Dell Dimension 4600 Upgrade

[CotswoldCS]

I have a Dell Dimension 4600 (2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, on-board graphics) that I want to upgrade. Mainly used for gaming, Internet, basic apps, etc.

Adding 2 x 256Mb PC2700 memory taking the computer to 1Gb seems worthwhile. I have checked that there are two slots free and according to a link from Google the Dell has PC2700.

First question is should I go for PC3200 instead of PC2700 just in case I decide to buy a new machine later???

Second question, how far can I go with the graphics card. Will the Dell take a 6800 based card???? It only has an AGP slot and I think only a 250W PSU? (Can anyone confirm this?)

I'd appreciate your thoughts.

 

[Accord99]

I have a P4c 3.2, X800 Pro overclocked to 550/500,3x 7200RPM drives, 1 DVD burner and 2X512MB PC3200 memory all running on the 250W PSU. It's quite stout, but you can replace it with any ATX PSU in it. It'll run PC3200 memory at full speed with 800Mhz FSB P4s. Best to get regular Micron or Kingston CAS 3 memory though, as it's picky with timings and doesn't like the lower latency memory.

 

[CotswoldCS]

Thanks for the reply -that's reassuring to know.

The 4600 in question is running a P4 2.66Ghz CPU. I think that the 2 x 256Mb is PC2700 (333Mhz) but I'm not certain. As I'm not at the PC anymore (a friend's PC) and I don't want to buy the wrong memory I thought I would go for PC3200. That way if it's running at 400Mhx I'm safe and if it is 333Mhz then the memory will revert to that speed

OR WILL IT????????????????????? That's my question. Am I safe running PC3200 in a machine with a FSB of 333Mhz.


A reply would be really appreciated.

 

[Accord99]

When PC3200 and PC2700 memory are installed together, the 4600 will automatically run all the DIMMs at PC2700 speeds. It's very conservative. However, since the CPU is a 2.66GHz, the memory can't be running at PC3200 speeds anyways.

 

[w00t]

I have a 240W psu check my pc specs.