Getting faster connection

I am currently on dial up and will be getting wireless service. I have an older Dell, running Vista Ultimate with SP2. It has Pentium4-2.80ghz processor, 16kb primary memory, 1024kb secondary, a 800mhz bus clock, 1016mb installed memory and a Intel 82865G graphics controller.

Two or three times a month, I get an error message saying I need to close a program due to not enough graphics memory left. This is always spider solitaire.

With the higher speeds I'll be getting, what do I need to be able to see videos and not have system errors?

I'm not computer literate, so bear that in mind, if you answer. The data above was taken from a Belarc Advisor profile run on this machine. If I left anything out, let me know.

I'm also wanting to add a r/w dvd drive. Any suggestions, bearing in mind that I am on low fixed income and need the cheapest option that will provide decent results. Not into video gaming.

Thanks for reading.

 

If you're getting that error message with solitaire, then I doubt your machine will run higher quality video with decent results. It looks like you're due for a graphics card upgrade. Not being computer literate though, this is something I'd rather you leave to your local PC shop to do for you. A decent graphics card can be had for $50, plus the cost of installing it.

 

Thanks. Now the question becomes what do I need to look for in a card. If it is basically inserting a piece of hardware, such as memory chips, I can handle that. If it involves soldering, then 'puter shop it is.

Also, and ideas about a r/w dvd drive for this machine. Like what I should look for. Do I need a 48X or will a 16X do me as well?

Appreciate the help.

 

First thing is, are you in the US? If so I can point you to good deals on a graphics card and dvd drive. First thing is, we have to determine what kind of graphics slot your motherboard has, and what kind of connector you have for a dvd drive. To do that we need the complete model number of your system.

Also, as to the 48x and 16x thing. You are mixing up two different things. 48x refers to CD reading/writing speed, and 16X refers to dvd reading writing speed. Both numbers apply to the same drive, since a dvd drive can also read and write cds.

 

Your onboard graphics uses part of your 1024MB main memory so the question now is why only several times a month? Is it the game that perhaps has different sizes in memory(RAM) or is there something extra running those days like a virus scan or an update, something is intermittently pushing you over the edge.

Make sure that all you have starting up is the minimum that you need like anti-virus, firewall etc. Check Task Manager(Ctrl-Alt-Delete at the same time) if you're using XP, not sure about Win98 and see what's using up most of your memory.

Fixed income ain't fun so in that regard let's find the cause first, of course you do realize that there's some sweat equity involved.

 

Ooops, I read that as a PII for some reason, sorry. :-o BTW, a graphics card and/or extra memory will probably solve the issue, depends on how you want go from here now.

 

I'm in TX, which, no thanks to our Governor, is still part of the US.

Machine is a Dell Mini Tower Optiplex GX270. S/N 8SYQ661 Motherboard is Dell 0Y1057 S/N A04 05/17/2004

Existing drives are ST340014A 40gig hard drive, a HL-DT-ST CD-ROM GCR-8483B ATA Device, IDE DVD-ROM 16X ATA Device and a 3.5 floppy drive.

Re: the 48 and 16 X, now you see why I need guidance.

I really appreciate your taking the time to help me through this.

 

Looking at the Dell site I found out your system supports an 8X AGP video card, and a EIDE DVD drive. I can't tell if you need a slim-line drive or not though because I'm not sure which case you have. Take a look at the following and tell me which of the 3 cases pictured is the same as yours.
http://www.dell.com/downloads/us/products/optix/gx270_spec.pdf

Once I know this, I can recommend specific components to buy.

 

I found more about your system at:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx270/en/ug/index.htm

It looks like you have the smallest case. You'll need a low profile graphics card and a slim-line DVD drive.

Both can be found at newegg.com. Specifically:

For the dvd burner, any of the below will do:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007589%20600003515&IsNodeId=1&name=Slim%20DVD%20Burner

For the graphics card, any of the low profile models from the following list will do:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600007850&IsNodeId=1&name=AGP%204X%2f8X

 

The larger case, the one on the right, is like mine. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

 

OK, you have the large case. Thanks for that info.

You still need a low profile video card, as I pointed to earlier. You dvd drive is more problematic though because Dell uses a non-standard front on the dvd drive on this machine. As you can see, it is a normal height (not slim-line) drive, but it has no front faceplate. I don't know where you can buy a dvd configured that way, or if you can just buy a regular dvd drive and simply remove the faceplate.

My best advice is for you to call Dell sales, tell them your model and case configuration, and ask them about upgrading the dvd drive to a dvd-rw drive. They might be able to point you in the right direction for that part.

Also, your system could benefit from a RAM upgrade. Your system has 4 ram slots and currently only 2 are being used. You can get an extra 2 GB of ram in your system, which would help alot with system responsiveness and out of memory problems.

Any of the memory listed below (DDR 400) would work in your system, giving you an extra 2GB of memory:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007611%20600006040%20600006065%20600006085&IsNodeId=1&name=DDR%20400%20%28PC%203200%29

 

Many thanks for doing this research for me. I hope your year is ending on a good note and that the next year will be better for all of us. No bets, but I am hoping. Thank you.

 

You're most welcome. I hope this has been helpful - it was a pleasure.