Dell Dimension 4550 Tips & Tricks

[nnnyyy]

Im pretty sure it is a 845PE board since the memory is running at 333mhz. The 845g has onboard graphics and doesnt support PC2700 officially. I doubt that DELL is selling you an overclocked dimension

 

[Tom]

I downloaded the latest version of the INTEL CHIPSET UTILITY (1.05) and it just identifies the chipset as 845. As for the memory controller it lists all the 845 chipsets including the 845PE. This utility probably doesn't differentiate between the different versions because all of the versions of 845's probably use the same chipset drivers.

The other utilities mentioned may not be updated to properly ID 845PE chipsets yet.


BTW, I noticed there is a bios update available for the 4550 for those of us who can't wait to screw up our nice new DELLS!


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[abovewood]

I updated the BIOS.
The system has been working fine since day one.

 

[RossMAN]

My 4550 is still in the box, think I'll take it out and do a clean install of XP Pro next weekend.

 

[brian_riendeau]

I keep saying I am going to format my 4550 and install my unused $39 "Go Pro" copy WinXP Pro but I never get around to it. Even with all the standard Dell junk on the system with their XP Home install, the system runs amazingly well. I have not had a single issue yet in terms of stability or usability. I would buy the system again with no hesitation, the only change I would make is getting the primarary drive as a 40GB instead of the 20GB I ordered. The 20GB ended up being a Seagate Cuda IV so I can not complain too much though.

As far as changes I have made to my system... I sold my 256MB stick of Kingston RAM and returned my original 128MB stick to Dell for credit. Dell credited me almost $100 for the 128MB stick! Now I am running just one stick of Kingston PC2700 512MB. I flashed the BIOS to A02 and found the Dell flash utilitiy is quite nifty.

Here is another tip to anyone adding extra drives. To avoid issues, set the primary drive to the primary jumper and leave the remaining drive on cable select. This sounds pretty simple, but I have seen a few post on the Dell forums where this was an issue. Going with primary one one drive and cable select on the other seems to have no issues in any config on anyone's system. Also, make sure you set those CDRom channels to use DMA, it really helps anytime you need to use the drive.

The 4550s support Hyperthreading CPUs as well in case anyone cares. Not sure about the heatsink though, I am not going to be the first to try a 3.06HT chip with a passive heatsink and heat shroud for exhaust

 

[talkincat]

Originally posted by: brian_riendeau
As far as changes I have made to my system... I sold my 256MB stick of Kingston RAM and returned my original 128MB stick to Dell for credit. Dell credited me almost $100 for the 128MB stick! Now I am running just one stick of Kingston PC2700 512MB. I flashed the BIOS to A02 and found the Dell flash utilitiy is quite nifty.

Here is another tip to anyone adding extra drives. To avoid issues, set the primary drive to the primary jumper and leave the remaining drive on cable select. This sounds pretty simple, but I have seen a few post on the Dell forums where this was an issue. Going with primary one one drive and cable select on the other seems to have no issues in any config on anyone's system. Also, make sure you set those CDRom channels to use DMA, it really helps anytime you need to use the drive.

You got Dell to buy back your RAM? How did you get them to do that? I have the original system RAM sitting in a case on my coffee table. If I can sell it back to Dell, I'm all over that!

I've had major issues getting both hard drives, and sometime even one, to run in UDMA Mode 5, even with the Master-Cable Select setup. Anybody seen a fix for this?

 

[brian_riendeau]

to get dell to take back the ram, i called them right before my 30 days was up and told the rep i was unhappy with the ram and wanted a refund. the rep told me it was an internal component and could not be returned for money since i needed ram to run the system. i went into more detail and explained that i already purchased more ram and that 128mb was simply not enough for windows xp and since i only have two ram slots, i would really like to return the 128 so i can still have an open slot for futher expansion. the return was setup, i sent the ram back, and ended up getting over $100 in credit for it

as far as the dma settings go... i installed the intel application accelerator and left it at that, everything seems to have dma enabled now and work quick. one weird thing is that nero info tool reports that my second hard drive has dma turned OFF when intel's app says it is on. anyone know how to REALLY check to see if dma is being used on a drive?

 

[RalfHutter]

Here's an early Christmas present for you 4550ers that want to try overclocking your rigs.

It's a new software OCer that I've never seen before. Check it out here. I may dig up my Intel 845EBG2L Mobo and see if this app actually works, just for grins. Something to do over the four-day weekend next week.

Remember, it only ups the FSB, there are still no Vcore, PCI/AGP or Vmem adjustments available. These P4s should take a moderate OC without needing more Vcore, and the PCI/AGP shold be OK up to 37/74 Mhz or so.

 

[brian_riendeau]

i get an 'invalid system board" error when trying to run he fsb tool, doh.

 

[RossMAN]

Is the speed increase very noticeable when upgrading from 256MB DDR SDRAM PC2100 to the 333MHz? I ordered the P4 2.40 with 533MHz bus.

 

[RossMAN]

No more love for this incredibly helpful thread?

Does anyone know if the 4550 supports boot by USB?

 

[tart666]

Does 4550 come with an ATX PSU or a Dell-special?

This website here seems to be selling standard ATX supplies for anyone with a 4550. Is this correct?