hey this is my first post on this board so take it easy on me. Anyway i've recently gotten into modding my old dell 4600 and have been ordering parts bit by bit until I can scrap the whole thing. I got 2 1gig sticks of crucial 3200 but they will only run at 333 for some reason. I got a few new fans and new disk drives. I just got a new ultra 500w x-connect to replace the 250w dell ps and for some reason even though the fans and drives all work my computer wont boot up and just flashes lights at me.. the old power supply still works and i think it has something to do with the pent4 power cable but i'm a newb i guess so who knows. also i wanted to know if i can upgrade the motherboard without having to buy a new win xp disk or new key for the one i have. so if i could get any feedback on any of the many issues listed i'd appreciate it. Thanks.
specs http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4600/en/4600/sm/techov.htm#1084976 http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4600/en/4600/sm/specs.htm#1084976 bios update http://support.dell.com/support/dow...-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=1&fileid=110561 is that a recovery xp cd or what?
thanks for the help.. it is a reinstallation cd so i guess i'm stuck buying a new op sys. my board is very limited, no overclocking. i really wanna get a new vid card and processor but i need like 300 or more for what i want. i had found most of that info from dell but i can't figure out why my ddr 3200 2gigs of ram is still running at 333... maybe cuz i have the old 2700 512mb still plugged in secondary? also i can't figure out why my new power supply wont take. i have to assume its because of the p4 power because the atx power still seemingly is giving juice to the board. and lastly i'm trying to oc my agp 8x nvidia geforce 5200 128 with rivatuner but i dont know what i'm doing honestly. any and all help is greatly appreciated.. ps if i update my bios will i have to flash it or will it automatically update? i'm on a09 and i saw a12 but i was hesitant after reading the war stories on flashing and i'm sure dell wont honor the warrenty for something stupid like that.
faster ram will run at present slower ram speed so 333 instead of 400. if bios update doesn't mention about ram then leave it alone. did you also connect the square 4 pin connector from psu to mb?
so if i take out the old ram my new should run at 400mhz? whats better 2.5 gigs at 333 or 2gigs at 400? i never was into engineering. it doesn't seem like the bios update has anything to do with ram but if i dont have to flash i'll update anyway. and i did connect both atx and p4 cables 3 different attempts and i still couldn't get it to boot. it would light up and fans were running but the screen was black and my power light was flashing. when i plugged in the old ps it worked fine. maybe a bad powersupply? thanks for the help.. i'm a quick learner as i've only been at this for a month or so even though i've had computers for 10 years. i just thought that even the basics were too complicated to learn. while its still complicated its not as far over my head as i thought. thanks again
you won't see the difference between 333 & 400. possible the new psu is not compatible with dell. if got documentation with newpsu as to what each pin does then compare it to the 1st link to see if same or not.
thanks for the help.. i'm having a hard time finding that documentation but i'll keep at it.. successfully updated bios and oc'd my video card now i'm working on my fsb ocing... i guess i'll just leave my ram at 2.5... i really just need to get that asus board and amd chip and geforce gt and i'll be golden. again thanks
no problem but edit your sig to conform to forum specs ASAP. 1. Text-only signatures should have at most 5 lines of text.
