Upgrade possible (Dell 8200)???

[AhzRoeland]

I have a Dell (just over a year old) with "Assembly, Card (Circuit), Planar (Motherboard), DIM8200, NO-RSR. The
processor is a 2.2Ghz 512K, 400FSB." I REALLY hate the cost involved with upgrading the R-DRAM. What are my options? A new motherboard with my current processor? If so, what is the best path to take? Thanks in advance!!

 

[kamper]

You aren't likely to be able to upgrade the mobo...
Dell cases, boards and psu's tend not to be atx so you'd probably have to all at once which would probably cost more than your ram.
I was in the same boat, by the way. I've got an 8100 and I buckled and bought another 512 megs of the rd variety. If what you have right now is not enough and you plan to use this box for a while I'd suggest you grab some more ram sooner rather than later. Demand for pc800 certainly isn't going up but the prices probably will be.

 

[AhzRoeland]

So if I did upgrade, I would need the case, mb, powersupply and ram. I have a case and sdram is much cheaper than rdram. A powersupply and mb would be the costs. What mb would anyone suggest for a P4 2.2 chip?

BTW Kamper, what did you pay for the 512 megs of rdram?

 

[kamper]

IIRC it was about $250 CDN. At the time that was probably about $165 US but now its more like $190 US. It can be found cheaper though, considering that us Canadians don't have access to all those big online stores that Americans have (well, we do, but the shipping charges are usually too high).

And whatever you do, don't be tempted to use the dell ps with a new board, even if the connectors fit. There's no guarantee that all the wires are the same as atx and you'll likely end up frying some stuff

 

[AhzRoeland]

Yes, I read your link to the messages about the Dell PS issues. Looks like the best bet is to get a new one with the MB. I am so confused on what to do on the upgrade/reconfigure issue. I might just end up building one from scratch and keep the Dell in one piece. I have a case, a 250G HD, and on the verge of getting the 9800np video card. My GF2 is dragging.... That is what started the ball rolling. What to do, what to do......

 

[kamper]

It's funny how similar our situations are! I have a geforce2 in my dell too. I replaced it for the summer with a 9600pro which is now in the new system I've put together. Keeping the dell together might be a good thing because they are solid machines the way they come, just no oc'ing or tweaking and stuff. I'm personally glad that I've got two whole boxes now. The dell was a good platform to "soup up" gradually and then strip back down to cut down on the cost of building new. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[AhzRoeland]

Ironic indeed! I think keeping the dell in one piece is what I will do. I have a wireless lan for my laptop and an extra card around here somewhere. I guesss building one is what I will do. I will keep you posted kamper!