OT:Are Dells upgradable?

First, thanks for recent advice on system upgrades. Now that I'm still considering ignoring it and getting a Dell :-) ... If I *do* get a Dell (5500), are they 100% compatible with off-the-shelf parts for when I do eventually want to piece-upgrade it? Most importantly, do they use standard ATX motherboards? BTW, anyone know if their MB bios allow oc'ing? I'll likely get a a P4-2.4 and Dell use's MB's with the 845PE chipset. Last, any idea who makes the MB?? Thanks for your assistance, Dave

"DM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:T2NK9.61537$[email hidden]... > First, thanks for recent advice on system upgrades. Now that I'm still > considering ignoring it and getting a Dell :-) ... > > If I *do* get a Dell (5500), are they 100% compatible with off-the-shelfparts > for when I do eventually want to piece-upgrade it?Probably not >Most importantly, do they > use standard ATX motherboards?Not likely > BTW, anyone know if their MB bios allow oc'ing? I'll likely get a aP4-2.4 > and Dell use's MB's with the 845PE chipset.Doubt it. Even if they allow it - they wont be great performers and the CPU cooling wont be up to much and the ram wont like it either. > > Last, any idea who makes the MB?? You'll probably never know. I couldnt ever advise anyone to buy a PC from a manufacturer like dell/gateway/tiny etc etc - it doesnt make sense. Building a PC is very easy ( no really - it is - all the bits can just about go together in only one way ) - Athlons offer a lot of bang per buck - and an nForce 2 motherboard offerers upgrade paths thru to the Barton core and perform amazingly. Something like an Athlon 2400+, 512mb Ram, Asus nForce 2 mobo, GF4 Ti4600, 80gb HDD blah blah - you'll have a lot more options for upgrading in the future - and you'll be able to do it yourself. Doug

DM wrote: > Are Dells upgradable? Yep, throw them in the nearest dustbin and purchase a new system. :) Gerry

"Gerry Aitken" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > DM wrote: > > > Are Dells upgradable? > > Yep, throw them in the nearest dustbin and purchase a new system. :) Thats for a Mac silly. With a dell - you get to keep the floppy drive, hard drive, keyboard and mouse Doug

"Doug Ellison" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:PKNK9.1328$4k6.154923@wards...

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> > "Gerry Aitken" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:[email hidden]... > > DM wrote: > > > > > Are Dells upgradable? > > > > Yep, throw them in the nearest dustbin and purchase a new system. :) > > Thats for a Mac silly.

I was lurking in a Mac group the other day and saw a post titled "I've lost all my files!" LOL - I'd like to see that on one of their commercials ;P - Dave

"DM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:T2NK9.61537$[email hidden]...

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> First, thanks for recent advice on system upgrades. Now that I'm still > considering ignoring it and getting a Dell :-) ... > > If I *do* get a Dell (5500), are they 100% compatible with off-the-shelf parts > for when I do eventually want to piece-upgrade it? Most importantly, do they > use standard ATX motherboards? > > BTW, anyone know if their MB bios allow oc'ing? I'll likely get a a P4-2.4 > and Dell use's MB's with the 845PE chipset. > > Last, any idea who makes the MB?? > > Thanks for your assistance, > Dave

You can find answers to most of your Dell questions at alt.sys.pc-clone.dell - Dave

"Dave Cook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:C1OK9.1314$[email hidden]...

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> "Doug Ellison" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:PKNK9.1328$4k6.154923@wards... > > > > "Gerry Aitken" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > > news:[email hidden]... > > > DM wrote: > > > > > > > Are Dells upgradable? > > > > > > Yep, throw them in the nearest dustbin and purchase a new system. :) > > > > Thats for a Mac silly. > > I was lurking in a Mac group the other day and saw a post titled "I've

lost all > my files!" LOL - I'd like to see that on one of their commercials ;P I had to deal with Macs during my uni course for 3 years. Never understood their file structure. Doug

"Doug Ellison" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:skOK9.1241$h43.177071@stones... > I had to deal with Macs during my uni course for 3 years. Never understood > their file structure. > > Doug Coming from a Unix background and being very impressed with the OS X interface I have to admit that it's enticing to me. My 12 year old son has to use Mac's at school though, and he hates them... - Dave

I have a 2.53 Dell system with a gig of PC800RDRAM, and the Ti4600 video card, and I have a Dell 1.5 system that I have upgraded with a 1.9ghz chip and a Ti4600 with no problems, and I plan on sticking the Geforce FX and a 3.6ghz chip in the newer early next year. "Dave Cook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:66OK9.1320$[email hidden]... > "DM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:T2NK9.61537$[email hidden]... > > First, thanks for recent advice on system upgrades. Now that I'm still > > considering ignoring it and getting a Dell :-) ... > > > > If I *do* get a Dell (5500), are they 100% compatible with off-the-shelfparts > > for when I do eventually want to piece-upgrade it? Most importantly, dothey > > use standard ATX motherboards? > > > > BTW, anyone know if their MB bios allow oc'ing? I'll likely get a aP4-2.4

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> > and Dell use's MB's with the 845PE chipset. > > > > Last, any idea who makes the MB?? > > > > Thanks for your assistance, > > Dave > > You can find answers to most of your Dell questions at

alt.sys.pc-clone.dell

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> > - Dave > > > > >

Do yourself a favour and listen to what the guys here say. My first pc was a Packard Bell pentium 150. When it came to upgrading, all we kept was the cd, keyboard, hard drive, mouse and monitor. Actually, I'm still using the monitor/speakers combo. Everyting else was useless after the upgrade. Honestly, building a pc is very very easy. Everything comes with very clear instructions on how to install it. I don't about where you guys live, but most computer stores here in Australia, you select the parts you want. They charge you their price plus normal markup, and charge roughly $20 to put it together. Saves you heaps of money. When you buy a Brand Name computer, you have to pay for the CEO's huge salary and all the companys overheads. Best of luck with your new system Steve

In article <3dfbd387$0$21520$[email hidden]>, "Steve Whitty" <[email hidden]> wrote: >Do yourself a favour and listen to what the guys here say. >... >Honestly, building a pc is very very easy. >... >Saves you heaps of money. >Best of luck with your new system Thanks for the input and wishes. And thanks to a previous poster for the Dell ng link. Oh, btw, I meant model # 4550 (not 5500). Believe me, I've done the build and upgrade route. About all that's left of my original 386 is, well, the floppy drive. I've been through 5 CPU's and MB's since. And I have checked on prices at newegg, pricewatch, a local reseller with an excellent rep from who'm I've bought before. Dell systems are quite competitive. About all that they can shortcut on is the MB, so that's why I've been trying to find out if they do indeed shortcut there. And sometimes, it appears they may beat what you can get. Right now they have the ATI 9700 (non-Pro) as a $140 upgrade on the crappy G4 MX420. Pricewatch has a best price of $250. So, I thought instead of buying umpteen components from a bunch of different resellers, and crossing my fingers (yet again) that all works out, I'd consider trying a different approach. Not that Dell is a sure thing. Thanks to all for the feedback (and yes, it's in part to get back into auto sims like F1/GTR 2002).

Doug Ellison wrote:

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> > "Gerry Aitken" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:[email hidden]... > > DM wrote: > > > > > Are Dells upgradable? > > > > Yep, throw them in the nearest dustbin and purchase a new system. :) > > Thats for a Mac silly. > > With a dell - you get to keep the floppy drive, hard drive, keyboard and > mouse

Is all that stuff removable? I thought it was all nailed to the MB? :)

I'm going to have to agree with DM. I've owned several Dell's, and I have upgraded various components over their lifetimes. When it gets to the point where I have to upgrade the CPU, the other components are so backdated that it's easier just to replace the entire system. Also, while I don't look down upon those people who want to build their own systems, I'd rather have one phone number to call if something goes wrong.. "DM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:2GTK9.64927$[email hidden]... > In article <3dfbd387$0$21520$[email hidden]>, "SteveWhitty" <[email hidden]> wrote:

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> >Do yourself a favour and listen to what the guys here say. > >... > >Honestly, building a pc is very very easy. > >... > >Saves you heaps of money. > >Best of luck with your new system > > Thanks for the input and wishes. And thanks to a previous poster for > the Dell ng link. > > Oh, btw, I meant model # 4550 (not 5500). > > Believe me, I've done the build and upgrade route. About all that's > left of my original 386 is, well, the floppy drive. I've been > through 5 CPU's and MB's since. And I have checked on prices at > newegg, pricewatch, a local reseller with an excellent rep from who'm > I've bought before. Dell systems are quite competitive. About all > that they can shortcut on is the MB, so that's why I've been trying to > find out if they do indeed shortcut there. > > And sometimes, it appears they may beat what you can get. Right now > they have the ATI 9700 (non-Pro) as a $140 upgrade on the crappy G4 > MX420. Pricewatch has a best price of $250. > > So, I thought instead of buying umpteen components from a bunch of > different resellers, and crossing my fingers (yet again) that all > works out, I'd consider trying a different approach. Not that Dell is > a sure thing. > > Thanks to all for the feedback (and yes, it's in part to get back into > auto sims like F1/GTR 2002).

On Sun, 15 Dec 2002 00:08:07 -0500, David Horrocks <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>The only reason they are not upgradable is because of the proprietary >Power Supply connector for the mb. You can put in a new HD, video card >etc. Then if you want a new mb you would have to get a new PS and you >would have to make sure the new mb and PS fits in the Dell case. My >first PC was a Dell Dimension 486 DX/33 and it was good for it's time >and I did upgrade the cpu to DX2/66 and put in a second HD. My next PC >though was a P90 and I made sure it was a no-name clone so that it was >easlily upgradable. If buying a completely new PC it is usually >cheaper to buy a whole system than to build yourself so make sure it >is a basic clone with good components and then you will have no >problem upgrading. Many places sell these kinds of PC's, for less than >Dell too, I would only recommend a Dell to a new PC user who might >need the 24hr onsite support.

I'm glad someone brought that little scam to my attention a while back. The fact is that the M/B and PS are essentially one unit (in that to upgrade one you must do the other) While I would slightly hesitate to say go Dell to my mother (at least till I can stop being her tech support) I would say not for anyone in this group who *CAN* build their own Dell's way means that if you go their route a $100 MB will run you $200 and is only available from them in their configuration (probably the cheapest board Intel makes (if a P$)

Dell has a tendancy to modify things to suit them. From what I understand (I haven't seen it yet) Dell doesn't use the standard ATX Power Connector scheme. They have modified motherboards and power supplies that only match each other. If you are truly interested in a lifetime of ripple-upgrades, then you really need to build your own machine from the start. -Larry "DM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:T2NK9.61537$[email hidden]... > First, thanks for recent advice on system upgrades. Now that I'm still > considering ignoring it and getting a Dell :-) ... > > If I *do* get a Dell (5500), are they 100% compatible with off-the-shelfparts > for when I do eventually want to piece-upgrade it? Most importantly, dothey > use standard ATX motherboards? > > BTW, anyone know if their MB bios allow oc'ing? I'll likely get a aP4-2.4

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> and Dell use's MB's with the 845PE chipset. > > Last, any idea who makes the MB?? > > Thanks for your assistance, > Dave > >

You do the same with Mac's :) -Larry "Doug Ellison" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:PKNK9.1328$4k6.154923@wards...

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> > "Gerry Aitken" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:[email hidden]... > > DM wrote: > > > > > Are Dells upgradable? > > > > Yep, throw them in the nearest dustbin and purchase a new system. :) > > Thats for a Mac silly. > > With a dell - you get to keep the floppy drive, hard drive, keyboard and > mouse > > Doug > >

Hmmm.... A file inside of a folder, possibly inside yet another folder. Repeat if necessary. Sounds pretty normal to me :) -Larry "Doug Ellison" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:skOK9.1241$h43.177071@stones...

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> > "Dave Cook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:C1OK9.1314$[email hidden]... > > "Doug Ellison" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > > news:PKNK9.1328$4k6.154923@wards... > > > > > > "Gerry Aitken" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > > > news:[email hidden]... > > > > DM wrote: > > > > > > > > > Are Dells upgradable? > > > > > > > > Yep, throw them in the nearest dustbin and purchase a new system. :) > > > > > > Thats for a Mac silly. > > > > I was lurking in a Mac group the other day and saw a post titled "I've > lost all > > my files!" LOL - I'd like to see that on one of their commercials ;P > > I had to deal with Macs during my uni course for 3 years. Never

understood > their file structure. > > Doug > >