Up grading motherboard on standard newer Dell: Feasible?

Hi again everyone,

I've been looking at trying to step up my P4 2.2 Dimension 2400. It has a 400 MHz FSB and space for 1 gig of PC2700 (I have 512 right now). I've realized speed/memory problems running Corel's Painter 8 at high resolution and I just bought MS Flight Simulator 2004 and the stock Dell is struggling to keep up with higher graphics settings on that (frame rates get real sluggish). There is integrated Intel "Extreme Graphics" w/ 64 Mb memory on the board.

My question is: do you think going up to 1 gig PC2700 would make a strong improvement or should I (and is it even advisable) to try going for a better motherboard. I was thinking of one with a 533 Mhz FSB and support for higher end graphics cards.


Beyond that, I'm thinking about one of the P4/800 Mhz/PC3200 boards. My question about that is: would the existing P4 2.2 CPU even work in one of those boards or do you need one of the faster P4's? Also, are there any other system compatibility issues I need to be aware of (other than obvious things like needing new memory)?

Thanks again very much!
Dave

 

I'm a newbie so take what I say with a grain of salt. I would start with the "integrated Intel "Extreme Graphics" w/ 64 Mb memory on the board".

 

Dell is real fond of "proprietary". Power supply connector to the motherboard is non-standard, so at the very least you'd have to see if anybody offers an adapter to convert to standard ATX power connector. Or of a standard power supply will fit in the Dell case, and replace that as well.

As Dave 5872 noted, the onboard Intel graphics are the biggest thing hurting your framerates. Check to see if the motherboard has an AGP slot on it, and if so, I'd simply get a good video card. That will make a world of difference.

512 Meg of ram is plenty. Even in Windows XP (the biggest memory hog for operating systems) 512 is plenty for most things.

 

I'm wondering if I can just get an upgraded board from Dell. Do they sell parts? I seriously doubt this board has room for expansion, but I'll check.

 

I started building a system something like 4 years ago and never finished. Are the ATX power supplies pretty standard or is that a newer design for P4's? I'm thinking I may be able to just use that power supply. It was for a board that had a Celeron 700. Would that power supply work for a P4 board?

Hmmm, I may take some of the guts out of the Dell and put them in the unused case along with a new board and graphics card. Obviously that would void the warranty but I'm sure swapping out the motherboard would do that anyway.

Also, could you suggest a good graphics card for a demanding 3D app, like FS 2004? Nothing too extravagent, on the more affordable side of high performance.

 

Also, was it true, to you knowledge, that if I can get a new motherboard in there, I can use my existing P4 2.2 CPU in an upgraded (faster FSB/faster RAM) motherboard?

 

First of all, ATX is a standardized computer format, that specifies the way the slots/openings on the back of the case are layed out, the size and shape of the power supply, the layout of the motherboard, and how system power is handled. Your 4-year-old case is almost certainly ATX format if it was designed for an Intel CPU. If it was designed for AMD/Cyrix type CPUs, it's likely the older AT standard, although it still may be ATX. Easiest way to tell is to check the power supply. Old style AT supplies will all have a power switch at the end of one of the leads; the newer ATX supplies don't have that. Power is controlled by a momentary switch on the case that connects directly to the motherboard, and the motherboard controls power switching. If your old case is AT format, it's obsolete; none of the current boards & power supplies will work with it. If it's ATX, it's useable.

Assuming your case is the current ATX style, your 4 year-old power supply is likely too small, power-wise, for a modern system. Power requirements have risen sharply since then. New systems need at least 300 watts, and for a high end system, depending on what's inside, you may need well over 400 watts.

A new motherboard that can handle the newer front-side bus speeds should be able to run your older Intel CPU, as long as it's the same socket format, but it won't run any faster. The board will run at the same speed your CPU was designed for. Your cpu won't run at the faster bus speeds. This may be a good plan if your planning to upgrade the CPU later (along with the heatsink/fan), but won't run faster now. Your ram is also a consideration. If it's SDRAM, it won't run on the new boards that require DDR (double data rate) ram, so you'll likely need new ram immediately.

If you DO decide to build a new computer using your spare case, you can use the floppy drive & cdrom drive (as long as they're standard flat-faced drives, not custom face drives), case fans if you need them, modem and sound card as long as those are not integrated into the motherboard as well, and probably not too much else.

As far as having an AGP slot on your motherboard, take off the side cover (left side, looking at it from the front) and look at the motherboard. There will be several identical long slots at the rear of the case, probably white plastic. If they're all identical, they're all PCI slots. If the top slot is set back more than the others and is a dark color, that's an AGP slot, and can take a modern video card.