Upgrading RAM from 384mb to 512mb?

[yours truly]

Hi guys, im almost embarrassed to say, my computer's old, about 6 years old! right now, the pc i have is a dell dimension 8100. its been very reliable all this time, even when i was using Windows ME!

the only real downside is that it uses rdram, which is really expensive. 1gb of ecc rdram cost about £360 in th UK, which is about US$700!!

obviously im not gonna pump that sort of money into a machine like this, but i was thinking, maybe upping the ram from 384mb to 512mb, which would only cost about £65.

i wanna upgrade because the minimum system requirements these days is 512mb, and i want to play CoH and supreme commander. is it worth paying $100 or so for the extra ram, just to play these games?

many thanks

my system spec:
p4 2.8ghz
Windows XP pro
384mb rdram
140gb hard drive
radeon x700pro

 

[Nick5324]

It sounds like you will be swapping out a 128MB RIMM for a 256MB RIMM, or adding a 128MB RIMM. From Dell: "If you upgrade the memory, the RIMMs must be upgraded in matched pairs of identical MB capacity in both sockets 1 and 2 or sockets 3 and 4."

 

[yours truly]

hi nick, thanks for the quick reply

yeah i'd have to remove 128mb to make room for another 256mb. rdram goes in pairs, so id be getting rid of 2 x 64mb and replace them with 2 x 128mb rdram.

i dont think i can replace the motherboard as its a dell...

i know i'l only be able to play CoH and supreme commander on very low settings, but do you think its worth going to 512mb?

i will upgrade to a new computer soon, maybe an 8 core with a geforce 9 or something, heh 8)

Cheers

 

[Nick5324]

I guess going to 512MB would help, but I don't imagine the improvement would be worth $100 or more. I'd say look to buy some RDRAM in the Anandtech FS/FT forums, but if you are in the UK, the shipping cost might make the purchase to expensive.

 

[yours truly]

thank you nick, i appreciate your time

i'll scan the net tomorrow, see if i can find some ram a bit cheaper

cheers

 

[Jiggz]

I don't understand why you cannot change the mobo although you might have to get a new copy of Win XP. You can buy a 478 socket mobo for less than the price of the ram you are trying to upgrade. And you can up your ram to at least 1 GB for another $70.00 or less. IMO I will change mobo rather than spending it on an obsolete system.

 

[LEDominator]

yeah, I think the best upgrade you could do would be do get a new motherboard. If anything it wouldn't be the case it would be the proprietary dell psu

 

[0roo0roo]

don't drop another dime into that system if you want to play games. dead end, games need 1gb+ and well ram prices are awesome for ddr2 these days, i got my 2gb for $109 last week. new games really want more than 1gb to play smoothly. if you want to upgrade just for windows performance every bit more you add is good, but i guess you get away with 384 using win me. xp would require 512 to be even half decent for multitasking. just bite the bullet and upgrade, or put off gaming for now. prices are good right now for duo cores and everything really.

 

[ForumMaster]

i would just buy a new computer.

get a C2D 4300 for about $160, an ABIT IB9 mobo for $95 and a gig of ram for $105.
this will be your base. add a 7600GT and you'll have quite a decent computer.

 

[Atheus]

Where are you looking for RDRAM at 360 quid a gig? I'm seeing it at Misco for about £50 per 256M stick (http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=792&) so you're looking at £200 for 1 gig, not as bad as you thought... still very expensive though, considering you can get gig of DDR2 for 1/4 of the price...

I would get one of those 'transition' type boards which lets you use both AGP and PCI-E vid cards, like this one:

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(14829)Asr...75DUALVSTA-motherboard-skt775-VIA.aspx (£36.37)

a nice modern processor like this one:

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(14432)Int...U-Core-2-Duo-E6300-186GHz-1066FSB.aspx (£110.44)

or even this one if you're really pushed for cash - you can always upgrade it later:

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(12442)Int...PU-Celeron-D336-28GHz-533FSB-S775.aspx (£28.95)

and a single 1GB stick of value DDR2 like this:

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(9851)Cors...lue-Select-1Gb-DDR2-PC5300-memory.aspx (£40.77)

you want only the one stick, rather than 2*512 to run in dual channel - that way you can get another one and run 2 gigs dual channel later.

I will have to recommend a new PSU too. It is unlikely your old unit will run the new stuff well, especially if/when you upgrade your video card...

something like this seasonic:

http://microdirect.co.uk/(10264)Seasonic-S12430-ATX12V-version20-PSU-active.aspx (£47.59)

You can reuse your case, video card, hard drive and optical drives.

So you're looking at £153.69 or £235.17 depending on the processor you choose - less than the cost of upgrading your current box to 1GB!

Originally posted by: ForumMaster
i would just buy a new computer.

get a C2D 4300 for about $160, an ABIT IB9 mobo for $95 and a gig of ram for $105.
this will be your base. add a 7600GT and you'll have quite a decent computer.

Newegg USA doesn't ship here, and even if they did, the costs would be prohibitive.

 

[crimson117]

I agree with Atheus's advice - much better to start fresh than to try to upgrade something that uses rdimms and a processor that is old now and wasn't ever the best in its class.

I'd add that Core 2 Duo prices are supposed to drop soon, and AMD Athlon x2 prices dropped today/yesterday, so do consider waiting for those drops to trickle down to retail. The x2 6000+ should be around 121 pounds (~$240), and perform better than a stock C2D 6400.

 

[Oyeve]

Dude, I have a Dell socket 478, DDR memory mobo that may fit your case. Does your mobo have a big green cover over the HSF? Found the spec sheet for your system. I will look it over and see if my dell mobo will fit your case.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I would say as a whole, the upgrade is noticable, and you'll see some real improvements in performance.
Given the price per MB of ram though, you're really much better putting that money towards a new system.

Also, Supreme Commander will run like garbage on a 2.8ghz pentium 4 no matter how much ram it has. The game gobbles up CPU cycles like there's no tomorrow. It brings my 1 year old dual core system to it's knees .....

 

[yours truly]

hey guys thanks for your replies, its made me think twice. i'll probably save up and buy a new pc instead.

Atheus, thanks for your detailed response, i'd love to build my own system but im not smart or confident enough to do it. i'll probably buy a dell, mesh or alienware and save myself the hassle.

btw, the ram i saw advertised was on orcalogic.co.uk. I used the memory finder. They're selling 1GB ECC RDRAM for £361.90. The delivery is free! Bargain!! Check it out:


http://www.orcalogic.co.uk/asp/prodtype.asp?prodtype=1932&ft=m&st=3

Hey oyeve, my processor used to have a plastic green shround around it, until it was powerleaped, and then i got a proper heatsink and fan.

hi burnitdwn, ive seen the minimum CPU system requirements for supreme commander and it's like 1.8ghz. The recommended spec is 3.0ghz. my 2.8ghz should be just about ok then, shouldnt it?

anyway, i'm very grateful for all your replies.

cheers

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: hopeless74
hey guys thanks for your replies, its made me think twice. i'll probably save up and buy a new pc instead.

Atheus, thanks for your detailed response, i'd love to build my own system but im not smart or confident enough to do it. i'll probably buy a dell, mesh or alienware and save myself the hassle.

btw, the ram i saw advertised was on orcalogic.co.uk. I used the memory finder. They're selling 1GB ECC RDRAM for £361.90. The delivery is free! Bargain!! Check it out:


http://www.orcalogic.co.uk/asp/prodtype.asp?prodtype=1932&ft=m&st=3

Hey oyeve, my processor used to have a plastic green shround around it, until it was powerleaped, and then i got a proper heatsink and fan.

hi burnitdwn, ive seen the minimum CPU system requirements for supreme commander and it's like 1.8ghz. The recommended spec is 3.0ghz. my 2.8ghz should be just about ok then, shouldnt it?

anyway, i'm very grateful for all your replies.

cheers

OK, sounds good. If interested in the mobo LMK, its just sitting on a shelf collecting dust. 🙂

 

[MegaVovaN]

Originally posted by: Atheus
Where are you looking for RDRAM at 360 quid a gig? I'm seeing it at Misco for about £50 per 256M stick
......
You can reuse your case, video card, hard drive and optical drives.
So you're looking at £153.69 or £235.17 depending on the processor you choose - less than the cost of upgrading your current box to 1GB!

I would say give building a try. It's easier than it seems, and there are tons of guides how to do it. Your dog could build a system!
For example, check this out: http://www.mechbgon.com

The whole thing will be much, much faster than your old comp, even if it had 1gb of that ridiculously expensive RAM!
You'll call yourself a fool for buying a Dell before - jump on the builder's bandwagon!

 

[Jiggz]

Originally posted by: MegaVovaN

Originally posted by: Atheus
Where are you looking for RDRAM at 360 quid a gig? I'm seeing it at Misco for about £50 per 256M stick
......
You can reuse your case, video card, hard drive and optical drives.
So you're looking at £153.69 or £235.17 depending on the processor you choose - less than the cost of upgrading your current box to 1GB!

I would say give building a try. It's easier than it seems, and there are tons of guides how to do it. Your dog could build a system!
For example, check this out: http://www.mechbgon.com

The whole thing will be much, much faster than your old comp, even if it had 1gb of that ridiculously expensive RAM!
You'll call yourself a fool for buying a Dell before - jump on the builder's bandwagon!

:thumbsup: In addition, you can always browse in here for help. You have to start somewhere to learn the system building skills. But as soon as you do one you've done them all! Patience and resourcefulness are the key to a hassle free system building.