Upgrading RAM and hard-drive in an XP pc?
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Thread: Upgrading RAM and hard-drive in an XP pc?

  1. #1
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    Upgrading RAM and hard-drive in an XP pc?

    Re a Dell Dimension 3000 desktop pc with XP, does it make any sense to upgrade the RAM and hard drive? The current RAM is 1.28 gB and the hard drive is 33.8 gB.

    How can I see what hard drive (manufacturer and model) is installed – so that I can determine whether a compatible upgrade is available (and at what price)?

    Thanks. ....wdc

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    photolady is offline Lifetime Friend of Site Staff
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    All hard drives are compatable in that system. And added ram might help but more than two gigs of memory is really not going to help much. I found XP sweet spot on RAM to be at 2gb. Since that system is running a 32bit OS, more than two gigabyte of memory isn't going to help much, and anything over 3gb is a waste, as 32bit OS's only utilize up to 3.25gb of memory.

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    P4 rig , I would not try win 7 on it. They make good Linux rigs though.

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    Download, install and run Speccy. Click File > Publish Snapshot > Yes > Copy to Clipboard and then paste in the URL you just copied into a Reply to this thread.

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    That's an ancient PC, personally I wouldn't waste the time & money doing anything with it. You can buy a much newer used or refurbished computer with far better components and upgradability for less than $200. I scrap P4 computers rather than doing anything else with them.

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    I saw 5 refurbished PC's for under $150 on Newegg's deal sheet this afternoon that are far better than any P4 and will run 64-bit operating systems.
    i7 5930K @4.6ghz, Asus X99 Deluxe, 64GB G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 2400, XFX R9 290X, Samsung 850 Pro 256gb, 4 Seagate 7200 rpm 2tb, Seasonic X1250, Corsair H105, Asus Xonar Essence STX, LiteOn iHBS212, Plextor 890SA, Corsair 500R, Win 10 Enterprise 64.

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    Quote Originally Posted by SpywareDr;
    ... install and run Speccy...
    Ditto to use of Speccy.
    Cheers.

  8. #8
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    Derp: Thanks for the advice. I'll certainly look into Newegg. ,,,wdc

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    Doc: Will this do? (I was not able to use Clipboard.)

    http://speccy.piriform.com/results/B...T1FvYrtzoQ3S6z

  10. #10
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    Yes, thanks. It looks like you might be able to put a 320GB hard drive in there, bump the RAM to 2GB and then install a 32-bit version of Windows 7.

    Amazon has got a new WD Blue 320 GB Desktop Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, 7200 RPM, PATA, 8 MB Cache - WD3200AAJB for $$75.99. ($84.13 at Newegg).

    Run Crucial's System Scanner Tool to see how much RAM it'll hold and at what price.

    Enter your Dell's Service Tag or Express Service Code on Dell's Site and see if they have Windows 7 drivers available.

    Then run Microsoft's Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor and see what it says.

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