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| Thread ID: 76241 | 2007-01-26 00:16:00 | Advice on PC Upgrade | AvonBill (11358) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 519319 | 2007-01-26 00:16:00 | I have a Compaq Evo D510 small form factor PC . I would like to increase it's RAM and replace its disk with a larger one . This is a 2 . 4GHz / 533MHz machine and was new in early 2003 . It has a proprietary Compaq (HP) motherboard for which I was able to find very little info . I have done some research into what is required and what it can take but in the end I won't really know unless I try out the new hardware . Currently the PC has a single 256MB DDR266 PC2100 DIMM installed . I would like to add a 1GB module in the spare DIMM slot . The specs say the machine is capable of 2GB . I see that PC2100 memory is rare these days . On reading about DDR RAM the experts indicate that faster RAM is backward compatible with the slower speed RAM . If that is the case I would be interested in a 1GB DDR400 PC3200 module . I would also like to replace the current 40GB IDE disk with as large a disk as possible . The Seagate Barracuda 400GB ATA100, 7200rpm disk would be ideal - cheap too, I can get it for approx 50 cents/GB . I was unable to find any information on the Internet that indicated if there would be any problems installing a high capacity disk on this particular machine . Does anyone have any experience with either the RAM or Disk upgrade I have described? Namely, running faster DDR RAM with slower, and support for a fairly large disk in a machine of the vintage described . Perhaps you could point me to documentation that I have not been able to find . Thanks . |
AvonBill (11358) | ||
| 519320 | 2007-01-26 00:33:00 | Yup DDR 400 should work but it'll also run at 2100 speed . Not DDR 400 speed . The only thing, that may have probs with a 400 GB hdd, is the BIOS . If the version of the BIOS, thats currently on the mobo is too old, it may or may not handle hdd's bigger than 60 or 80 GB hdd's or something . And if this is the case, Windows (if u use Windows) may install OK, but may crash continuously everytime u reboot . Until the BIOS has been updated, so it can recognise hdd's bigger than 80 GB or whatever . This is the only prob I had, when I updated an HP system's hdd to 80 GB a few years ago (I think it only had a 6-10 GB in it at the time) . It crashed after I installed 2000 on it, but went back to normal after I updated the BIOS . |
Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 519321 | 2007-01-26 00:34:00 | It should all be fine. About the ram, if you put faster ram with slower ram, the fast ram will run at the speed of the slower ram. So i think there should be no problems. I don't think your system would care how big your hdd is. But there is something I hear about where people have a large hdd, say 200gb, but it only shows up as having 120gb space. I have never come accross that problem, but someone else here can tell you the fix for it probably. **Ok, well Speedy said it all.... before me. The little sneak :p |
mejobloggs (264) | ||
| 519322 | 2007-01-26 01:08:00 | One thing to be aware of with Compaqs/HPs as far as RAM goes. They used to be very fussy about the type and brand (i.e. proprietary Compaq/HP branded) of RAM. I'm not sure if this is still the case but I'd be wary, particularly as it's a proprietary motherboard. | Murray P (44) | ||
| 519323 | 2007-01-26 02:00:00 | Kingston memory is fine with this model, I used PC3200 . haven't upgraded the drive though! | SolMiester (139) | ||
| 519324 | 2007-01-26 10:23:00 | One thing to be aware of with Compaqs/HPs as far as RAM goes. They used to be very fussy about the type and brand (i.e. proprietary Compaq/HP branded) of RAM. I'm not sure if this is still the case but I'd be wary, particularly as it's a proprietary motherboard. I just upgraded a celeron 1700 mhz model Hp512a machine. Can you believe it was sold with XP and just 128 megs of PC2100 ram :D I took this ram out and replaced with a single 512megs stick of A-data ddr400. All good with no probs! goes like a rocket previously it had been trying to use over 200 megs on bootup! |
apsattv (7406) | ||
| 519325 | 2007-01-26 10:25:00 | Have you considered the superior capabilities of a Mac?, Creative types are wise enough to use them don't you know? | Metla (12) | ||
| 519326 | 2007-01-26 13:00:00 | My advice is don't. It's much more cost-effective in the long run to buy a new machine as prices have come down and power has gone up. For example, I got a new pc with 2gb of ram for about 2.5 times the cost of the ram alone if I bought the ram separately to upgrade my old machine. |
RealBigDog (11623) | ||
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