Cheap upgrade of Dell P4

PM

Hi Guys,

I have an old Dell dimension 8200 which I want to upgrade cheaply

Currently its a P4 2.4Ghz, 120GB, 256RD RAM, with GeForce 4 Graphics, CD rom, DVD+r

so what would you guys recommnd upgrading to? bare in mind I want to spend as little as possible.

x_Wilco_x

I would say RAM but I don't know anything about RD RAM and it looks expensive...

PM

yep RD RAM costs a bomb, I've been told I would need to change mother board to.

SuziPerry.tv

Some Dells are cheaper to buy NEW than Upgrade I know my last Dell was a lot CHEAPER then having to add New RAM, HD & Core2Duo.

Cerro

yeah thats pretty much end of life for that PC - I gave one like that to my old man, no way to upgrade it without replacing the motherboard, ram, cpu and graphics card - in other words, the guts of the system, which means a new pc.

See any of the other current ongoing threads for info on parts and/or advice on a new system. Alternatively, tell us your budget and what the main use of the PC will be for and I'd be happy to give you some advice on what you are looking for (if you want a DIY PC)

PM

Thanks guys,

well I want to spend as little as possible. Less then what I would pay for a Dell outlet pc.

Cerro

any examples? Whats its main use? Feel happy building it yourself or just want a box that is ready to go?

PM

Cerro wrote: »

any examples? Whats its main use? Feel happy building it yourself or just want a box that is ready to go?

we have 2 pc's in the home, I just wanted to do up the old one so I could use it to convert mini DV films to digital for google video and just general home use. If its not worth it upgrading financially then I would rather leave it. We have a newer one we use most of the time anyway. Probably leave it and opt for a laptop in a few months:rolleyes:

btw whats a good time to buy a laptop :P

zz9pa

Looking on "crucial" :

400FSB
http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/listparts.aspx?model=Dimension+8200+Series+%28400MHz+FSB%29
533FSB
http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/listparts.aspx?model=Dimension+8200+Series+%28533MHz+Front+Side+Bus%29



Looks like around £73 for an extra 256Mb, although - as it says the standard is 128Mb, theres a good chance that your extra memory slots have already been used...
That might well mean removing whats in there and replacing with a 512Mb module (£167 !) to get up to a reasonable amount of memory..


As its a second PC, you might find that it'll run better if you stick linux on it instead :-)
(Which is of course - the best upgrade for most Windows machines :rotfl:)

x_Wilco_x

What about this mobo and RAM?

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/124950
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/106133

£87.18 with free delivery. You will need to check mobo will fit in case (ATX) and that your P4 is socket 775 (not sure but I think P4 was/is 775) but the rest of your stuff should work...