Upgrading Dell Dimension XPS R400

[kwatson1]

I have a Dell Dimension XPS R400, with a Pentium II 400 mhz processor. I was looking for an answer to upgrade the processor or motherboard for my system. My system is no longer under warranty, and is my second computer so I have some leeway on screwing it up a bit.

Do you have any suggestions/opinions/experience on replacing the processor and/or motherboard on this system so that I can get better performance out of the system? I am looking to crank up the processor speed at the very least.

Thanks...

 

[Chesebert]

Not much you can do here. You can do yourself a favor and get a new mobo + CPU. What's ur mobo's chipset? I don't konw..dell bios is kinda screwey, I don't know if you can even drop a new cpu in there. I had a XPS 300. After a mobo+cpu+powersupply change. It's good as new! ..cough..cough..still has that Intel PII inside thing in the front

 

[kwatson1]

The chipset for the mobo is the Intel 440BX ASPset.; I have the Intel Pentium II w/MMX running at 400 mhz..

If I need another mobo, is there a particular type I should be looking for? I.e. size? type? etc. I don't know what can fit this case..
Looks like this is the dimension of my case..

Physical
Mini tower chassis:
Height
43.69 cm (17.2 inches)
Width (with base)
20.32 cm (8 inches)
Depth
44.45 cm (17.5 inches)
Weight
11.3 to 13.6 kg (25.0 to 30.0 lb)


Here's the slots:Expansion Bus
Bus types ISA, PCI, and AGP
ISA expansion-card connectors 1 full-length
PCI expansion-card connectors 3 full-length
AGP expansion-card connector 1 full-length
Shared expansion-card slots 1 full-length (slot contains both an ISA and a PCI connector, only one of which can be used at any given time)
ISA bus frequency 8.33 MHz
PCI bus frequency 33 MHz
AGP bus frequency 66 or 133 MHz (based on video card)
Plug and Play revision 1.2a
PCI bus specification complies with PCI specification 2.1
PCI-to-PCI bridging supported


Thanks for the response!

 

[XMan]

Hmm. BX is a great chipset. I'd keep that motherboard if you could . . .

First of all, how much memory do you have?

256MB PC100 CAS2 = ~27 from www.axiontech.com. Motherboard should have 3 slots? Add 512MB of RAM, for 50 bucks it's a no-brainer.

How about your hard drive? Do you have a 7200rpm model?

The Western Digital BB series are nice . . . you can get a 40-gig for around 100 bucks. Check Pricewatch.com, and use resellerratings.com to see which of the low-priced vendors are highly rated.

Sound subsystem is probably fine. Don't worry about your sound card/speakers.

You can get a P3 1Ghz FC-PGA CPU for around $150. A heat sink and a slotket adapter would run you another 20-30.

Also, don't neglect your video card. GeForce 2Ultras are a great buy for around 220. Newegg.com is a good vendor. Go for a GeForce 3 Ti500 if you've got money to burn.

But, for around 550 bucks, you can get a 1GHz CPU, Geforce 2 Ultra 64MB, an additional 512MB of RAM, and a 40GB hard drive. Or you could spend a little bit more and get an AMD motherboard and CPU. Or just upgrade your CPU . . . it's up to you.

 

[Chesebert]

I like the BX chipset but I don't know about Dell BIOS You can try and buy the slot adapter with PIII then find out that you need to flash your bios to some Intel reference bios or you can just go get a whole new mobo.

I had mine replace with Soyo K7VTA-Pro with Athlon 1.2G oc 1.4 and Enermax powersupply. Everything went fine (had to do little wire stripping as Dell got their propritary signal ribben).

You could get ECS DDR board + Athlon 1.4 + 256 DDR + Enermax for under 300

I use my old PC133 ram and HD and everything..couldn't be happier

After I sold all my old stuff I am at a net cost of $300 for (mobo + cpu + psu + geforce2 pro + 128MB PC133).

Athlon 1.2 oc 1.4
256MB CAS2 Crucial PC133
40G IBM 60GXP
sony dvd plaer
plextor CDR
Gainawrd Geforce2 pro 450
Voodoo2 12MB (ah..the good old days..still need to play old games
sound blaster AWE64 gold (i konw i know..but it was $200 4 yrs ago, at least no SB live problem
Enermax 350W PSU

 

[kwatson1]

Xerox Man..

There is a concern about just replacing my CPU and keeping this MOBO. My CPU is the Pentium II that is a slot 1 processor. Aren't the new processors inserted horizontally, not vertically? It seems that replacing the CPU with anything more than a PIII Slot one would not work. I do not know the fastest PIII slot one processor, but it can't be that much more than the PII 400 I just have??


If I am mistaken, please let me know. It would be far easier to just replace that CPU and touch it up with some memory and HD.

thanks!

 

[Robbo]

Your best bet is to visit the dimension upgrade hardware section of the Dell Talk forums. http://delltalk.us.dell.com

Many people on the forum (including myself) have upgraded their PII or PIII Dimension PCs to PIII 850 or 1 Ghz. You should be able to find some very good FAQs on how to go about upgrading.

You should be able to upgrade to a PIII 1Ghz slot 1 processor 100 Mhz fsb, but be quick because they will not be available for much longer.

 

[XMan]

Ditto on what Robbo said.

There is a concern about just replacing my CPU and keeping this MOBO. My CPU is the Pentium II that is a slot 1 processor. Aren't the new processors inserted horizontally, not vertically? It seems that replacing the CPU with anything more than a PIII Slot one would not work. I do not know the fastest PIII slot one processor, but it can't be that much more than the PII 400 I just have??

The fastest slot-1 processor is 1.1Ghz. You can buy a socketed processor, so long as it's a 100MHz FSB chip, and run it fine on your BX-chipset motherboard. I don't know about Dell BIOS support, though, so check out Robbo's site.

 

[kwatson1]

Thanks for all of the help!

I think Robbo's site will do just fine..

Just trying to decide now if it is better to buy an expensive Intel CPU or just go with a new mobo and a cheaper AMD CPU??

Argh..

 

[flywing]

I upgraded a Dell R400 about a year ago. You simply need to update to one of the later dell bios's (from their web site) and you can then stick in a slotkit (I used Iwill, but I suspect any would do) and then insert a 100 bus PIII chip. The computer I upgraded has worked without any problems.

 

[oldfart]

Dell uses non standard power supply and front panel connectors. If you got a new mobo, you would need a new case and PS. The BX mobo is still a good one. A faster CPU, plenty of ram a fast HD and a good video card are all items you can use to upgrade what you have.