Upgrading a MS 6382 Mobo System

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Hi,

I'm new to this newsgroup and to computer hardware in general - please
be tolerant of any (deletes 'stupidity') naviety shown!

I've owned a Time Computer (UK) AMD Athlon 2000+, which has a MSI 6382
Mobo, for two years now and I would like some advice on upgrading.

The first area I'm looking at is memory. Currently I have 512MB in two
sticks of 256Mb which occupy the only two dimm sockets the board has.

I'm a bit confused by this because I had assumed that to upgrade I
would have to replace one or both existing sticks with 512MB sticks
(some info I've read says I might have to replace both at once rather
than go from 512 to 768MB) but at this link

http://www.pcx.com.ph/showcase/profile.asp?id=165

it says:

"Support four memory banks using two 184-pin DDR DIMM
Support a maximum memory size of 2GB
Support 2.5v SDRAM DIMM"

How can it support 4 memory banks if there are only 2 DIMM sockets?

Also, the current memory is Samsung PC2100 non-EEC ram (part# M3
68L3313CT1-CB0) - does this board support EEC Ram? (not that I know
what these abbreviations mean!)

The second thing I'm looking at is to add a second HDD. From what I've
read so far it seems it is best to mount it away from the first HDD
and near a fan.

My existing HDD is mounted at the front of the tower, nowhere near a
fan but above an air inlet, and its help in a casing (is this called a
caddy?) with space for another HDD directly on top - would I have
heating or any other kind of problem if I put a second HDD there? is
it possible to buy another casing and mount it on the bottom of the
tower or something (using sticky pads *grin*).

Any general advice or links to useful info/forums would be welcome!

--

John Latter

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism (based on an extension to homeostasis) linking Stationary-Phase Mutations to the Baldwin Effect.
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

'Where Darwin meets Lamarck?' Discussion Egroup
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evomech

 

[bar]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

John

Firstly the important consideration is the size [known as form factor] of
the Motherboard. If the case doesn't permit anything of large overall
dimensions, you must choose a replacement of the same form factor.

If you need a copy of the manual, get it from:
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/manual/mnu/spt_mnu_list.php?kind=1&CHIP=Archives&ID=1

You will also need to ensure that the new MOBO is compatible with the Power
Supply connector of your existing case, and also the LED, Speaker, Power
Switch and Rest Switch connectors. Most of the time it's not a problem,
however some 'proprietary barnds' such as HP will have a unique say
'all-in'one' plug which will prevent you using a Generic Motherboard as a
replacement. No problem, as a new case doesn't really cost that much. But
just the same, it's better to have thisresoled before you return home with
your new purchase and find out that you can't install the MOBO in the old
case.

As for 2 or 4 memory modules, many Asian suppliers do not take enough care
when they have a native to English translation performed. Best thing is to
look at a picture of the MOBO and eyeball the number os scokets for memory.

On this subject, it is unlikely that your old modules will be suppoted on
the new MOBO, indeed the performance has long been overshadowed.

ECC - error checking and correcting: special memory conmfiguration that
enables the sytem to correct single bit ewrrors in memory. Don't waste your
time attempting to buy this from a PC dealer. It is very rarely used in
desktops and only found in the better servers. Your current modules are
Non-ECC.

Most cases will provide for two or more HDD to be mounted above each other.
Provided there is a good airflow, it is satisfactory. Some people do install
extra HDD cooling units, they are not just a simple fan.

To sum up:

A new MOBO, will require new memory [RAM] and I recommend a new AGP card to
get better perfomance than you currectly have. You will definitely need a
faster CPU, otherwise why bother changing MOBO.

As for your selection of a new HDD, investigate the benefits of SATA vs IDE
before you purchase the wrong one.


To understand just what is involved wehen building or rebuilding a PC, get
this guidebook from MSI:
http://www.msi.com.tw/html/support/manual/note/quick_installation.pdf



"John Latter" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I'm new to this newsgroup and to computer hardware in general - please
> be tolerant of any (deletes 'stupidity') naviety shown!
>
> I've owned a Time Computer (UK) AMD Athlon 2000+, which has a MSI 6382
> Mobo, for two years now and I would like some advice on upgrading.
>
> The first area I'm looking at is memory. Currently I have 512MB in two
> sticks of 256Mb which occupy the only two dimm sockets the board has.
>
> I'm a bit confused by this because I had assumed that to upgrade I
> would have to replace one or both existing sticks with 512MB sticks
> (some info I've read says I might have to replace both at once rather
> than go from 512 to 768MB) but at this link
>
> http://www.pcx.com.ph/showcase/profile.asp?id=165
>
> it says:
>
> "Support four memory banks using two 184-pin DDR DIMM
> Support a maximum memory size of 2GB
> Support 2.5v SDRAM DIMM"
>
> How can it support 4 memory banks if there are only 2 DIMM sockets?
>
> Also, the current memory is Samsung PC2100 non-EEC ram (part# M3
> 68L3313CT1-CB0) - does this board support EEC Ram? (not that I know
> what these abbreviations mean!)
>
> The second thing I'm looking at is to add a second HDD. From what I've
> read so far it seems it is best to mount it away from the first HDD
> and near a fan.
>
> My existing HDD is mounted at the front of the tower, nowhere near a
> fan but above an air inlet, and its help in a casing (is this called a
> caddy?) with space for another HDD directly on top - would I have
> heating or any other kind of problem if I put a second HDD there? is
> it possible to buy another casing and mount it on the bottom of the
> tower or something (using sticky pads *grin*).
>
> Any general advice or links to useful info/forums would be welcome!
>
> --
>
> John Latter
>
> Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism (based on an extension to homeostasis) linking Stationary-Phase Mutations to the Baldwin Effect.
> http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html
>
> 'Where Darwin meets Lamarck?' Discussion Egroup
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evomech
>

 

[dl]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Adding memory over and above 512mb is unlikely to change 'real' app
performance by much, unless you have some very specific app.requirements.
Whilst adding the second hd directly above an existing may have impact upon
heat, once again unless sys runs constantly, or you run very intensive hd
app, its unlikely to be a problem. After all the case is designed for it.
The amount of heat retained/undissipated also depends on air flow, no.of
fans etc.
You need to identify why/what reason for the upgrade, ie upgrade on one
component may lead to bottleneck on another, eg is yr vid.card up to it?

"John Latter" <jorolat@msn.com> wrote in message
news:qkd3i05ad0d8e3d6rb9nhjg430um9di4d7@4ax.com...
> Hi,
>
> I'm new to this newsgroup and to computer hardware in general - please
> be tolerant of any (deletes 'stupidity') naviety shown!
>
> I've owned a Time Computer (UK) AMD Athlon 2000+, which has a MSI 6382
> Mobo, for two years now and I would like some advice on upgrading.
>
> The first area I'm looking at is memory. Currently I have 512MB in two
> sticks of 256Mb which occupy the only two dimm sockets the board has.
>
> I'm a bit confused by this because I had assumed that to upgrade I
> would have to replace one or both existing sticks with 512MB sticks
> (some info I've read says I might have to replace both at once rather
> than go from 512 to 768MB) but at this link
>
> http://www.pcx.com.ph/showcase/profile.asp?id=165
>
> it says:
>
> "Support four memory banks using two 184-pin DDR DIMM
> Support a maximum memory size of 2GB
> Support 2.5v SDRAM DIMM"
>
> How can it support 4 memory banks if there are only 2 DIMM sockets?
>
> Also, the current memory is Samsung PC2100 non-EEC ram (part# M3
> 68L3313CT1-CB0) - does this board support EEC Ram? (not that I know
> what these abbreviations mean!)
>
> The second thing I'm looking at is to add a second HDD. From what I've
> read so far it seems it is best to mount it away from the first HDD
> and near a fan.
>
> My existing HDD is mounted at the front of the tower, nowhere near a
> fan but above an air inlet, and its help in a casing (is this called a
> caddy?) with space for another HDD directly on top - would I have
> heating or any other kind of problem if I put a second HDD there? is
> it possible to buy another casing and mount it on the bottom of the
> tower or something (using sticky pads *grin*).
>
> Any general advice or links to useful info/forums would be welcome!
>
> --
>
> John Latter
>
> Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism (based on an extension to
homeostasis) linking Stationary-Phase Mutations to the Baldwin Effect.
> http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html
>
> 'Where Darwin meets Lamarck?' Discussion Egroup
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evomech

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Thankyou for a very informative and useful post Bar

I've downloaded both manuals because I'm not sure yet if version 1 and
version 2 refer to the manual or the board being updated - I'm a bit
surprised that the files have 'exe' extensions though! (I thought it
would just be a case of reading them).

From your summing up (which makes a great deal of sense) I may as well
wait until I decide to get a new system (I like the idea of building
my own though!) so I think I'll just concentrate on adding new memory
& a 2nd HDD as a stopgap measure for now.

Its a shame that 6382 only has 2 dimms. When I bought the system the
spec said it was upgradable to 2GB so I assumed tthere would be spare
sockets with the 512MB it came with being on single stick. Never mind
('sigh'!).

I was interested in EEC/non-EEC because I've been browsing eBay
looking for bargains and sometimes EEC chips are auctioned. At this
link

http://www.pcx.com.ph/showcase/profile.asp?id=165

it says:

"Advanced ECC memory controller support PC100/133 SDRAM and PC200/266
DDR technology"

so I guess I could use either - but I'm not sure

The link also says the 6382 "Can connect up to four IDE devices" so if
my existing HDD, CD-RW, and DVD-Rom occupy 3 positions I can only add
one more device.

I'll look at the difference between SATA and IDE but as my current HDD
is a 5400rpm Seagate might be better to stick to 5400rpm because I
read somewhere that there can be problems when 'mixing & matching'.

Thanks again for your help!

John


On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 01:45:03 -0700, BAR
<BAR@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>John
>
>Firstly the important consideration is the size [known as form factor] of
>the Motherboard. If the case doesn't permit anything of large overall
>dimensions, you must choose a replacement of the same form factor.
>
>If you need a copy of the manual, get it from:
>http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/manual/mnu/spt_mnu_list.php?kind=1&CHIP=Archives&ID=1
>
>You will also need to ensure that the new MOBO is compatible with the Power
>Supply connector of your existing case, and also the LED, Speaker, Power
>Switch and Rest Switch connectors. Most of the time it's not a problem,
>however some 'proprietary barnds' such as HP will have a unique say
>'all-in'one' plug which will prevent you using a Generic Motherboard as a
>replacement. No problem, as a new case doesn't really cost that much. But
>just the same, it's better to have thisresoled before you return home with
>your new purchase and find out that you can't install the MOBO in the old
>case.
>
>As for 2 or 4 memory modules, many Asian suppliers do not take enough care
>when they have a native to English translation performed. Best thing is to
>look at a picture of the MOBO and eyeball the number os scokets for memory.
>
>On this subject, it is unlikely that your old modules will be suppoted on
>the new MOBO, indeed the performance has long been overshadowed.
>
>ECC - error checking and correcting: special memory conmfiguration that
>enables the sytem to correct single bit ewrrors in memory. Don't waste your
>time attempting to buy this from a PC dealer. It is very rarely used in
>desktops and only found in the better servers. Your current modules are
>Non-ECC.
>
>Most cases will provide for two or more HDD to be mounted above each other.
>Provided there is a good airflow, it is satisfactory. Some people do install
>extra HDD cooling units, they are not just a simple fan.
>
>To sum up:
>
>A new MOBO, will require new memory [RAM] and I recommend a new AGP card to
>get better perfomance than you currectly have. You will definitely need a
>faster CPU, otherwise why bother changing MOBO.
>
>As for your selection of a new HDD, investigate the benefits of SATA vs IDE
>before you purchase the wrong one.
>
>
>To understand just what is involved wehen building or rebuilding a PC, get
>this guidebook from MSI:
>http://www.msi.com.tw/html/support/manual/note/quick_installation.pdf
>
>
>
>"John Latter" wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I'm new to this newsgroup and to computer hardware in general - please
>> be tolerant of any (deletes 'stupidity') naviety shown!
>>
>> I've owned a Time Computer (UK) AMD Athlon 2000+, which has a MSI 6382
>> Mobo, for two years now and I would like some advice on upgrading.
>>
>> The first area I'm looking at is memory. Currently I have 512MB in two
>> sticks of 256Mb which occupy the only two dimm sockets the board has.
>>
>> I'm a bit confused by this because I had assumed that to upgrade I
>> would have to replace one or both existing sticks with 512MB sticks
>> (some info I've read says I might have to replace both at once rather
>> than go from 512 to 768MB) but at this link
>>
>> http://www.pcx.com.ph/showcase/profile.asp?id=165
>>
>> it says:
>>
>> "Support four memory banks using two 184-pin DDR DIMM
>> Support a maximum memory size of 2GB
>> Support 2.5v SDRAM DIMM"
>>
>> How can it support 4 memory banks if there are only 2 DIMM sockets?
>>
>> Also, the current memory is Samsung PC2100 non-EEC ram (part# M3
>> 68L3313CT1-CB0) - does this board support EEC Ram? (not that I know
>> what these abbreviations mean!)
>>
>> The second thing I'm looking at is to add a second HDD. From what I've
>> read so far it seems it is best to mount it away from the first HDD
>> and near a fan.
>>
>> My existing HDD is mounted at the front of the tower, nowhere near a
>> fan but above an air inlet, and its help in a casing (is this called a
>> caddy?) with space for another HDD directly on top - would I have
>> heating or any other kind of problem if I put a second HDD there? is
>> it possible to buy another casing and mount it on the bottom of the
>> tower or something (using sticky pads *grin*).
>>
>> Any general advice or links to useful info/forums would be welcome!
>>
>> --
>>
>> John Latter
>>
>> Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism (based on an extension to homeostasis) linking Stationary-Phase Mutations to the Baldwin Effect.
>> http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html
>>
>> 'Where Darwin meets Lamarck?' Discussion Egroup
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evomech
>>

--

John Latter

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism (based on an extension to homeostasis) linking Stationary-Phase Mutations to the Baldwin Effect.
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

'Where Darwin meets Lamarck?' Discussion Egroup
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evomech

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Hi DL,

I recently read that adding more than 768MB can actually slow a system
down! At the moment my apps/system use just over half of my 512MB and
fore no particular reason I thought it would be "nice" to add (at
least) another 256MB - 'just in case'

The idea behind the 2nd HDD is simply to start backing up my work, cos
although I haven't had a disc crash yet, its only gotta happen once!

One thing I'm not yet sure of, although I get the impression it can't
be done, is that I was thinking of getting a HDD the exact same size
(if not make/model) as my existing one. I got the system from Time
Computers (UK) and they didn't supply a copy of Windows XP on disk.
Instead they 'hide'' it on the far end of the HDD. I thought that if I
cloned my existing HDD then I would have a backup copy of Windows
should my existing HDD give up the ghost!

I use VCool and MBM5 so I will be able to monitor the HDD temperatures
when I install a 2nd HDD and then buy a fan (which I've seen on EBay)
or a HDD cooling kit if it proves necessary.

John Latter

On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 10:03:09 +0100, "DL" <dl@spoofmail.co> wrote:

>Adding memory over and above 512mb is unlikely to change 'real' app
>performance by much, unless you have some very specific app.requirements.
>Whilst adding the second hd directly above an existing may have impact upon
>heat, once again unless sys runs constantly, or you run very intensive hd
>app, its unlikely to be a problem. After all the case is designed for it.
>The amount of heat retained/undissipated also depends on air flow, no.of
>fans etc.
>You need to identify why/what reason for the upgrade, ie upgrade on one
>component may lead to bottleneck on another, eg is yr vid.card up to it?
>
>"John Latter" <jorolat@msn.com> wrote in message
>news:qkd3i05ad0d8e3d6rb9nhjg430um9di4d7@4ax.com...
>> Hi,
>>
>> I'm new to this newsgroup and to computer hardware in general - please
>> be tolerant of any (deletes 'stupidity') naviety shown!
>>
>> I've owned a Time Computer (UK) AMD Athlon 2000+, which has a MSI 6382
>> Mobo, for two years now and I would like some advice on upgrading.
>>
>> The first area I'm looking at is memory. Currently I have 512MB in two
>> sticks of 256Mb which occupy the only two dimm sockets the board has.
>>
>> I'm a bit confused by this because I had assumed that to upgrade I
>> would have to replace one or both existing sticks with 512MB sticks
>> (some info I've read says I might have to replace both at once rather
>> than go from 512 to 768MB) but at this link
>>
>> http://www.pcx.com.ph/showcase/profile.asp?id=165
>>
>> it says:
>>
>> "Support four memory banks using two 184-pin DDR DIMM
>> Support a maximum memory size of 2GB
>> Support 2.5v SDRAM DIMM"
>>
>> How can it support 4 memory banks if there are only 2 DIMM sockets?
>>
>> Also, the current memory is Samsung PC2100 non-EEC ram (part# M3
>> 68L3313CT1-CB0) - does this board support EEC Ram? (not that I know
>> what these abbreviations mean!)
>>
>> The second thing I'm looking at is to add a second HDD. From what I've
>> read so far it seems it is best to mount it away from the first HDD
>> and near a fan.
>>
>> My existing HDD is mounted at the front of the tower, nowhere near a
>> fan but above an air inlet, and its help in a casing (is this called a
>> caddy?) with space for another HDD directly on top - would I have
>> heating or any other kind of problem if I put a second HDD there? is
>> it possible to buy another casing and mount it on the bottom of the
>> tower or something (using sticky pads *grin*).
>>
>> Any general advice or links to useful info/forums would be welcome!
>>
>> --
>>
>> John Latter
>>
>> Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism (based on an extension to
>homeostasis) linking Stationary-Phase Mutations to the Baldwin Effect.
>> http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html
>>
>> 'Where Darwin meets Lamarck?' Discussion Egroup
>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evomech
>

--

John Latter

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism (based on an extension to homeostasis) linking Stationary-Phase Mutations to the Baldwin Effect.
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

'Where Darwin meets Lamarck?' Discussion Egroup
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evomech

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Ahh misinformation......

your manual is fine and wasn't a mistranslation....

there are 4 ram banks and 2 slots, this is correct

D.I.M.M. stands for dual inline memory module
each stick has 2 banks hence 2 slots 4 banks

and it's recommended you put a fan in front of hard drives blowing accross
them with cool air being drawn from outside the case, however it isn't a
requirement just a good idea to do. with 2 hard drives it leans more to a
necessity and with 3 or more becomes critical. if only installing 2 drives
make sure to leave air space between them. in other owrds if the slots for
your case has more than 2 locations for hard drives leave a 1 slot gap
between the 2 drives to keep the heat from one drive being directly
transferred into the upper drive causing an overheat possibility. if the case
doesn't have a lot of room between drive 1 and 2 and only has 2 spots to
install a hard drive then a $5.00 fan would be a sound investment

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 11:55:06 -0700, "the dude"
<thedude@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>Ahh misinformation......
>
>your manual is fine and wasn't a mistranslation....
>
>there are 4 ram banks and 2 slots, this is correct
>
>D.I.M.M. stands for dual inline memory module
>each stick has 2 banks hence 2 slots 4 banks
>
>and it's recommended you put a fan in front of hard drives blowing accross
>them with cool air being drawn from outside the case, however it isn't a
>requirement just a good idea to do. with 2 hard drives it leans more to a
>necessity and with 3 or more becomes critical. if only installing 2 drives
>make sure to leave air space between them. in other owrds if the slots for
>your case has more than 2 locations for hard drives leave a 1 slot gap
>between the 2 drives to keep the heat from one drive being directly
>transferred into the upper drive causing an overheat possibility. if the case
>doesn't have a lot of room between drive 1 and 2 and only has 2 spots to
>install a hard drive then a $5.00 fan would be a sound investment

Thanks Dude - the casing only has space for two fans so I'm going to
look to see if anyone sells larger cases or if I can mount the 2nd HDD
somewhere else.

I've seen HDD fans advertised on eBay but I don't see how they will
fit on the casing that I have - I'll look around to see what else is
available!

--

John Latter

Model of an Internal Evolutionary Mechanism (based on an extension to homeostasis) linking Stationary-Phase Mutations to the Baldwin Effect.
http://members.aol.com/jorolat/TEM.html

'Where Darwin meets Lamarck?' Discussion Egroup
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evomech