Name: bluejay Date: January 26, 2008 at 12:02:08 Pacific Subject: Wish to upgrade computer OS: Windows XP Home SP1 CPU/Ram: P4 1.5ghz 256 ram Model/Manufacturer: Gateway
Comment:
I would like to upgrade my home computer a bit because I like it so well. 1) I plan on adding 512mb of ram since I now have only 256mb. It has 3 slots and mobo can handle 1.5ghz. I assume that I can just plug the new(same type) stick into the next slot and it will be recognized automatically. 2) Want to add a dvd burner have a cd burner now. However, because my power supply is only 160 watts,and am running 2 40gb internal hdds now,(1 is a slave) with no problems. I have found an exact upgrade (specifically for my machine) 300w supply from a company that I just bought a replacement supply from for my other machine. Should that be adaquet power to add the dvd burner? 3) Can I increase the 40gig slave to about 80 or 100 without a problem? I don't do gaming or any of that type of stuff. And lastly, what actual component would need to be changed to bring me from usb 1.0 to 2.0? That is of least importance. Thanks for now. Bluejay
"I assume that I can just plug the new(same type) stick into the next slot and it will be recognized automatically"
Correct.
"Want to add a dvd burner have a cd burner now"
Just remove the CD burner & replace it with the DVD burner...it can handle ALL the burning duties. But if you do want to keep both optical drives, a higher wattage PSU would be a wise move. I wouldn't go with less than 350W. Here's a good choice:
Thanks for the answers jam. As I mentioned, I can get an exact 300w upgrade from the company that supplies replacement parts for the older Gateways for $69. I just got one from them for my other Gateway which was a wierd case configuration and it popped right in. I did look at newegg. Thats where I am going to get the memory and burner. Do you like a particular brand of burner? I had been looking at this one. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... . I would like to keep the cd in place in case I want to copy something. Bluejay
What XPUser is alluding to, I think, is you are going to spend a fair percentage of the cost of a new computer on upgrades and you will still have a computer worth about the same amount. Better to go new instead of upgrading. This is expecially true with OEM computers. By the time you buy more RAM, a new PSU, a new burner, and another harddrive you will no doubt spend maybe half the cost of an equivelent NEW OEM box that will have a faster processor and newer technology.
You could then either keep the old box as a spare or sell it to cover part of the cost of the new computer.
Personally I think $69 is too much to pay for an OEM piece of junk PSU.
(edit) Sorry Sabertooth, I refered to the wrong regular poster above.
Here in the UK a PC Tower without XP/Vista start at £150.00 ($300), and you are planning to spend half that to upgrade an an obsolete (400fsb CPUed) Gateway PC, weird!!!!!!
"Personally I think $69 is too much to pay for an OEM piece of junk PSU"
I agree. Probably a Bestec?? If it's not a standard ATX model though, he may have no choice...unless it's simply a microATX PSU?
"Do you like a particular brand of burner? I had been looking at this one"
That's an SATA burner & I doubt your system supports SATA. This Samsung is only $25, unfortunately it's currently out of stock. Here's the free shipping code if you wanna try to wait it out: EMCABCCAF
Just to add, the DVD burner can be removed & reused in another system, as could the HDD. The RAM? probably not because it's most likely DDR1, maybe even SDR/PC133.
If the system is running OK now with the 160W PSU, simply remove the CD burner & replace it with the DVD burner & the power requirements won't change.
Some of my questions were for my information only. I had only ASKED if going to a larger slave drive was an issue and jam answered that as well as the usb question. I was satisfied and only asked if he had a preference in burner brands. I asked if increaseing the ram was as simple as I thought seeing as how just about everytime I post a question I am told "you need more ram" Ok $30 for a stick of ram. I would like a dvd burner so that I can store more on a dvd disk than a cd. I don't do movies or music. I want storage, most of my digital photos are around 800k or more each. Dvd burner $ 30 or $40. Since power supply is kinda small upgrade to almost double the size. Guaranteed to fit just like the one I replaced in my work machine a couple weeks ago. $69. I now have spent about $150 to get my system more to my likeing. I am not a gammer or any other things that require huge amounts of power or speed. I have an Intel motherboard 1.5ghz with pentium 4 processor. Panasonic floppy, 2 Wd hdds,and I have a 250gb external drive as well. I like my lcd monitor. My tower is nice and big with lots of extra slots. This may be an older machine but it was custom built and was $1800 long before Michael Dell was even in business. I have never opened the case except to add a second hdd and clean it. I have been in the TV sales and service business for nearly 30 years now, so I have seen the decline in quality in everything. I looked at the new machines didn't care for them and even thought of building one. But why when a small amount of money will get me what I want. And my oem piece of junk power supply has been running very well for 6 years now. Bluejay
"And my oem piece of junk power supply has been running very well for 6 years now"
I think OtheHill was referring to the $69 300W PSU as an OEM piece of junk & I would have to agree with him.
Since you say you've "been in the TV sales and service business for nearly 30 years now" you must be at least somewhat familiar with electronic components & hopefully their specs. Have a look at the amperage specs to the Antec 380W unit that I posted in response #1 & compare them to the Gateway OEM unit that you recently bought...I'm willing to bet the Antec unit is better, hands down. And if you are familiar with eletronics, you know that having the proper amperage is more important than overall wattage. There are 500W units that are absolute garbage & decent 250W units that will runs circles around them. You have to know what to look for when picking a PSU because your entire system relies on it.
And as I said in response #7, the DVD burner you linked to uses the SATA interface. I could be wrong but I think it's unlikely that your system supports SATA. If you buy that burner, it will be useless to you. You need a burner that uses the IDE (aka PATA) interface. You've obviously had your case open to install the 2nd HDD & you mentioned that it's the slave...that's definitely IDE. If the data cable is approx 2" wide, it's IDE...if it's 1/4" wide, it's SATA.
The unit that I recently bought was a special shape for a unique case style. http://www.skyline-eng.com/index.cf... If you check that link you will notice it is an odd shape so I couldn't use just any psu. This is the one I mentioned for my home machine http://www.skyline-eng.com/index.cf... I ran across the upgrade one when I looked to see what that company offered but I believe they just have some repair parts for older Gateway and e-machines units. I was refered there by Gateway when the psu in my work machine failed and they no longer carry the parts. I do thurough research before I buy anything and will compare all specs first.I am just starting . I may have linked the wrong burner because I was just leaving work to go look at a new truck but wanted to respond quickly. What I had asked you was if you had a brand preference. I did mention that I had the case open to install the drive and to clean the tower occasionaly. Yes it is a ide ultra100 drive but is only 40gb. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... I thought maybe upping to a 320 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... for more storage as that is all it is used for. I did briefly check out your link to geeks for the usb controller but I don't understand how they work. What I wanted to accomplish was I am running 1.0 on the rear and front jacks now. Can I make both of these 2.0? If so which item(s) do I need to use? Thanks Bluejay
"What I wanted to accomplish was I am running 1.0 on the rear and front jacks now. Can I make both of these 2.0?"
No, you can't magically transform USB 1.1 ports into USB 2.0. If you want USB 2.0 you will have to buy a PCI adapter card. Either that, or replace the motherboard...lol.
It's obvious that the PSU with the angled side isn't a standard off-the-shelf ATX unit, but the 300W PSU *appears* to be standard...the only difference is the fan is mounted outside instead of inside. You could compare the dimensions of your existing unit to the dimensions in this guide:
As for the DVD burner...if you put any stock in the customer reviews at newegg, the Samsung burner is better than the Lite-On, but this Pioneer gets the best reviews:
"This may be an older machine but it was custom built and was $1800 long before Michael Dell was even in business...."
Er ..... Dell was founded in the early 80s & the Pentium 4 line of CPUs debuted at the very end of year 2000, this was well over a decade later .... LOL
You also seem combative about this whole project & I don't believe anyone here has anything to gain or lose over what you do. We are just here to help you make an informed decision, the beauty of it all is: you are at liberty to not even consider any of the advice, let alone follow it.
If you think spending $150 on a machine that is barely worth $50 is the way to go, more power to you. But I am not fooled by that argument that a new inexpensive system like Dell Vostro 200 Pentium Dual Core E2140 1.6Ghz 1GB/80GB, DVD, XP or Vista Desktop + 19" LCD for $379 with free shipping is a worse deal that your $150 investment.
Unfortunately, it is too late to listen to the smart guys from above.
I am sorry, I didn't come here for a discussion on how I should spend my money. I thought jam and I were having a rather informative discussion. And I just searched Dell's website for vostro desktops and I find none with a 19inch lcd for $379 as you have stated. The starting price is $329. http://www.dell.com/content/product... .Also you made only one comment about what it was worth 7 hours ago and jam and I have been carrying on the conversation. I have a 21 year old car with 35,000 miles on it. If it needs tires should I send it to the junkyard? Jam if you wish to continue just say so. I have been learning alot.Also I have links to all the specs for my machine complete with pictures. Check back tomorrow. Bluejay
Because you spend a lot of time around computers you do not have to scold someone for trying to gather information. I came here to learn HOW to do what I intended, whether I do it or not is strickley my business. For financial advice I consult my CPA. I was having an informative conversation with jam, but it seems that is over now. Thanks jam for your effort, you have helped me before. I never did get to see the Dell with 19" lcd monitor for $379 .
I am the one who got beat up on just because I wanted to know HOW to go about upgrading my computer. I asked HOW to do it, not whether to do it. I think it is out of place for someone to tell me that it is not worth it when that wasn't what I asked. Except for a follow up question the first response answered the questions that I had asked quite well. Response #2 is what triggered all the hostility. End of story.
That is because you took things the wrong way. No one beatup on you. Obviously you are distracted today. I said the 300W OEM PSU was a piece of junk not worth $69. You thought I was talking about your current rig. That is obviously not the case as I have no clue of what the PSU cost. You had already stated the current PSU is only 160W and the $69 was 300W. Calling a Gateway a custom computer doesn't make it one either. No one called you on that one either. In addition to the parts I mentioned in my response #5 you may also need an add in PCI based USB card. That is assumming you have an open slot.
To sum it up you were given the same info anyone posting similiar queries would have gotten. Most times they are thankful.
Once again . I did not ask whether I should do it. I wanted to know how to do it. I also said I am just beginning to look into this and I thought I would ask some questions before I started to look at different hardware. I am not being surly when I say this, look at my original post, I asked 4 questions, jam answered all of them to my satisfaction. I thought I was carrying on a conversation with him or her and asked a followup.I did not say I was going to buy that psu. There was no need for anyone to bring up the cost issue especially out of the blue with no explanation of what was meant by the statement, since I did not ask about that. That is what ruffeled my feathers. I am sorry I asked a followup as response #1 answered my questions.
Enough with the shenanigan already. The more you keep posting, the further your foot goes in your mouth. And if you think jam is proud of your insults, that assumption would be consistent with everything else (anecdotal references included) that you've declared during the course of this entire thread -- essentially, pure fallacies with more holes than a Whirlpool washer.
FYI, if the seemingly innocuous response #2 was as acerbic as you claimed in response #20, you should have simply reported it as an offensive follow up for removal. Although, you might have the mods scratching their heads as to what was unpleasant or disrespectful about the question.
Now, to give you the benefit of doubt since you may be having a distracting day as OtheHill speculated, my apologies if I went way out line by asking you "how much your Gateway machine was worth as-is". There was no way I could have gauged your gargantuan ego before asking such an audacious question.
Rather than misappropriating blame & acting bellicose to folks who have genuinely tried to help you with your computing inquiry: without as much as asking for anything in return, why not try something that works -- earn their respect.
You know, we are not paid underlings that you get to push around whenever & however you wish. Unfortunately, you are not the first, nor will you be the last OP to spring out the woodwork with this type of uncouth attitude & just like the others -- you probably won't stick around here to share your wealth of computing knowledge.
I'm not in the mood for bickering right now...maybe later. LOL.
I do agree that sinking a lot of money into an old system isn't the best move, but the only component I really disagree with is the PSU. If the system is currently performing OK with the 160W factory unit, just remove the current optical drive & replace it with a DVD burner. Do the same with the slave HDD...remove the 40GB & replace with 100GB. There should be little or no change in power requirements, so the 160W PSU *probably* won't need to be upgraded.
However, if you feel a PSU upgrade is warranted, do some research to see if a standard unit will work. $69 for what is most likely a crap unit is definitely money wasted...especially since newegg just put the 380W Antec Earthwatts unit on sale for just $5 (after rebate) with free shipping. I don't think anyone will argue with that upgrade. At that price, I may buy one just for the heck of it! ;-)
Hi,jam, I appreciate your input so far. Could you please continue with a response to the very last part of my response#11 about the usb controller so I understand that better. I have had a very busy day at my store today and this is the first time to get back here. Do you happen to know how much current a burner draws, so I can see if my supply can handle it? The specs I have seen don't give that rating. What I mainly wanted to do in the near future is add 512mb of ram (definately needed) and add the dvd burner. The rest was just for my information. I asked about the larger slave drive because I didn't know if there was a limitation as to size, but adding a dvd burner to be able to store more on a single disk may eliminate the need to do that. Bluejay
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