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UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
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#1
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years
old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. Thanks for any help Rob |
#2
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
robgraham wrote:
I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? Yes - for that age... If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. Thanks for any help Rob -- Tim Watts Personal Blog: http://www.dionic.net/tim/ "It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies." |
#3
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
"robgraham" wrote in message ... I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. You will need a new mother board, processor, and memory - which is most of the cost of a new PC. You may well need a new PSU because the older MoBos had less power requirements and fewer connectors so the PSU may not have enough connectors. The hard discs may be PATA and small - somee modern MoBos only do SATA. So you may be only saving the cost of a case. Just keeping a friend's Dell staggering on and have been contemplating much the same thing - with the conclusion that he'd be better off with a new laptop. :-) Cheers Dave R -- No plan survives contact with the enemy. [Not even bunny] Helmuth von Moltke the Elder (\__/) (='.'=) (")_(") |
#4
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 18/12/2012 21:22, David WE Roberts wrote:
"robgraham" wrote in message ... I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. You will need a new mother board, processor, and memory - which is most of the cost of a new PC. You may well need a new PSU because the older MoBos had less power requirements and fewer connectors so the PSU may not have enough connectors. The hard discs may be PATA and small - somee modern MoBos only do SATA. So you may be only saving the cost of a case. Just keeping a friend's Dell staggering on and have been contemplating much the same thing - with the conclusion that he'd be better off with a new laptop. :-) Cheers Dave R I build PCs as a hobby all the time. I used to at first save quite a bit of money doing the self build route vs buying a ready built system. Also at the time, laptops were more expensive than similar specced desktop PCs. Now, there's no saving in it doing self build compared to buying a system box from Tesco's as you can re-use the keyboard, mouse and monitor and printer. Laptops now seem to have reached parity price wise with their similar specced desktop equivalents. The price premium seems to have moved to the tablet and smartphone market now. An Apple Ipad costs more than a laptop now. Tesco do system boxes from 300 quid upwards and laptops from 270 quid upwards. I could not match let alone beat that price wise for a self build now. |
#5
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
In message , Stephen H
writes Tesco do system boxes from 300 quid upwards and laptops from 270 quid upwards. I could not match let alone beat that price wise for a self build now. But you can tailor it to your requirements (to an extent) -- geoff |
#6
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On Wed, 19 Dec 2012 00:12:01 +0000, geoff wrote:
In message , Stephen H writes Tesco do system boxes from 300 quid upwards and laptops from 270 quid upwards. I could not match let alone beat that price wise for a self build now. But you can tailor it to your requirements (to an extent) And you can install decent components rather than an unnamed PSU and an ECS motherboard from the cheap box shifters. -- (\__/) M. (='.'=) If a man stands in a forest and no woman is around (")_(") is he still wrong? |
#7
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 19/12/2012 00:12, geoff wrote:
In message , Stephen H writes Tesco do system boxes from 300 quid upwards and laptops from 270 quid upwards. I could not match let alone beat that price wise for a self build now. But you can tailor it to your requirements (to an extent) yes you can tailor it to ones requirements and you pay more for the privilege of doing so |
#8
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
In message , Stephen H
writes On 19/12/2012 00:12, geoff wrote: In message , Stephen H writes Tesco do system boxes from 300 quid upwards and laptops from 270 quid upwards. I could not match let alone beat that price wise for a self build now. But you can tailor it to your requirements (to an extent) yes you can tailor it to ones requirements and you pay more for the privilege of doing so Lets see now £250 for something that does what I want £200 for something that doesn't hard call ... -- geoff |
#10
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 18/12/2012 20:46, robgraham wrote:
I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. Thanks for any help Rob Older Dells (and possibly newer ones) use none standard motherboards and fixings, so a generic motherboard won't be a straight replacement. SteveW |
#11
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On Tue, 18 Dec 2012 21:46:41 +0000, SteveW wrote:
On 18/12/2012 20:46, robgraham wrote: I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. Thanks for any help Rob Older Dells (and possibly newer ones) use none standard motherboards and fixings, so a generic motherboard won't be a straight replacement. And some use non standard PSUs, but with a plug that fits. Lots of magic smoke. -- Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org *lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor |
#12
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
"Bob Eager" wrote in message ... On Tue, 18 Dec 2012 21:46:41 +0000, SteveW wrote: On 18/12/2012 20:46, robgraham wrote: I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. Thanks for any help Rob Older Dells (and possibly newer ones) use none standard motherboards and fixings, so a generic motherboard won't be a straight replacement. And some use non standard PSUs, but with a plug that fits. Lots of magic smoke. I am trying to fit a reasonably new PSU to an old Dell and I will have to take tinsnips to the case to get the new PSU in. Screw holes are in the same place but the hole for the power cable is in the wrong place. -- No plan survives contact with the enemy. [Not even bunny] Helmuth von Moltke the Elder (\__/) (='.'=) (")_(") |
#13
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On Wed, 19 Dec 2012 18:40:41 +0000, David WE Roberts wrote:
"Bob Eager" wrote in message ... On Tue, 18 Dec 2012 21:46:41 +0000, SteveW wrote: On 18/12/2012 20:46, robgraham wrote: I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. Thanks for any help Rob Older Dells (and possibly newer ones) use none standard motherboards and fixings, so a generic motherboard won't be a straight replacement. And some use non standard PSUs, but with a plug that fits. Lots of magic smoke. I am trying to fit a reasonably new PSU to an old Dell and I will have to take tinsnips to the case to get the new PSU in. Screw holes are in the same place but the hole for the power cable is in the wrong place. Just ensure that the PSU plug wiring matches the motherboard. -- Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org *lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor |
#14
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 18/12/2012 21:46, SteveW wrote:
On 18/12/2012 20:46, robgraham wrote: I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. Thanks for any help Rob Older Dells (and possibly newer ones) use none standard motherboards and fixings, so a generic motherboard won't be a straight replacement. SteveW I agree totally on SteveW's point on Dells. |
#15
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 18/12/2012 21:46, SteveW wrote:
On 18/12/2012 20:46, robgraham wrote: Older Dells (and possibly newer ones) use none standard motherboards and fixings, so a generic motherboard won't be a straight replacement. I have 2 "old" Dells in the shop (this being one) both of which are apparently "non-standard" mother boards that can't be upgraded. One good reason for an initial "build your own" with a quality case as at least you have one component that can be re-used many times over, and it's nice to have /exactly/ the spec you want when doing a top spec. build. Pete @ -- http://www.GymRatZ.co.uk - Fitness+Gym Equipment. http://www.bodysolid-gym-equipment.co.uk http://www.trade-price-supplements.co.uk http://www.water-rower.co.uk |
#16
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 18/12/2012 20:46, robgraham wrote:
I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. The copy of Windows you got was a machine is locked to the Dell BIOS on the motherboard, so if you change that to a generic motherboard you will also need a new copy of Windows. Have you checked to see whether you can put an upgraded processor on the existing motherboard? That particular machine takes Pentium 4HT processors. I thought of upgrading the processor in my own 4 year old Dell, but I am finding that people are asking silly money for what are now second-hand out of date CPUs. |
#17
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 18/12/2012 22:31, GB wrote:
On 18/12/2012 20:46, robgraham wrote: I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. The copy of Windows you got was a machine is locked to the Dell BIOS on the motherboard, so if you change that to a generic motherboard you will also need a new copy of Windows. I did a complete system change a couple of years back and, when locked out of Windows, I phoned MS and was given a new key. ISTR something like 2 or 3 major hardware changes were allowed, bless 'em. I can't remember the details, other than it was surprisingly painless. Rob |
#18
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 18/12/2012 22:31, GB wrote:
On 18/12/2012 20:46, robgraham wrote: I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. The copy of Windows you got was a machine is locked to the Dell BIOS on the motherboard, so if you change that to a generic motherboard you will also need a new copy of Windows. Have you checked to see whether you can put an upgraded processor on the existing motherboard? That particular machine takes Pentium 4HT processors. I thought of upgrading the processor in my own 4 year old Dell, but I am finding that people are asking silly money for what are now second-hand out of date CPUs. Agree with the point regarding Windows being locked to the Dell Bios.... |
#19
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:31:02 +0000, GB
wrote: The copy of Windows you got was a machine is locked to the Dell BIOS on the motherboard, so if you change that to a generic motherboard you will also need a new copy of Windows. Not so. My XP Pro I ran for years was an ex-Dell OEM disc which didn't ever ask or give a stuff about the hardware. |
#20
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 19/12/2012 01:27, Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
On Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:31:02 +0000, GB wrote: The copy of Windows you got was a machine is locked to the Dell BIOS on the motherboard, so if you change that to a generic motherboard you will also need a new copy of Windows. Not so. My XP Pro I ran for years was an ex-Dell OEM disc which didn't ever ask or give a stuff about the hardware. It seems that big corporate users throw stuff out after 4 years so there's usually a glut of Dells on EBay |
#21
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On Dec 19, 7:56*am, stuart noble wrote:
On 19/12/2012 01:27, Grimly Curmudgeon wrote: On Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:31:02 +0000, GB wrote: The copy of Windows you got was a machine is locked to the Dell BIOS on the motherboard, so if you change that to a generic motherboard you will also need a new copy of Windows. Not so. My XP Pro I ran for years was an ex-Dell OEM disc which didn't ever ask or give a stuff about the hardware. It seems that big corporate users throw stuff out after 4 years so there's usually a glut of Dells on EBay My employer now crushes absolutely everything (used to be just the HDDs) due to an attack of corporate IT paranoia. Hugely powerful machines when new, still very powerful after 4 years. They used to sell them off to employess for charity... MBQ |
#22
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 19/12/12 10:47, Man at B&Q wrote:
On Dec 19, 7:56 am, stuart noble wrote: On 19/12/2012 01:27, Grimly Curmudgeon wrote: On Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:31:02 +0000, GB wrote: The copy of Windows you got was a machine is locked to the Dell BIOS on the motherboard, so if you change that to a generic motherboard you will also need a new copy of Windows. Not so. My XP Pro I ran for years was an ex-Dell OEM disc which didn't ever ask or give a stuff about the hardware. It seems that big corporate users throw stuff out after 4 years so there's usually a glut of Dells on EBay My employer now crushes absolutely everything (used to be just the HDDs) due to an attack of corporate IT paranoia. Hugely powerful machines when new, still very powerful after 4 years. They used to sell them off to employess for charity... MBQ My brother in law is the man who gives the order to crush.. "The cost of taking them apart to remove and crush the disks alone is greater than the cost of crushing the whole box: And the overhead and cost of selling the box would negate its actually resale value, without a disk and a windows license." -- Ineptocracy (in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers. |
#23
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 19/12/2012 01:27, Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
On Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:31:02 +0000, GB wrote: The copy of Windows you got was a machine is locked to the Dell BIOS on the motherboard, so if you change that to a generic motherboard you will also need a new copy of Windows. Not so. My XP Pro I ran for years was an ex-Dell OEM disc which didn't ever ask or give a stuff about the hardware. It varies.... they have got less restrictive with time. Older machines (and certainly Win2K machines) frequently looked for a Dell BIOS. More recent stuff has got less fussy. -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
#24
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 19/12/2012 01:27, Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
On Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:31:02 +0000, GB wrote: The copy of Windows you got was a machine is locked to the Dell BIOS on the motherboard, so if you change that to a generic motherboard you will also need a new copy of Windows. Not so. My XP Pro I ran for years was an ex-Dell OEM disc which didn't ever ask or give a stuff about the hardware. you were lucky..... |
#25
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On Wed, 19 Dec 2012 22:38:47 +0000, Stephen H
wrote: Not so. My XP Pro I ran for years was an ex-Dell OEM disc which didn't ever ask or give a stuff about the hardware. you were lucky..... No, it was common at that point, plenty of people did it. Earlier Dell installations were a pig though, refusing to install unless they saw a Dell flag in the BIOS or elsewhere. '98 and W2K stand out in my memory for that. |
#26
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
In article 3f22127c-362a-4055-bb21-
, says... I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. Thanks for any help Are you still using the same photo processing software? If so, and photo processing has slowed down over time, you might get away without spending much money - perhaps none. Run CCleaner[1], remove any unused applications & games etc, tidy up the Registry. Defrag your hard disk. If that doesn't do it, check how much RAM is fitted & see what it would cost to double it. (if your using 32 bit windows, there's a limit on how much RAM it can use). [1] When installing CCleaner, it will suggest adding a (Yahoo?) toolbar to your browser - just say no. -- Sam |
#27
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On Wed, 19 Dec 2012 00:17:19 -0000, Sam Plusnet wrote:
In article 3f22127c-362a-4055-bb21- , says... I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. Thanks for any help Are you still using the same photo processing software? If so, and photo processing has slowed down over time, you might get away without spending much money - perhaps none. Run CCleaner[1], remove any unused applications & games etc, tidy up the Registry. Defrag your hard disk. And uninstall all the software that you don't use any more. If that doesn't do it, check how much RAM is fitted & see what it would cost to double it. (if your using 32 bit windows, there's a limit on how much RAM it can use). [1] When installing CCleaner, it will suggest adding a (Yahoo?) toolbar to your browser - just say no. I hate this. I would not use software that attempts to trick people to install crapware. -- (\__/) M. (='.'=) If a man stands in a forest and no woman is around (")_(") is he still wrong? |
#28
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 19/12/2012 11:25, Huge wrote:
On 2012-12-19, Mark wrote: On Wed, 19 Dec 2012 00:17:19 -0000, Sam Plusnet wrote: In article 3f22127c-362a-4055-bb21- , says... I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. Thanks for any help Are you still using the same photo processing software? If so, and photo processing has slowed down over time, you might get away without spending much money - perhaps none. Run CCleaner[1], remove any unused applications & games etc, tidy up the Registry. Defrag your hard disk. And uninstall all the software that you don't use any more. If that doesn't do it, check how much RAM is fitted & see what it would cost to double it. (if your using 32 bit windows, there's a limit on how much RAM it can use). [1] When installing CCleaner, it will suggest adding a (Yahoo?) toolbar to your browser - just say no. I hate this. I would not use software that attempts to trick people to install crapware. Problem is, even the big "reputable" players do it... download flash or Reader from adobe - get McAfee bundled with it etc, and don't get me started on sodding browser "toolbars"! Apropos of nothing very much, this kind of stuff regularly reminds me why I like Linux. And why when people tell me that Windows is "intuitive", my response is hollow laughter. Its not really an OS specific issue though - just a marketing one. If they same players were promoting the same apps on Linux, you can bet the same dodgy cross promotion deals would get done. Apple are as bad... "Oh there is a new version of quicktime - shall I install it for you?" (with the gimmy iTunes, and safari boxes also ready ticked!) -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
#29
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 19/12/2012 13:23, John Rumm wrote:
On 19/12/2012 11:25, Huge wrote: On 2012-12-19, Mark wrote: On Wed, 19 Dec 2012 00:17:19 -0000, Sam Plusnet wrote: In article 3f22127c-362a-4055-bb21- , says... I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. Thanks for any help Are you still using the same photo processing software? If so, and photo processing has slowed down over time, you might get away without spending much money - perhaps none. Run CCleaner[1], remove any unused applications & games etc, tidy up the Registry. Defrag your hard disk. And uninstall all the software that you don't use any more. If that doesn't do it, check how much RAM is fitted & see what it would cost to double it. (if your using 32 bit windows, there's a limit on how much RAM it can use). [1] When installing CCleaner, it will suggest adding a (Yahoo?) toolbar to your browser - just say no. I hate this. I would not use software that attempts to trick people to install crapware. Problem is, even the big "reputable" players do it... download flash or Reader from adobe - get McAfee bundled with it etc, and don't get me started on sodding browser "toolbars"! I've discovered Ninite (google it) Its so flipping handy and a real time saver when building a up a new PC. It presents a list of applications such as Java, Shockwave, Adobe Acrobat, Flashplayer, Thunderbird, Firefox, GIMP, AVG etc etc. You simply tick the items you want and Ninite website will build a custom executable installer and you download it. Simply click on the downloaded file and it will download and install all your wanted software without all the extra rubbish like ask toolbar, Google Chrome, Ask Jeeves etc. It "knows" where to get all the required files from. Its a real time saver and you can use it across several machines. Its now the third thing I run after installing a new OS. (the second being an AV and firewall product). Seriously, its one of the best utilities I have seen..... :-) Stephen. |
#30
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 19/12/2012 22:46, Stephen H wrote:
On 19/12/2012 13:23, John Rumm wrote: On 19/12/2012 11:25, Huge wrote: On 2012-12-19, Mark wrote: On Wed, 19 Dec 2012 00:17:19 -0000, Sam Plusnet wrote: In article 3f22127c-362a-4055-bb21- , says... I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. Thanks for any help Are you still using the same photo processing software? If so, and photo processing has slowed down over time, you might get away without spending much money - perhaps none. Run CCleaner[1], remove any unused applications & games etc, tidy up the Registry. Defrag your hard disk. And uninstall all the software that you don't use any more. If that doesn't do it, check how much RAM is fitted & see what it would cost to double it. (if your using 32 bit windows, there's a limit on how much RAM it can use). [1] When installing CCleaner, it will suggest adding a (Yahoo?) toolbar to your browser - just say no. I hate this. I would not use software that attempts to trick people to install crapware. Problem is, even the big "reputable" players do it... download flash or Reader from adobe - get McAfee bundled with it etc, and don't get me started on sodding browser "toolbars"! I've discovered Ninite (google it) Its so flipping handy and a real time saver when building a up a new PC. It presents a list of applications such as Java, Shockwave, Adobe Acrobat, Flashplayer, Thunderbird, Firefox, GIMP, AVG etc etc. You simply tick the items you want and Ninite website will build a custom executable installer and you download it. Thanks for that, it looks like it could be handy. Simply click on the downloaded file and it will download and install all your wanted software without all the extra rubbish like ask toolbar, Google Chrome, Ask Jeeves etc. It "knows" where to get all the required files from. Its a real time saver and you can use it across several machines. Its now the third thing I run after installing a new OS. (the second being an AV and firewall product). Seriously, its one of the best utilities I have seen..... :-) In a similar way, have a look at nlite - its a very handy tool for integrating service packs, hot fixes and tailoring windows components and reducing them all down to a single bootable image. If you need to rebuild a bunch of machines, it can get them from nothing to fully patched and ready to go in practically one hit. -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
#31
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
Huge wrote:
On 2012-12-19, Huge wrote: [snip] Sorry, I was referring to the CCCleaner stuff. And the pain of migrating to knew hardware. "Knew"??? ****wit. IAWTP! -- €¢DarWin| _/ _/ |
#32
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 18/12/2012 20:46, robgraham wrote:
I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. Well you would need to budget for a new mobo, proc, ram, and probably PSU. You might even want a new HDD. New mobos usually have no floppy drive support. So really all you get to keep is the box. An knowing Dell that might be non standard in terms of mobo mounting holes and various other "value added engineering" designed to get on your tits and make upgrades a PITA. The only attractions of doing an upgrade rather than simply getting a new system unit is that you can (mostly) leave the software alone - so you get to keep all your installed apps, settings, and files. You can also specify in more detail what components you want. Since you don't sound like you are pushing any boundaries in terms of use or performance requirements, the latter point is probably of little benefit. Also keep in mind that Windows XP only has support for about another 16 months - so an upgrade to Win 7 may not be a bad thing at this point anyway. Sometimes getting dell supplied versions of windows to work on mobos without a dell BIOS takes an extra few mins of titting about hacking windows loader files as well. So in summary, buy a new base unit! If you want to sprinkle a bit of performance improving pixy dust on what you have, then get a SSD and clone your HDD to that (but only if your existing mobo has some SATA connectors) - that can make older slow machines seem far more rapid. -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
#33
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 19/12/2012 01:11, John Rumm wrote:
On 18/12/2012 20:46, robgraham wrote: I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. Well you would need to budget for a new mobo, proc, ram, and probably PSU. You might even want a new HDD. New mobos usually have no floppy drive support. So really all you get to keep is the box. An knowing Dell that might be non standard in terms of mobo mounting holes and various other "value added engineering" designed to get on your tits and make upgrades a PITA. The only attractions of doing an upgrade rather than simply getting a new system unit is that you can (mostly) leave the software alone - so you get to keep all your installed apps, settings, and files. You can also specify in more detail what components you want. Since you don't sound like you are pushing any boundaries in terms of use or performance requirements, the latter point is probably of little benefit. Also keep in mind that Windows XP only has support for about another 16 months - so an upgrade to Win 7 may not be a bad thing at this point anyway. Sometimes getting dell supplied versions of windows to work on mobos without a dell BIOS takes an extra few mins of titting about hacking windows loader files as well. So in summary, buy a new base unit! If you want to sprinkle a bit of performance improving pixy dust on what you have, then get a SSD and clone your HDD to that (but only if your existing mobo has some SATA connectors) - that can make older slow machines seem far more rapid. If you do a motherboard upgrade you are effectively trashing your computer as soon as you start. Any problem that you have during the process will delay you getting a working machine again. So if you need a replacement motherboard, the processor blows up, or the graphics card intermittently seizes, you don't have a working machine until it is resolved. You set a harsh, unforgiving timetable and awkward working conditions. Whereas if you get a new box, switching over peripherals is easy (assuming compatible connections are available). You retain your old box for regression - at least for a while - and for downloading that elusive 64-bit NIC driver without which your new box won't connect to anything. And if you were going W7,there is a not-too-bad migration tool that picks up a lot of things from the old system if that is what you want to do. Even into the future it could sit somewhere as an emergency box or be re-purposed in some way. -- Rod |
#34
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 19/12/2012 09:09, polygonum wrote:
On 19/12/2012 01:11, John Rumm wrote: On 18/12/2012 20:46, robgraham wrote: I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. Well you would need to budget for a new mobo, proc, ram, and probably PSU. You might even want a new HDD. New mobos usually have no floppy drive support. So really all you get to keep is the box. An knowing Dell that might be non standard in terms of mobo mounting holes and various other "value added engineering" designed to get on your tits and make upgrades a PITA. The only attractions of doing an upgrade rather than simply getting a new system unit is that you can (mostly) leave the software alone - so you get to keep all your installed apps, settings, and files. You can also specify in more detail what components you want. Since you don't sound like you are pushing any boundaries in terms of use or performance requirements, the latter point is probably of little benefit. Also keep in mind that Windows XP only has support for about another 16 months - so an upgrade to Win 7 may not be a bad thing at this point anyway. Sometimes getting dell supplied versions of windows to work on mobos without a dell BIOS takes an extra few mins of titting about hacking windows loader files as well. So in summary, buy a new base unit! If you want to sprinkle a bit of performance improving pixy dust on what you have, then get a SSD and clone your HDD to that (but only if your existing mobo has some SATA connectors) - that can make older slow machines seem far more rapid. If you do a motherboard upgrade you are effectively trashing your computer as soon as you start. Any problem that you have during the process will delay you getting a working machine again. So if you need a replacement motherboard, the processor blows up, or the graphics card intermittently seizes, you don't have a working machine until it is resolved. You set a harsh, unforgiving timetable and awkward working conditions. This is true - a bit like working on your car - it helps to have another one to go get bits etc. Same applies here, another working machine is very useful. Whereas if you get a new box, switching over peripherals is easy (assuming compatible connections are available). You retain your old box for regression - at least for a while - and for downloading that elusive 64-bit NIC driver without which your new box won't connect to anything. Having said that, if gutting and rebuilding the box, you can still use the old one as a pile of parts on the desk! And if you were going W7,there is a not-too-bad migration tool that picks up a lot of things from the old system if that is what you want to do. Its varies from "ok" to "pigs breakfast" in terms of results I find - depending on what software stack you normally run. Even into the future it could sit somewhere as an emergency box or be re-purposed in some way. -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
#35
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 19/12/2012 13:11, John Rumm wrote:
On 19/12/2012 09:09, polygonum wrote: And if you were going W7,there is a not-too-bad migration tool that picks up a lot of things from the old system if that is what you want to do. Its varies from "ok" to "pigs breakfast" in terms of results I find - depending on what software stack you normally run. But at least you have the choice if the old system still exists! :-) (Actually did an excellent copy across for last time I tried. I was genuinely surprised.) -- Rod |
#36
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On Wed, 19 Dec 2012 01:11:40 +0000, John Rumm
wrote: Also keep in mind that Windows XP only has support for about another 16 months 'kin hell what a depressing thought -- |
#37
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 18/12/12 20:46, robgraham wrote:
I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. Thanks for any help Rob The problem I have had in the past is that old cases don't fit new motherboards, and cases are in any case cheap. So I generally ask the question of my PC builder, and if the answer is 'it wont fit' get a new case. The RAM doesn't fit either, and in fact usually the only components that are reusable are the disk and CDROM drive, and if its that old, generally I don't want the disk anyway. So unless you can simply replace the CPU Id say replace the whole machine. Its less expensive than you think. A CPU/board/RAM/Case/Disk/GPU setup is generally sub £250 where I buy. I buy what's cheap and as fast as the money will afford. (http://www.woc.co.uk) -- Ineptocracy (in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers. |
#38
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On Dec 19, 10:58*am, The Natural Philosopher
wrote: On 18/12/12 20:46, robgraham wrote: I've Dell Dimension 5000 which must be in the order of 7 or 8 years old. *There's no problems with it apart from it being bit slow on photo processing, which is the only processor intensive activity I do apart form a bit of SketchUp and that seems OK. Is it new wine into old bottles to consider a motherboard/processor upgrade ? *If it's worth doing how do I work out what board type is in it at the moment and what would I be best to look for ? *I'm quite happy to go the Ebay path and look for someone else's upgrading cast- off. Thanks for any help Rob The problem I have had in the past is that old cases don't fit new motherboards, and cases are in any case cheap. So I generally ask the question of my PC builder, and if the answer is 'it wont fit' get a new case. The RAM doesn't fit either, and in fact usually the only components that are reusable are the disk and CDROM drive, and if its that old, generally I don't want the disk anyway. So unless you can simply replace the CPU Id say replace the whole machine.. Its less expensive than you think. A CPU/board/RAM/Case/Disk/GPU setup is generally sub £250 where I buy. I buy what's cheap and as fast as the money will afford. (http://www.woc.co.uk) -- Ineptocracy (in-ep-toc’-ra-cy) – a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers. Many thanks guys - I think by the time Dell got to this design of machine, they had moved away from their dedicated components philosophy - it is a standard board for the period in this machine, with standard RAM and PSU. And again there's no BIOS/OS interlink here and the HD is SATA. However the points that you are making are all very valid and I thank you all for going through the 'Disadvantages'. So Advantages - Low Cost Possibly retain all applications Retain XP (for the moment) Disadvantages - MB form factor RAM incompatability PSU ditto (chickened out of typing that twice!) Hassle factor getting it all to work and so on for the other ones I can't remember, but that's enough to convince me, though I will lose the fun of doing an Ebay search, bid, etc., and I'll need to set aside some more pennies. Again many thanks Rob |
#39
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
The problem I have had in the past is that old cases don't fit new
motherboards, and cases are in any case cheap. I think with olde stuff and machines if you've upped the RAM as much as you can and have removed all the slowing down junk then you're done all you reasonably can... So I generally ask the question of my PC builder, and if the answer is 'it wont fit' get a new case. The RAM doesn't fit either, and in fact usually the only components that are reusable are the disk and CDROM drive, and if its that old, generally I don't want the disk anyway. So unless you can simply replace the CPU Id say replace the whole machine. Its less expensive than you think. A CPU/board/RAM/Case/Disk/GPU setup is generally sub £250 where I buy. I buy what's cheap and as fast as the money will afford. (http://www.woc.co.uk) WOC are good if you live near them and are going by there to pick stuff up, but online suppliers provided you are ordering sufficient to get free on inc carriage can be cheaper.. -- Tony Sayer |
#40
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Motherboard /processor upgrade ?
On 20/12/12 11:59, tony sayer wrote:
The problem I have had in the past is that old cases don't fit new motherboards, and cases are in any case cheap. I think with olde stuff and machines if you've upped the RAM as much as you can and have removed all the slowing down junk then you're done all you reasonably can... So I generally ask the question of my PC builder, and if the answer is 'it wont fit' get a new case. The RAM doesn't fit either, and in fact usually the only components that are reusable are the disk and CDROM drive, and if its that old, generally I don't want the disk anyway. So unless you can simply replace the CPU Id say replace the whole machine. Its less expensive than you think. A CPU/board/RAM/Case/Disk/GPU setup is generally sub £250 where I buy. I buy what's cheap and as fast as the money will afford. (http://www.woc.co.uk) WOC are good if you live near them and are going by there to pick stuff up, but online suppliers provided you are ordering sufficient to get free on inc carriage can be cheaper.. and less reliable. Every time we bought a NON WOC 'cheaper than WOC' computer it turned out to be faulty, and we had to spend man hours trying to get out money back, and in one case we never did. Phil was always 15% more than the cheapest. Phil has never once failed to get a dysfunctional machine working, or replace faulty parts under warranty. That is a small price to pay. -- Ineptocracy (in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers. |
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