Tom's Hardware > Forum > Motherboards & Memory > General Motherboard > Upgrading mobo....
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branflakes   02-22-2004 at 12:15:16 AM

Hello. Right now I have a Dell Dimension8200 with a Pentium 4 2.26GHz with 533MHz system bus/ 512K L2 Cache, and 256MB RD-RAM. I've been meaning to change out the ram for quite some time now, but I figured the longer I waited, the cheaper the prices would be.... Anyway, so basically what I want to do is switch to some really good DDR SDRam, which I know I'll need to change my mobo for. Thus, I'm posting this msg to ask for some recommendations for a good mobo for my p4 and the ram I should get for it. I don't plan on overclocking it or anything, but since gaming is the main use for my rig, I need one that can handle a little Half-Life2 lubbin, when it comes out that is. Price isn't exactly an issue, but I don't want to blow the bank. I'd like to still use my Dell case if possible. Thanks in advance!

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Ed_Phoon   02-22-2004 at 02:14:20 AM
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Can your Dell 8200 case accept a ATX motherboard?

If yes, then a Abit IS7/AI7 may suit your needs. It's a solid motherboard with 4 phase VRM, plus high quality components, loaded with features.

For ram, just go for established brand, value oriented like Kingston value, Corsair value etc. But you need 2 sticks of ram to run at dual channel, and remember to go for double side one.

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Crashman   02-22-2004 at 02:23:12 AM
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Nope, get this: Dell USED to have ATX cases with proprietary power supplies, when they switched to ATX power supplies they went to proprietary cases!

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

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branflakes   02-22-2004 at 06:32:10 AM
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So what you're saying is that I have to get a new case huh? Terrific... in that case, should I still go for the Abit IS7/AI7?

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Johanthegnarler   02-22-2004 at 06:34:51 AM
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hah! I thought that's what they did and nobody believed me. I'm glad someone said something about that. I almost started doubting myself.

You should have seen the hack job i did on an old gateway case to get a normal ATX board in there.

<A HREF="http://arc.aquamark3.com/arc/arc_view.php?run=275920760" target="_new">http://arc.aquamark3.com/arc/arc_view.php?run=275920760</A>
Figured i'd do it too..reality my ass.

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Ed_Phoon   02-22-2004 at 10:34:58 AM
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Or Intel motherboard if you're 100% sure not going to overclock.

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Crashman   02-23-2004 at 12:49:45 AM
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Those are good choices, or you could get a 3.06 and more PC800 for your current platform.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

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endyen   02-23-2004 at 02:49:30 AM
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The more ram would be your best upgrade for HL2. A full gig would be best.

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branflakes   02-23-2004 at 02:56:08 AM
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The reason I am doing this is to get away from my pc800 rdram if that is what you are referring to. I hate the stuff. Maybe it's because I only have 256mb, but whenever I load a map in a FPS game, it takes at least 1-2 min to load the thing (Battlefield 1942 took at least 3min to load probably). One of my roommates who's on a P3 can load much faster than I can... it's just terrible.

Anyway, so would going with the Abit AI7 with 512MB (2x256) of DDR PC3200 be a good plan? Is PC3200 also Dual DDR 400? This is what I am referring to: http://www.crucial.com/store/PartS [...] 0B&cat=RAM

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Crashman   02-23-2004 at 05:06:41 AM
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One reason I like the IS7 is it offers 5 analog sound ports, another reason is that with the same number of PCI slots, the AGP is one position higher, leaving a nice empty spot for card cooling.

Anyway, your BF1942 loading times are not an RDRAM issue. It could be caused by a slow hard drive or...not enough RAM.

BTW, XP really sux on less than 512MB of RAM. It drags a bit on 256MB, and really choakes on 128MB.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

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endyen   02-23-2004 at 10:52:38 AM
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I am with Crashman all the way. Your ram is, at least in theory, much faster for a 133mhz fsb chip than DDR would be.
Crashman can he not use the case, but get a new psu?

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branflakes   02-23-2004 at 09:14:44 PM
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So if I just got two sticks of Samsung 256MB PC800 45ns RDRAM ECC my problems should be fixed? BTW is there a significant difference 40ns vs 45ns? I read on the site that I found the ram that 40ns is "Required by Intel motherboards using the i850E chipset. Required by a few other i850E chipset boards, check your manual" There a way to find out if my board is an i850E chipset board?

http://www.runtimecc.com/index.rcc [...] ID=1830516 is where I found the RD Ram btw.

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