need help with upgrade

[DocJay35]

Thanks for helping me all the info you gave me relly helped me. i have hope now that it will work.

 

[ChromeDome]

yeah just check back in if you need anymore help. i'll do what i can to help you with w/e you might need or questions you have. and let us know how it did if it does work out. always good to see a successful upgrade

i think it will work. i know the psu will. so you're good to go with a good upgrade even if the ultra doesn't fit. something else most certainly will.

with the ultra because its so long you will need to plug the card into the power supply before you even attempt to get it in the case. because its too long to do it afterward. so you'll plug it in then turn it this way and that to get it in and in place

most important thing is to be careful to not knock anything loose on your mobo while you do this. just pay attention. and try not to touch any components in your case with you hands / fingers. i mean it will happen, but try to avoid it best you can. make sure you ground yourself as much as you feel comfortable by touching the inside of your case while working, and wear shoes with rubber soles and don't stand on carpet while you do this. static electricity can kill components. you don't need an "anti static" wristband as some use. just be careful

the power supply goes in easy. the main difficulty will come when unplugging the old one from the primary mobo socket. the 24 pin power connector. it has a little latch, so press on that and wriggle it until it loosens and comes out. it may take a bit of effort, so be patient. then just plug the new one in and make sure its a tight and secure connection. plug the rest of your components in and power up. that simple

good luck to you


EDIT: also if you move the SATA connectors for your drives into different plugs on the mobo to help the card fit, you may have to get into set up / bios to "activate" those respective plugs / terminals. otherwise the mobo won't "see" the drives. and they won't work. but that is very easy to do. a few simple key strokes at start up and you're at the set up menu. a little navigation and more keystrokes and you'll be good to go. need any help with it, again ask here.

 

[DocJay35]

what kind of cables and how long. I'm thinking you mean hard drive and DVD drive right

 

[ChromeDome]

yeah. they are called SATA cables. they run from the back of your dvd /cd drives to the mobo. and from your hard drive. the hard drive cable in this first photo is blue, the orange and red ones run UP to the dvd/cd drives. the HD cable shouldn't be a problem because of its lower position in the case. the others run DOWN and around the vid card. or under it if room allows. so they may need to be longer then the ones Dell provided to work with them better. or the ones you have might be fine? it depends on the card selected.

the first photo shows a close up of where they plug into the mobo. in the second photo to the right of the red line is where they plug into the mobo. you can see them right below the long card. you can't see the orange cable in the second photo because its above the others:


http://i38.tinypic.com/f3hqv8.jpg





things like this is what you would buy from newegg if replacements were needed:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812123186

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812608188

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812104056

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812106201

just some examples. 18 to 20 inch should be plenty long. although you may want to order a longer one too. just in case. if you go to newegg and search "Sata Cables" all sorts of cables and lengths come up. and "SATA II" are also compatible, i believe. although you may want to check on that

 

[AsRock]

before i go to bed i would also like to point out this:




if you see that or someone mentions it elsewhere, think nothing of it. its just marketing for nubs. its the EXACT SAME unit as the one you ordered. exact same tech specs, connectors, and power ratings. if their is a difference its in the size by a very small margin. and that is why some Dell owners have said its "too small" or "doesn't fit right" in some cases. so it fits right in some other oddball Dell cases

Dell used to use "proprietary" stuff in its builds. not so much now. the power supply coming out of your 531 is nothing special. its a 300w OEM you can find in any pile for $30. the fact PC Power and Cooling sells a specific "Dell" model otherwise like the one you are getting is mostly hype to make sales. and if in fact its a little smaller to fit some Dell set ups better

but its nearly $40 more and the exact same thing. your mobo was made by Asus. nothing special about it. its a non descript generic OEM mobo. regular connections and power needs, power management, etc. this is the power supply Dell puts in your computer (made by Bestec)

http://www.censuspc.com/Bestec-300W-ATX-Power-Supply-Bulk-SKU-ATX-300D5WB-pr-7482.html

nothing special about it. nothing at all. and the one you're getting is much better. so go forward with your upgrade with confidence


also, since we're talking power, the cheapo way of doing this would be to use these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812263002

you can read the reviews and see how people are using them with Dell's. i can't recommend that to you, but it does work. the problem is you lose the ability to add an additional dvd and hard drive. or lose the use of two if you already have two of each . so your unit can only ever use one dvd drive and one hard drive. + if you want to upgrade again, forget it. 8800GT kind of cards are the psu's limit. you'd be putting yourself in another upgrade situation, basically. so its a definite case of "sooner or later." and its usually sooner

but more so the unit i upgraded had the same set up. it ran fine apparently, but when i checked it out the psu was very warm at idle and under load it made the outer top edge of the case hot. and i mean HOT. which means the psu was hot

now they do get warm. and some things inside them will get hot. but they shouldn't be able to make any part of your case feel like a warm clothes iron. they are supposed to help keep things cool with their fan

so yeah it works, but i could never say 'hey just do this!'

Well with my old DELL (2002) it had a custom power connector which required you to use either a adapter or some thing i posted. I could say for is but checking the dell forums he would find out for sure.

And the one i posted should be a HIGH quality PSU.

 

[ChromeDome]

oh i'm well sure. the Dell Ispiron i upgraded last year has a regular 'ol 24 pin connector. no adapter needed. it was the 530 but i checked at the time and the Ispiron 531 (which is thread starters unit) is the same. just a regular 24 pin connector. i plopped an Antec EA650 in just fine

and the PSU you linked is fine. high quality to be sure. but its EXACTLY the same as the regular unit. it might have slightly smaller physical dimensions, however. which means it wouldn't fit quite right in the Ispiron case, which uses regular ATX

i think its funny PC Power And Cooling should sell "Dell Specific" PSU's that are apparently comaptible with every known Dell ever made, although those Dells all use different mobo's and platforms. they make it sound as if they have cornered the market on Dell PSU's or something. which they haven't. may have been a little true before, but the newer Dell's, and Ispirons for sure, just use regular spec PSU's. the "DELL" 500w PC Power And Cooling Silencer is spec'd EXACTLY as the "regular model." older Dells used to use different voltages, etc. not true any more. they realized people want to upgrade. so its the same thing and is priced about $20 more under normal pricing. with the regular model being on sale it was $40 more. which is just a waste of money

 

[ChromeDome]

a couple of custom set ups found in the Dell forums:

Inspiron 530
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.33GHz
16X DVD+/-RW Drive
4GB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz (3.25GB showing)
320GB HDD
EVGA GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB
Thermaltake Purepower PSU 500W
Vista Home Premium

Ispiron 531
AMD 5000+ Windsor
4GB Corsair@800mhz
Evga 8800GT SC 710/1780/1980
500 Gig Western Digital HD
Corsair HX520 PSU

just to reassure threadstarter

 

[AsRock]

oh i'm well sure. the Dell Ispiron i upgraded last year has a regular 'ol 24 pin connector. no adapter needed. it was the 530 but i checked at the time and the Ispiron 531 (which is thread starters unit) is the same. just a regular 24 pin connector. i plopped an Antec EA650 in just fine

and the PSU you linked is fine. high quality to be sure. but its EXACTLY the same as the regular unit. it might have slightly smaller physical dimensions, however. which means it wouldn't fit quite right in the Ispiron case, which uses regular ATX

i think its funny PC Power And Cooling should sell "Dell Specific" PSU's that are apparently comaptible with every known Dell ever made, although those Dells all use different mobo's and platforms. they make it sound as if they have cornered the market on Dell PSU's or something. which they haven't. may have been a little true before, but the newer Dell's, and Ispirons for sure, just use regular spec PSU's. the "DELL" 500w PC Power And Cooling Silencer is spec'd EXACTLY as the "regular model." older Dells used to use different voltages, etc. not true any more. they realized people want to upgrade. so its the same thing and is priced about $20 more under normal pricing. with the regular model being on sale it was $40 more. which is just a waste of money

Well thats good o hear there just using standard 20\24 pin connectors now . And in that case sure you can use just about any as you have said. Just best to make sure before you plug it in. Just don't use a cheap one.

I was on the understanding with them that they do them with the custom connectors to as i was after one for my own but yeah if he just need a standard 24 pin one and DELL have not swapped a few of the wires around just any good one will do.


I've known 2 other people with the same model(4550) i used, and all 3 of them were pretty different in side. Topically cheaper the later you got one.


Funny caps blow on my DELL about a month ago been thinking of replacing them but just not got around in trying and is prolly dead anyways ha.

 

[ChromeDome]

Well thats good o hear there just using standard 20\24 pin connectors now . And in that case sure you can use just about any as you have said. Just best to make sure before you plug it in. Just don't use a cheap one.

I was on the understanding with them that they do them with the custom connectors to as i was after one for my own but yeah if he just need a standard 24 pin one and DELL have not swapped a few of the wires around just any good one will do.


I've known 2 other people with the same model(4550) i used, and all 3 of them were pretty different in side. Topically cheaper the later you got one.

lol most likely yup, dead as door nails....

so far as Dell and the upgrades, yeah its good they leave some room for that now. i think threadsarter wants to turn his into a budget gaming rig, basically. and he can now. they used to switch the wires around like you say. all that crappy stuff. but it wasn't too popular i don't think. customers were complaining so they made upgrading a little easier.

i think MOST people who buy box maker units may never do it themselves. thats why they buy boxes. but if they want to they can. so thats a good thing. at least the potential for something more is there now. even if the case is damn TIGHT for room

 

[DocJay35]

hey thanks to all of you that have gave me vary good info on my upgrades for my dell. every thing works good power supply was eazy to put in and the video card was not that bad. and thanks again for all the good info. rockout:

 

[DocJay35]

OK now I'm thinking of buying 2 good case fans. iv been looking at a few but just don't know. i want something that move the air out fast but i also want quiet fans. any suggestions on good case fans.

 

[ChromeDome]

well the thing with fans is the more air they move the noisier they are. because its really the sound of the air that is moving making the noise. some fans are designed with fins that keep them very quiet. but you will pay a premium. yet others have fan speed control. but sometimes you need an available slot behind your pc to put the speed control unit, or you have to run the unit from inside your case to outside somehow.like just bring it out and close the side of the case on the wire which connects it. put the speed control unit on top of your case or something

anyway a case fan is a case fan is a case fan imo. i doubt you need two, the Dell has no where to put two. its not a good idea to just randomly throw fans in without a proper intake/exhaust set up. so the one case fan at the rear of your Dell should be fine to replace. unless you want to mod your case a little

its a 92mm fan. yours hooks up to the mobo but Dell really regulates the speed tightly from the mobo, so i suggest hooking the new one up directly to the PSU by a molex connector. if the fan has a 3 pin connector on it get an adapter (3 pin to molex) and hook it to the PSU. some fans come with these adapters, yet others are molex compatible. and if not an adapter is a couple bucks

i like fans that are capable of moving at least 40CFM of air. (cubic feet per minute). or close to it. these fans will have an average rpm of 2200 to 2400. the Dell fan you have moves at a maximum 1200rpm and usually keeps steady at around 1000rpm. so thats a pretty good difference

ball bearing fans are more reliable and quieter, so they say. as opposed to sleeve fans. so get a ball bearing. something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835216006

thats a nice fan but is out of stock atm. adjustable speed, and quiet at the lowest speed. fairly quiet at its highest. but you will here an audible whoosh of air being moved at its highest. thats 30 decibels. i can't tell how it adjusts or if it has a molex adapter

here is the adapter if you want to order one or have a store nearby where you can buy one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812189119

Best Buy usually has some fans around, too.

this seems the same product as the first fan but claims to move a lot more air

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835216002

another "out of stock" but you can still order and they will ship when it comes in. this one has no speed control, moves a decent amount of air, and is fairly quiet:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186007

if you don't mind noise this moves 120CFM. it also makes a 65 decibel whoosh. thats like a small jet engine

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999613

if you want quiet without the hassle of fan control and the advantage of moving a decent amount of air, its gonna cost a bit more:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835191010

this is my favorite i've thought of ordering it myself:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835220001

it has speed control as you can see. but you will have to be a little creative where you put the control. if you have an empty drive bay in front of your Dell it might go there. or as said before run it outside your case and put it on top or something. i like this one because its "low setting" is 1800 rpm which is pretty good for 22 decibels. and it can go up to a big 3800rpm and move 64CFM of air. of course it will be LOUD at that speed, but you can easily set it where you want it at any time depending on what you're doing. looks like it comes with a molex connector. so you won't need an adapter. or so it seems

 

[DocJay35]

Thanks for the info i just orderd a case fan. and it this one SILVERSTONE RL-FM91 92mm Case Fan http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835220001

 

[ChromeDome]

thats a nice fan. i think you'll be happy with it. now even at its lowest speed it will not be as quiet as your Dell case fan. like i said, if it moves more air it makes more noise. especially these smaller case fans. some of the bigger (120mm and up) move the air more effortlessly, so they have lower noise. however before i changed my fan (92mm also) i would say my computer was nearly silent. now it makes a bit of a whoosh sound at fan speed 2400rpm moving 46CFM of air. and i can live with that. sure i can hear it when ambient noise is very quiet here, but its not a big deal

i think the Silverstone is a good choice for quiet or "performance" when you want it

 

[ChromeDome]

Thanks for the info i just orderd a case fan. and it this one SILVERSTONE RL-FM91 92mm Case Fan http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835220001

well dude i was inspired by you to keep my computer quiet so i picked up this:

don't pay attention to the other junk that was for another thread lol

so no i'm runnin' cool and quiet. whichever i want when i want with the adjustable fan speed

hope things are going well with your upgrades

 

[DocJay35]

OK ordered that case fan. should be here wed. now all i need to get is the 4 G of memory and that will will be it for me all i can do to my computer. but i'm going to buy a gaming head set after all that and then i will be good for a while. my computer runs better. the card works vary good as well as the power supply. thanks once again for all your help.

How the case fan working out for you

I will never buy another dell in my life time.



Dell inspiron 531
AMD Athlon 64 *2 Dual-core 5600+
4GB dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM AT 800MHZ @ DIMMs
MSI 8800 ultra 768MB
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 500 Watt
windows vista 32 bit

 

[DocJay35]

will this memory work. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3276480&CatId=3412 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3404049&CatId=3412

 

[ChromeDome]

hmm....well in the first link one reviewer says that memory is meant for 64bit systems. kind of funny i never heard of that but that is some fancy RAM so idk. the second one says this in the "product description":

Only motherboards equipped with the custom-designed BIOS, such as those designed for NVIDIA nForce SLI MCPs, can detect the optimized SPD profiles and ensure the memory functions under the best possible conditions.

so i really don't know if that would benefit you. imo RAM is RAM is RAM unless you are overclocking it. which you won't be on your Dell. and i've read the heat spreaders on those OCZ's make for a tight fit

just a couple of suggestions. if you are using the memory that came "standard" with your pc (and i have a feeling you are as Dell used to charge an arm and a leg for an "upgrade") this RAM is guaranteed to work with what you already have installed:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146526

its $30 for two gigs. just pop it in. thats if you already have two 2 gig sticks. so two more make 4 gigs. it is 667mhz rather then 800mhz. but that makes so little difference you will hardly know it. and you are running 667mhz as it is

this would also work:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231108

also know this: since you are using Vista 32bit the computer won't "see" more then 3 or 3.5gigs of RAM. and it won't use it. even if you have four gigs installed. which is why i have 3 gigs installed myself. if you want to save money and pretty much get all the RAM your computer can use anyway, you can get these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146524

just pop them in and it'll give you 3 gigs total. and it will run in dual channel mode because the sticks are evenly matched 2X1 gig and 2X512mb

if you want to upgrade ALL your RAM to 800mhz i think this is good:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134582

or this if you want all your RAM to "brand match" and don't mind 667mhz

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145195

any of the above are good configs and have the same tech specs as the RAM you already have. takes the guess work out of things. for the money and compatibility i like the Kingston. in fact that is the RAM i use myself.

but again, i like the idea of just popping in more RAM with what you already have. its your call, though.

if you want to know EXACTLY what your computer has in it already and its tech specs for compatibilty use Internet Explorer (for active x) and go here:

http://www.crucial.com/

have it scan your system and it will let you know what is what. but yes, 667mhz or 800mhz is fine. just make sure they all match up the same speed or it will run at the lower speed if mixed. your Dell really doesn't need "performance" RAM or anything. the mobo isn't really set up to take advantage of it. and even if so, its benefits are somewhat....marginal at best

lol so far as my case fan working out? well its quieter set on low, so thats nice. but now i can hear my vid card fan over it. so thats sort of irritating. and on "medium" where i would like to have it set all the time it makes the most annoying whine i have ever heard. and on "high" its fine but not quiet anymore. it sounds like my old fan. i only use high speed when playing a game, too. so....the search continues for the perfect case fan :'(

so far as never buying another Dell again? yeah i can understand that. even with "upgrades" expansion is still a bit difficult and limited. you are limited to 640gigs of usable HD space, for instance. the number of drives you can install and the number of fans you can put in. and some other things

but with the experience you are getting upgrading you can see for yourself how simple and easy it can be to build your own if its possible for you financially. just stick around the forums a little and your next computer can be anything you want it to be. a good "budget" build or anything in between. BUT, expandable and upgradable however you like. and thats important once you have the know how. and you're getting it

hell, i've only been at this just over a year and i started out upgrading an HP or two before that. i still have to learn more about overclocking the proc and some stuff on the software end....but i'm getting there!

anyway my advice is keep the RAM simple and affordable. if you ever build your own, get the fancy stuff. for now, just get what you know will work with the Dell

 

[DocJay35]

ChromeDome thanks for all your helpful info on upgrading my dell. now all i have to get is two g of memory. and that's it for my dell as far as i can go with my dell. my video card temp is 60 c is that a good temp for msi 8800 ultra. got that case fan its not that loud something i can deal with.

 

[ChromeDome]

yeah 60c is a decent temp for the ultra with stock cooling. falls within "average" so i'd say you're good there

the RAM upgrade is going to have a noticeable affect on your computers performance. going from 2 to 4 gigs can have a pretty big impact on performance in some applications and in general. look at this stuff i posted elsewhere on the board today:

http://promotions.newegg.com/corsai..._mmc=EMC-IGNEFL101608-_-MECH-_-EB4D-_-CORSAIR

and from a link on the same page

http://corsair.com/_appnotes/AN804_Gaming_Performance_Analysis.pdf

that last one uses Adobe Reader to open. but anyway as you see from the first link the difference can be dramatic. the second link explains it in depth

and don't worry about 667mhz or 800mhz. the 800mhz just gives some users (servers, professionals, etc) more "headroom," so to speak. and over clockers as well. which is why its preferred for overclocking. but its headroom you'd never use in a million years so won't ever miss it, and you won't be overclocking so you don't need it. there really isn't a "real world" speed difference. someone could come in the middle of the night and switch your RAM from 800mhz to 667mhz and you'd never know it or believe it. there is just NO difference. so if you're running 667mhz you can stick with it

its the INCREASE that will make the big difference here