Messages

1

Hardware / Nvidia Geforce Go 6150 video card question

« on: March 16, 2008, 10:39:52 AM »

Yes, to a point.
You will have to get into the machines BIOS to change the amount of shared video memory.
It will only give you a few options and the machine may be already set to the highest option.
The only way to tell is to look.

Good luck!

2

Hardware / If I bought this system at Dell would I be able to use this monitor

« on: March 16, 2008, 10:36:25 AM »

Yes. You can use it.

3

Hardware / If I bought this system at Dell would I be able to use this monitor

« on: March 16, 2008, 10:35:07 AM »

The monitor should work fine on the Dell.

4

Hardware / Noisy Dell

« on: March 16, 2008, 10:32:34 AM »

Sorry about the very short post before. I had a pressing engagement.

It is unusual for Dell to produce a loud machine. They do have a tendency to spool up when they are leaned on but from what you tell me about how you are using yours, it should be death quiet.
I would encourage you to continue talking to Dell about fixing it.
Maybe they can refer you to a local Dell authorized repair shop to get the thing fixed (on Dell of course).
Worst comes to worst, the will have you send it back to them for a full refund (plus shipping).

Good luck!

5

Hardware / Noisy Dell

« on: March 14, 2008, 01:53:44 PM »

If you talking about transferring the internal hardware to a new aftermarket case, I think it's not possible.
Dell's slim PCs are highly proprietary. The hardware is not standard ATX or standard micro ATX.
You are basically stuck with it.
If you do build an insulated box for it, make sure the box has very good airflow through it.

6

Tech Clinic / svchost

« on: March 07, 2008, 02:22:28 PM »

It also depends on how many services you have running in the background.
Go to: www.blackviper.com and take a look at his guide on Windows XP Services.
There is a bunch of them that are unnecessary and can be disabled without negatively impacting your system.

Good luck!

7

Hardware / Processor Upgrade

« on: March 07, 2008, 02:13:02 PM »

Agreed. It's always a good idea to upgrade to a decent aftermarket heatsink/fan setup even if you continue to use the 1.7ghz proc.
As I stated before, more RAM is always good but you may run into the 32bit XP limitation of seeing 4gig or more RAM.
I still believe 2gig with XP is plenty for any gamer but 4gig is better when gaming in Vista. The 32bit RAM limitation is still present in Vista though.

8

Hardware / Processor Upgrade

« on: March 05, 2008, 02:35:50 PM »

Without knowing the motherboards maker, you should be able to go to 2.8ghz, possibly 3.0ghz.
More RAM is always good. Anything above 2gig is probably overkill with XP.
I would also think about swapping to a larger hard drive. Anything from 250gig on up is good.
If you buy a retail hard drive, it will come with a disk copy utility.

Good luck!

9

Overclocking / Overclock my ram?

« on: February 13, 2008, 05:13:46 PM »

You can but why?
Add more RAM and your PC will fly.

10

Overclocking / Overclock a dual core

« on: February 13, 2008, 05:12:24 PM »

Try here:
http://www.ocforums.com/
They have stickies on how to overclock.

11

Overclocking / Overclocking

« on: February 13, 2008, 05:09:15 PM »

During normal use you are not going to feel a difference in speed if you overclock a PC. Most systems will only gain around 400Mghz before it won't post. Some folks have successfully gained 600Mghz to 1000Mghz but it depends on the motherboard, RAM, and processor. Of course, some very serious cooling also.
It's been my experience, that if you can double the speed of the processor, by either overclocking or upgrading, you will feel a difference with normal use.
I have, at one time, overclocked every PC I have owned by 600Mghz at least (I do run some serious cooling) and I have found that it didn't feel any different from stock speeds. I have always resorted to setting them back to stock speeds.

12

Hardware / Your opinion..please.

« on: January 24, 2008, 01:37:00 PM »

According to the base dimension 2400 specs it uses one PC-2700 RAM stick and an IDE hard drive.
Open the case and physically look to see if there is an open RAM slot and a spot to mount another hard drive.
You will also need to look at the hard drive cable for a second connector otherwise you will need a cable with both Master and slave connectors.
Any PC-2700 or PC 3200 RAM in your preferred capacity will work. Same with the IDE hard drive.
The original hard drives jumper will need to be set to "Master" and the jumper on the new drive will need to be set to "Slave".
If you want to replace the original drive with a new drive then you will need some sort of imaging software or use the Dell restore disks that came with the PC.
You can then temporarily slave the original drive to the new drive and transfer any saved data.

Good luck!

13

Hardware / computer crash

« on: January 24, 2008, 01:21:32 PM »

You are still having a heat issue. The heatsink isn't seated correctly.
Remove and clean both parts with isotropic alcohol. You don't need to remove the processor to do this.
Once clean and dry, re-apply thermal paste and mount the heatsink correctly on the MOBO/processor.

14

Tech Clinic / My comp has no source?

« on: December 16, 2007, 03:15:17 PM »

Check the PC itself not the monitor.
If you have no lights or fans, check the power supply switch by the power cord.
If still a no go then the power supply is probably dead.

15

Tech Clinic / Blue screened twice....

« on: November 17, 2007, 02:24:55 PM »

The latest updates for Vista have been giving everyone fits by doing exactly as you described.
Most (including me) have been reporting several re-boots before it finishes installing the updates.
Some PCs went through the whole process and resulted in the updates not installing.
Some blue screened.
Go to add/remove/show installed updates and try to uninstall the latest ones. You may have to do it in safe mode.
If it's successful then wait for SP1 after the first of the year.
If it still BSODs, then you may have to do a clean install.

Good luck!

16

Software / are there any good RAM seller

« on: November 15, 2007, 03:36:21 PM »

RAM and memory are two words for the same thing.
Try www.newegg.com.
They have the best prices I've found.

17

Hardware / bus interface

« on: November 09, 2007, 02:42:27 PM »

Change it or enable it in the BIOS.
Although it should have automatically detected it.
What key to press during startup to get into the BIOS, depends on the machine.
It's usually Delete, Esc, F1, or F10.
Oh. Make sure you have it's power connector connected to the power supply.
Supposedly it's needed for this card.

Good luck!

18

Software / Windows XP Fresh install ...PROBLEMS!!!

« on: November 07, 2007, 01:34:51 PM »

The smallest hard drive that I have loaded XP on was a 3.4gig. It was slow but it loaded fine.
I would rather you test first using a hard drive from someone but if you need to buy one then hit newegg.com.
It's hard to find any drives smaller than 80gig anymore and the price between an 80gig and a 160gig is close to the same.
The choice is yours on how big you want to go.
The only thing you need to know is weather you need a IDE drive (wide ribbon cable) or a SATA drive (small thin cable).
Look at your hard drive cable to know which type of drive you need.

IDE:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.as...+IDE66+-+Retail

SATA:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.as...40-19I+-+Retail

19

Software / Windows XP Fresh install ...PROBLEMS!!!

« on: November 06, 2007, 03:32:19 PM »

As it says "The disk may be damaged".
Try a different hard drive or a working XP disk.

20

Hardware / The Best Graphic Card around For 30pound(max i can go si 35)

« on: October 23, 2007, 12:45:13 PM »

One gig of memory is fine for XP although others may say "more is always better".

Have a good one.