dell dimension dying; asking advice re affording replacement

catalina66

Toxteth_OGrady wrote: »

Run your system details through this calculator and post the results;

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

Many thanks Toxteth_OGrady ... much appreciate ... lots of info to find to fill in ... don't understand a lot of it, but filled in what I could so don't think result of 223 is right, as that's lower than original. Bit too complicated for me to fill in, but thanks very much for replying and being helpful.
Many thanks, Cat

catalina66

macman wrote: »

i wouldn't usually say this, but in this case there must be a case to be made for a clean install (after backing up the data of course)?
That will at least reveal if any or all of the issues are system-related.
If the issues are still present, then various hardware items can be eliminated one by one.
Just please don't waste £600 on a £300 PC! You could get a second user Dell of a better spec for around £100.
Slightly puzzled as to why you've uprated the graphics card, but not invested in a full 1GB of RAM?

Hi macman ... thanks for posting ... it was a clean install that showed through all these errors. That's what's concerning me, that with clean format and reinstall, so many errors. I upgraded to a full gig of RAM, then a few months later got graphics card.

Can you let me know where I can get a second user Dell for about £100 ... that would be fantastic. I can see on Amazon there are some refurbished ... always like to deal with Amazon, as is extra safe, make sure if any problems that are fixed ... OHYESCOMPUTERS has good feedback, and has a DELL OPTIPLEX GX520 for £119, without monitor (this monitor I have got a little bit of a small wobble in top left corner, but may last longer) ... was it Amazon you meant?
Many thanks, Cat

closed

The symptoms look like software errors to me, remove the new graphics card, do a full format and reinstall again, get everything working, check drivers are all there and updated before loading bloat. then backup with disk imaging software

Toxteth_OGrady

catalina66 wrote: »

Many thanks Toxteth_OGrady ... much appreciate ... lots of info to find to fill in ... don't understand a lot of it, but filled in what I could so don't think result of 223 is right, as that's lower than original. Bit too complicated for me to fill in, but thanks very much for replying and being helpful.
Many thanks, Cat

Given that you weren't sure what you are doing and therefore likely that the 223W is conservative, I'm not surprised it's struggling with a 5-year old 250W psu. :eek:

catalina66

Toxteth_OGrady wrote: »

Given that you weren't sure what you are doing and therefore likely that the 223W is conservative, I'm not surprised it's struggling with a 5-year old 250W psu. :eek:

The 250w came with the machine, as Dell installed. The result's inaccurate as I said, and because the test is too complicated for me to do. It's been said in the thread that adding a bit of extra ram and a graphics card shouldn't cause problems too much, but then it's said it would cause problems ... really confusing.

catalina66

closed wrote: »

The symptoms look like software errors to me, remove the new graphics card, do a full format and reinstall again, get everything working, check drivers are all there and updated before loading bloat. then backup with disk imaging software

Many thanks closed ... really thankful for some kind of pinpointing of what the problems could be ... I've had the graphics card for about a year now ... will do as you advise ... format and reinstall after remove card and check drivers etc all complete before install bloat.

Not sure I can backup with disk imaging, with it having Dell partition? ... asked about that and someone said could cause problems if wipe that partition? Not having a go or anything; just asking, incase you think I know about this stuff, lol! when I don't.

Thanks, Cat

Toxteth_OGrady

catalina66 wrote: »

The 250w came with the machine, as Dell installed. The result's inaccurate as I said, and because the test is too complicated for me to do. It's been said in the thread that adding a bit of extra ram and a graphics card shouldn't cause problems too much, but then it's said it would cause problems ... really confusing.

The 250W may have been fine at the 'as built' specification but your psu is now 5 years old.

I don't kmow what the spec of your machine is but running a calculation for a very basic machine with the RAM and graphics card you have comes out at 245W.

The graphics card you added draws 71W so that's nearly a third of the existing psu output. Dell would not have built the machine with that much headroom on the psu.

Not saying it is definitely your problem but it is likely.

closed

if you haven't wiped the factory restore partition, it should take 10 minutes to reinstall windows as no disc is needed.

disk imaging is a backup method, unconnected with what partitions you have, you backup the c, d, or the whole drive to a usb disk - there are free ones available, macrium reflect free, some require a specific brand of drive - maxblast for seagate/maxtor etc.

catalina66

Toxteth_OGrady wrote: »

The 250W may have been fine at the 'as built' specification but your psu is now 5 years old.

I don't kmow what the spec of your machine is but running a calculation for a very basic machine with the RAM and graphics card you have comes out at 245W.

The graphics card you added draws 71W so that's nearly a third of the existing psu output. Dell would not have built the machine with that much headroom on the psu.

Not saying it is definitely your problem but it is likely.

Hi Toxteth_OGrady ... I see you're saying the original spec was 250w, and are you saying running a basic machine with 1 gig RAM and my graphics card comes out at 245w? ... I haven't added another graphics card to add another 71w. Thanks for letting me know what the graphics card adds, genuinely ... so if what you mean is that's pushed the PSU a little bit over, I can see that I didn't know and am learning that. And it's about a tenner to replace, if I get the right one ... a 350w'd cover it? (Dell Dimension 1100 P4 2.53; originally onboard graphics) Many thanks for having a look at the calculations.

Thanks, Cat

catalina66

closed wrote: »

if you haven't wiped the factory restore partition, it should take 10 minutes to reinstall windows as no disc is needed.

disk imaging is a backup method, unconnected with what partitions you have, you backup the c, d, or the whole drive to a usb disk - there are free ones available, macrium reflect free, some require a specific brand of drive - maxblast for seagate/maxtor etc.

Many thanks closed ... yes, still got the partition. Mine's a seagate ... many thanks for advising there are free softwares. Will look them up, especially maxblast.
Best regards, Cat