*help!* trying to replace ram or motherboard in a Dell Dimension 8250

[okk]

I have a dell d8250 that i bought with one of the hot deals a couple years back. problem now is that it only uses rd ram, and those are mighty expensive.

i want to get more ram, but heard that with the price of the rd ram, i can get a new mobo as well as a gig of ddr ram.

Is there any way I can keep the whole dell case and quiet architecture? The quiet is the most important part. Is there a way I can just swap out for a dell specific, ddr compatible p4 mobo? Is that expensive? If I don't use a dell mobo, will the mobo be compatible with the dell ps?

Please help! IF you've done this before, please let me know how you did it. Key thing for me is to keep prices low and preserve the quietness...

 

[Bateluer]

Replacing the motherboard in a Dell system with a standard motherboard would be VERY difficult. Not saying it couln't be done, its just not worth the effort.

RDRAM Search at Newegg

Now much memory do you currently have, how much do you want to have, and how many available slots do you have? I think you might have to buy in pairs as well, not entirely certain.

Looks like around 40 per 128MB stick, 80 for a 256MB stick, and 325 for a 512MB stick.

Edit - Also, I ran a search for a Dimension 8250 on Dell's site, and there are two versions listed, a 400MHz FSB model and a 533MHz model. Depending on what RAM you need, it could be very pricey. Dell is charging 500USD for a single stick of 512MB 400Mhz RDRAM.

In all honesty, you are probably better off building a new system, the Dell looks pretty dated.. An A64 3000, vanilla NF4 mobo, and 1GB of DDR400 are probably less than a single stick of that RDRAM. Such a setup could also be made to run silently.

There is a good bet you would be able to salvage some components from the Dell, but without knowing more about its system specs, I couldn't say anything. Given what I know about Dell though, the PSU is probably pretty skimpy.

Edit 2 - Welcome to the forums, by the way.

 

[okk]

thanks for the quick post bateluer. I have the 400 fsb one. i read somewhere you can drop in a dell 8300 mobo that uses ddr ram, for 90 bucks + tax.

i thought about the cost/benefit analysis, and I figured for about 200 i can build another system and thus have 2 that run well. (it's gonna be 90 +100 for mobo and ram, whereas with some patience I can geta case/quiet psu/ mobo cpu for 170 + tax.)

maybe i want too much.

I have two computers in my name already, this one and an ibm t42....

 

[imported_Kiwi]

Although I always exclude Compaq, Dell, HP, IBM, etc from the (MB) search criteria, occasionally I see a misspelled Dall or Deel or Dill, whatever, and scroll on past it, but they are out there to buy. A couple of someones have claimed that the "new" price is extremely steep, buying from Dell, so the parts are still inflated in the secondary markets. I cannot be certain how much of that was hyperbole, as it was second hand opinions.

The real fact of the matter is that Dell doesn't want its customers buying elsewhere, and they try to lock you in. The psu's are rewired, the front panels are unique, the (supposedly) most popular priced of their units have a two-piece motherboard, with the backplane section lying in the bottom of the box, etc. etc.

Personally, if you were one of the leeches in my family borrowing my computer experience all of the time, I'd pull out the drives and scrap the rest, or try to get salvage value selling it to a Dell rebuilder (several such specialize in doing that around here). Your data is all that's worth saving if the Dell is too slow to use.


:beer:

 

[DaveSimmons]

The other option is the FS/FT forum here. You should be able to find used 2 x 128 PC800 RDRAM (= 256 MB) for around $50 shipped or less.

If you're in the US and don't need them mailed until Saturday, I have a pair I pulled from my mom's system when I upgraded it at Xmas. PM me if interested. (But make sure you aren't already using all 4 memory slots first)