Adding parts to a Dimension 8200

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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Hello.

I am going to add some new parts to my 2½ years old Dell Dimension
8200, 2.0 Ghz, 256 MB Ram.
I am adding three parts:
First some new RDRAM 2x128 MB, so I'll have 512 MB. That will do a
lot, but I really could use more. Couldn't afford it though.
Next is a PCI to USB 2.0 Host Adapter (from Planet).
Last, there is the most important addition: a new graphics card.
Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600XT 128 MB. I know it's not the latest, but it
was cheap and will hopefully allow me to play Half-Life 2 decently.
My question is, what can I do to make it all work?
I have never tried to install anything in a computer before, and I am
hoping a friend with experience can help me.
I have the latest update of the BIOS, which AFAIK is the A09. But it
is pretty old. Is there anything I have to do about that?
Right now I have the NVidia GeForce 3 Ti200 card that came with the
computer. I know I should change my video driver to a default windows
driver before installation. Should I try to completely remove the
NVidia driver somehow?
Should I install everything at once or add one part at a time and turn
on the computer to let it detect it?

Any advice will be appreciated very much.
Thank you in advance
- Klaus Thomsen

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Klaus Thomsen wrote:
> Hello.
>
> I am going to add some new parts to my 2½ years old Dell Dimension
> 8200, 2.0 Ghz, 256 MB Ram.
> I am adding three parts:
> First some new RDRAM 2x128 MB, so I'll have 512 MB. That will do a
> lot, but I really could use more. Couldn't afford it though.
> Next is a PCI to USB 2.0 Host Adapter (from Planet).
> Last, there is the most important addition: a new graphics card.
> Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600XT 128 MB. I know it's not the latest, but it
> was cheap and will hopefully allow me to play Half-Life 2 decently.
> My question is, what can I do to make it all work?
> I have never tried to install anything in a computer before, and I am
> hoping a friend with experience can help me.
> I have the latest update of the BIOS, which AFAIK is the A09. But it
> is pretty old. Is there anything I have to do about that?
> Right now I have the NVidia GeForce 3 Ti200 card that came with the
> computer. I know I should change my video driver to a default windows
> driver before installation. Should I try to completely remove the
> NVidia driver somehow?
> Should I install everything at once or add one part at a time and turn
> on the computer to let it detect it?
>
> Any advice will be appreciated very much.
> Thank you in advance
> - Klaus Thomsen

My recomendation would ALWAYS be to add a bit at a time!! That way, if
there are any problems, it becomes easier to track them down.

Just one other point, when you put in the memory, you will find a couple
of Dummy Memory Cards already there! Don't worry about them, just remove
them!

HTH

Regards,
John

 

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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"John J. Burness" <JohnJBurnesAT@ieeDOT.orgNOSPAM> wrote in message
news:41b37c8e$0$52968$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader03.plus.net...
> Klaus Thomsen wrote:
> > Hello.
> >
> > I am going to add some new parts to my 2½ years old Dell Dimension
> > 8200, 2.0 Ghz, 256 MB Ram.
<snip>

> My recomendation would ALWAYS be to add a bit at a time!! That way, if
> there are any problems, it becomes easier to track them down.

I would agree with this. If you put all the new bits in at once, if any
problems show up it is more difficult to say which change caused it. I would
say do the upgrades one at a time. It won't take that long anyway.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"John Fryatt" <jrf1@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news8Msd.297$_n5.290@newsfe2-win.ntli.net...
>
> "John J. Burness" <JohnJBurnesAT@ieeDOT.orgNOSPAM> wrote in message
> news:41b37c8e$0$52968$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader03.plus.net...
>> Klaus Thomsen wrote:
>> > Hello.
>> >
>> > I am going to add some new parts to my 2½ years old Dell Dimension
>> > 8200, 2.0 Ghz, 256 MB Ram.
> <snip>
>
>> My recomendation would ALWAYS be to add a bit at a time!! That way, if
>> there are any problems, it becomes easier to track them down.
>
> I would agree with this. If you put all the new bits in at once, if any
> problems show up it is more difficult to say which change caused it. I
> would
> say do the upgrades one at a time. It won't take that long anyway.
>
>
>

1) Are you running Windows XP?

2) You'll be looking for PC800 45 or 40ns RDRAM in a matched pair

www.4allmemory.com

www.zipzoomfly.com

www.newegg.com

www.ebay.com

3) Install the software for the USB 2.0 card before physically installing
the card.

4) Regarding removing the Ti 200, you can simply remove it from device
manager (deleting it) and it should remove most traces of the NVidia driver.
Power down, physically install the new card...(yes your current power supply
should be sufficent). Windows will attempt to install drivers for the new
card at boot. You can cancel out the 'new hardware found' wizard and then
install the software for the new card, noting the path where the software is
installed/located. If running WinXP, you can go back into device
manager/display adapters/properties and use the "update driver" feature.
Point it towards the ATI folder.


I also agree that you should test each upgrade individually for a bit so as
not to get crossed up with any potential errors or problems.

Good luck and post back....

Stew