(Deal Expired) CALL THE FIRE DEPT! Dell Dim 4600 w/P4 2.8C 800fsb+R9800+Office ~$554! +tax AC/AR

[pumpedup]

Originally posted by: J3anyus

Originally posted by: BigDave


As far as moving the machine into another case (a question a few people have asked so far): yes, it's possible. Almost every machine Dell is shipping these days uses a standard ATX power supply, so that shouldn't be a problem. The two problems are that: 1) The motherboard backplate is generally proprietary, so you might have trouble finding a backplate for the machine that will work and look right, and 2) The front panel hookups (power LED, power button, HDD LED, etc.) are going to be hard to hook up. Reason is that Dell wires all the front panel connectors together into one small connector, so the power LED and HDD LED are getting their power from the same pin on the motherboard, and other odd things like that. This makes it a little bit hard to wire up the front panel, but honestly, all you really NEED is the power button.

I bought a Dimension 8300 and changed the graphics card to an ASUS Ti4200. The front headphone jack had a cable going to the old graphics card. The new one won't support such a cable. I connected the cable to the motherboard, but the front headphone jack still won't work.

After an hour on the phone with technical support, I decided that it was easier to purchase an external 3.5 mm cable that splits into two...one for my speakers and one for my headphones...and run it from the jack on the back of the system (the one on the audio card).

Does anyone know if this problem is due to Dell's use of OEM parts? I'm told that they're of much cheaper quality.

 

[AU Tiger]

Originally posted by: pumpedup

Originally posted by: J3anyus

Originally posted by: BigDave


As far as moving the machine into another case (a question a few people have asked so far): yes, it's possible. Almost every machine Dell is shipping these days uses a standard ATX power supply, so that shouldn't be a problem. The two problems are that: 1) The motherboard backplate is generally proprietary, so you might have trouble finding a backplate for the machine that will work and look right, and 2) The front panel hookups (power LED, power button, HDD LED, etc.) are going to be hard to hook up. Reason is that Dell wires all the front panel connectors together into one small connector, so the power LED and HDD LED are getting their power from the same pin on the motherboard, and other odd things like that. This makes it a little bit hard to wire up the front panel, but honestly, all you really NEED is the power button.

I bought a Dimension 8300 and changed the graphics card to an ASUS Ti4200. The front headphone jack had a cable going to the old graphics card. The new one won't support such a cable. I connected the cable to the motherboard, but the front headphone jack still won't work.

After an hour on the phone with technical support, I decided that it was easier to purchase an external 3.5 mm cable that splits into two...one for my speakers and one for my headphones...and run it from the jack on the back of the system (the one on the audio card).

Does anyone know if this problem is due to Dell's use of OEM parts? I'm told that they're of much cheaper quality.

Are you sure it was connected to the video card originally? The Dimension 4500 I have, has a cable that connects to the motherboard if you are using the built in sound, but connects to the soundcard if you have a soundcard. The SB Live and TB Santa Cruz have the necessary connector. The SB Audigy does not have the connector. I don't understand how or why a headphone jack would connect to a video card.

 

[J3anyus]

Anyone know what the CAS latency is on the RAM that Dell is providing with these machines? I just want to make sure that when I buy more RAM, I get something with the same CL as what's already in there.

 

[pumpedup]

Originally posted by: AU Tiger Are you sure it was connected to the video card originally? The Dimension 4500 I have, has a cable that connects to the motherboard if you are using the built in sound, but connects to the soundcard if you have a soundcard. The SB Live and TB Santa Cruz have the necessary connector. The SB Audigy does not have the connector. I don't understand how or why a headphone jack would connect to a video card.

OOPS! I meant my audio card...not my graphics card...sorry for the confusion.

You're right. I had changed my audio card from SB Live to Audigy MP3+. The new card doesn't have the necessary connector. Since I'm not using the built in sound, I guess I cannot use the connector on the motherboard. Does anyone know of any way that I can correct this problem?

 

[gsethi]

if anyone of you would like to buy my 2x 128MB memory chips, let me know b/c i am planning on getting 2x 512 (i already have 1 512 and will get the same one again).

So i guess i will be selling my 2x 128mb chips when i receive my system.....let me know your offers.

thanks

 

[Hankysmoo]

This deal is on again with new coupons that expire 6/13.

Is the dimension 8300 with a 2.6 C better than this computer? It's about $20 or 30 cheaper too I think.

 

[gsethi]

the 4600 came w/ a 2.80C. The retail price difference between the two processors is ~$70-80.

its your choice on what you want....a slightly slower processor w/ slightly better motherboard, case or slightly faster processor w/ slightly slower motherabord and small case.


between the two, i myself am having a hard time now......

 

[J3anyus]

Originally posted by: gsethi
the 4600 came w/ a 2.80C. The retail price difference between the two processors is ~$70-80.

its your choice on what you want....a slightly slower processor w/ slightly better motherboard, case or slightly faster processor w/ slightly slower motherabord and small case.


between the two, i myself am having a hard time now......

I'd go with the 8300. I'd rather have a slightly slower CPU and have the better motherboard and case. I've worked in both cases before, and believe me, the 8300 is much nicer to work in. Unfortunately, my 4600 has already shipped. Should be here on Wednesday. Perhaps I'll eBay it off and buy an 8300.

 

[imported_Mike]

this mobo any good? i was thinking about getting the asus 800

 

[Tom]

Are you sure the case is different between the 8300 and the regular 4600 ?

edit-n/m, I discovered they are different, another reason 8300 is better.

 

[kassaam]

Just took delivery of my 4600. Noticed that my invoice states a $150 MIR. I thought that the MIR was only $100. Anyone else get this? Hey, I'm not complaining cause this brings down the total to $658 delivered to my door. WOW!

Also, did anyone order this without the floppy option? If so, did Dell include a floppy faceplate so you can install one youself? I didn't want to take the chance so I ordered it with the floppy drive even though I have a bunch in my parts box.

 

[J3anyus]

Yeah, mine also says $150 MIR on the invoice. Cool, more money back.

I got it without the floppy, and not only is there no face, they've completely removed the bracket from the chassis that the floppy screws into. There's no possible way to put a floppy in there. Doesn't matter to me, I almost never use them anyway.

 

[imported_Mike]

Got mine yesterday, opened it up today. The packing slip says $150 MIR for the double memory, though i dont know if they will give me that. IMO the case is ok, but the mobo is wierd. Like 8 usb ports on the back...

 

[dakels]

Originally posted by: J3anyus
Yeah, mine also says $150 MIR on the invoice. Cool, more money back.

I got it without the floppy, and not only is there no face, they've completely removed the bracket from the chassis that the floppy screws into. There's no possible way to put a floppy in there. Doesn't matter to me, I almost never use them anyway.

err.. I thought I answered this already, maybe it didnt go thru. I got a $150 rebate too.

I ordered the rig without the floppy but I do have a floppy faceplate. YMMV I guess. There is not bay but the floppy doesn't use a bay, it just mounts to a hanging screw tab.

 

[Kung Lau]

Which memory are you guys putting in these 4600's to fill in the last two banks?

I'm looking for stability and not overclocking as my primary concern.

If anyone is discarding the Dell oem sticks, I may be interested. I'm not looking to supe up this machine.

 

[J3anyus]

Crucial's a good choice. Inexpensive but stable, and guaranteed to work.

I have another question: Is anyone running Catalyst drivers on these cards? I installed Cat 3.4s and they detected the card as a 9800 Pro, but I've had a few odd crashes. I'm not sure if it's the video drivers or not, but I'm starting to think it may be.

 

[nitsuj3580]

I ordered 2x512 MB sticks of Value Select Corsair PC3200 RAM CAS 2.5

Should I put these in the last two blanks of my 4600 and leave the Dell RAM in there or take the Dell RAM out completely?

What do you guys think will offer better performance? I really don't know much about benchmarking and stuff or I'd try to run some tests. Thanks!

 

[dakels]

I too had problems with the Cat 3.4 driver install. Keep in mind the Radeon 9800 driver is the same as the 9800 Pro driver. ATI lists the description as Radeon 9800/9800 Pro. I first just blindly upgraded to the 3.4 with a reinstall over the old ones. That didnt work to well and I was getting graphical choppiness. When I did a total uninstall of the old drivers and install the cat 3.4's, it worked fine.

This is how I installed the driver temporarily because I am reformatting my drives soon.

I completely uninstalled the driver package and control panel package. Restarted.
When you restart windows will detect new hardware and want to use it's default R9800 driver, IGNORE THIS.
Open up the cat 3.4 drivers and control panels and install them. Restart
When you restart you should see ATI's menus and go into your display settings and tailor to you needs. Windows XP should no longer find new hardware either. After that all worked fine for me.

BTW I ran 3D mark 2001SE and scored about a 16,000 or so with the Cat 3.2's (1024x768x32 no AA). The Cat 3.4's I scored about the same thing. But you should note that my system is not tailored yet. The old OS from swapped HD is still there after a reinstall, the bios is reading my Hyper X as 333mhz, and I didnt do a clean registry of the ATI cat 3.2's. The real results will come when I get my new gigabyte 8KNXP motherboard, and format and do a clean install of the XP and the cat 3.4 drivers.

 

[AU Tiger]

Originally posted by: J3anyus
Crucial's a good choice. Inexpensive but stable, and guaranteed to work.

I have another question: Is anyone running Catalyst drivers on these cards? I installed Cat 3.4s and they detected the card as a 9800 Pro, but I've had a few odd crashes. I'm not sure if it's the video drivers or not, but I'm starting to think it may be.

I chose Crucial as well, but bought mine through Newegg to avoid sales tax. So far so good with my 512MB upgrade, running currently at 768 total.

I have not performed any benchmarks to see if the computer is faster with all four slots filled versus only two, but I would be interested in seeing benchmarks from anyone who has taken the time to perform them.

 

[J3anyus]

Alrighty...I did a clean install of the Cat3.4s, so that's not the problem. I was just thinking that possibly it's some weird Dell OEM card that ATI drivers pick up incorrectly and you have to use Dell drivers or something. I doubt it's actually the video drivers, as I can let it loop 3DMark forever and it won't crash. Just for some reason, maybe one out of every three tries, when I dial-up with the Motorola modem I installed, the machine just locks up in the middle of the dialing process. Weird...I'll be off dial-up in a few months anyway, so if worse comes to worse, I can just deal with it for a little bit longer.

 

[imported_Mike]

Dunno if anyone cares, but the mobo labeled as generic seems to be an intel:

GLC

PESO

the peso doesnt seem to be sold anywhere, probably a board intel manufactures for companies like dell.

 

[BigDave]

My packling slip says a $150 rebate too. Hopefully it'll work!

Also, I'm selling the 256 MB that came with the system. Here's the Ebay link - no reserve:

EBay Link

- Dave

 

[dakels]

BTW I have no problems with my $150 rebate (not $100). The rebate is currently being processed it says. Made this deal even better

Plz report if you have any problems with the $150 rebate

 

[ivwshane]

Originally posted by: tigerbait
What's the verdict on the power supply and motherboard connectors? Standard ATX or Dell proprietary?

What I want to know specifically is, can I use my regular PS with this mobo?

 

[dakels]

Originally posted by: ivwshane

Originally posted by: tigerbait
What's the verdict on the power supply and motherboard connectors? Standard ATX or Dell proprietary?

What I want to know specifically is, can I use my regular PS with this mobo?

Yes a standard PSU WILL WORK with dell these dell components.

The only thing I found proprietary were the OS CD and the bios which are tied to each other. Thats it.