz. bus P4 chips. I went to NewEgg and they sell the retail P4 2.0GHz 400MHz bus chip for $133 and the retail 2.4GHz. for $166. I think I'll talk him in to spending the $33 bucks for an extra 400 MHz and go with the 2.4..

Regarding the ram, why would you buy a stick of the same size? The ram isn't addressed in a "dual mode" situation like my 2.6C setup is. And I have a P3 here that my wife uses that has a 128MB stick, a 256MB stick and a 512MB stick and it runs just fine with those 3 different sizes in it.

Do the P4 boards require that you run same size ram sticks? I didn't think they did? I was thinking of getting him a 512MB stick to go along with the 256MB he's running now. As for the recommendation of PC2700, I think I'll stay in that speed range. That sounds about right.

As for video cards, he's not a gamer at all so he's satisfied with his video card right now. I'm adding a 80GB Seagate HD to his system too. So a bigger faster hard drive, a faster processor, and more ram should be all he needs to get that new fast feeling again.

Let me know on the ram though. I was wanting to get him over the 512MB hump (like 768MB), but if it needs to be addressed in like sizes, I'll just get him another 256MB for 512MB total.

 

[o1die]

512 megs total will be plenty, unless you're doing video editing. The memory on most dell systems runs at 266 or 333 speed, so anything faster would be a waste of money. Another option would be to sell his old system for about $350, and get a dimension $499 special. For the price of the cpu upgrade alone, you get a new system with 2.2 cpu and free cd burner. That makes more sense than putting more money into your current system. I sell computer stuff all the time in my local paper. Give it a try.