Upgrading beyond 4gb

[mbrown10105]

I am running windows 7 64 bit. I have a dell dimension 9200 of which ive updated to solid state, blue drives and a new AMD HD 6790 graphics card.

I have 4gb ram but would like to upgrade to 6gb or even 8gb but ive had a look about and it says on crucial.com i'm limited to 4gb:

Your Dimension 9200 System Specs
System specs as shipped by the manufacturer.
Scan your system to view your specific system configuration.
Memory:
DDR2 PC2-5300
Memory Type: DDR2 PC2-5300, DDR2 (non-ECC)
Maximum Memory: 4GB
Slots: 4
Each memory slot can hold DDR2 PC2-5300 with a maximum of 1GB per slot.*

Is there no way of having more than 4gb and if not how do i transfer the components i've bought...? do i need to buy a new motherboard?

Thanks for your help

[RicheemxX]

If the motherboard only supports 4gb then there isn't much you can do. You might check the dell site for a bios update but most likely you'll need a new motherboard.

Just curious with all the additions you've made what cpu are you running and what are you doing with this system?

You are saying you added SSD and "blue drives" you mean blu-ray?
Did you add a better psu with that new video card?

[ShyguyXPC]

unless your doing something on that PC that actually NEEDS more than 4GB of RAM, its not worth it adding another 2GB or 4GB of DDR2, DDR2 is finally on the way out and DDR3 finally taking over (been waiting long enough, but this year finally saw DDR3 pricing drop and supply/demand significantly increase).

DDR2 pricing is still reasonably "Cheap" but prices are climbing as its phased out.


But Rich is right would need to check to see if a Bios update at all would allow more increase, but I doubt it.

in order for more RAM you'd need a newer better Motherboard.

But considering the existing system, you'd be better off just updating the entire PC (CPU, RAM & Mobo), and just migrate the newer GPU & Drives over to it.

[mbrown10105]

Thanks for the help. So probably looks like i need to buy a new system or at least the core parts. Motherboard, cpu etc...

My CPU is Intel Viiv Duo 2.66 GHz , and yes it was a typo meant blu-ray drives. I didn't add a new psu for the graphics card as i switched from Nvidia 8800 GTX so didn't need to. I more upgrade the computer either when there is a malfunction or a big improvement to be had.

Any good recommendations on a core new system to switch my components to?

Thanks

[RicheemxX]

Couple ways to look at this:

1) why are you upgrading? gaming? general usage what?

2) what is your budget, have you already ordered anything? what are you using the system for?

As far as PSUs go, just because your unit runs your card now doesn't mean it will last under load or under awhile under stress. If its just the dell PSU that came with the unit you are probably barely running the system. A PSU isn't something to be overlooked.

[ShyguyXPC]

Add in the fact the 8800GTX is quite old by modern standards, being at least 5 years old already.

sure it was a power hog back then, and the newer cards use less power, but if the PSU dates back from that era as well, it might be aged too much and not performing as efficiently as well.

[mbrown10105]

I will probably buy a new psu then, would this be an adequate replacement? :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/OCZ-600W-Mod...0227554&sr=8-4

I am going to buy a new base unit and motherboard soon, so i can transfer everything over. I used the computer for high end video editing, dvd production and some low level gaming (Crysis, battlefield, gta etc...)

Once i have done this will that be enough? or anything else i need to replace?

[osprey4]

The Dimension 9200 can take a regular ATX power supply, but the case can present problems. The mounting is not proprietary but the cables may be cramped and the standard hard drive power connectors may not fit the case.

[mbrown10105]

This is all getting a bit much i have decided. I am going to buy a new base computer as i have no guarantee that even with the new psu the graphics card will work. The graphics card drives crashed on my nvidia 8800 gtx, then blue lines appeared. so i switched out the graphics card for this 6790 one and got blue screen of death. Need more power. New psu might not even fix it. So im going to get a base computer, get on board the i7 train or quad core, DDR3 and a 500W PSU. Then i will switch over the 6790 graphics card, blue ray drives, SSD drives. This should all go swimmingly and solve all my problems right?

[ShyguyXPC]

the OCZ you listed is overkill for the 6790.

a Good OCZ or Corsair 430-450W unit honestly would be enough. Or even a 500-550W OCZ, Corsair, Antec, or other similar quality brand with Dual 6 pin PCIe connectors would be enough.

its the +12V Amp rating that is the important thing on modern PSU's, as well as being a quality build/brand unit.

If you go a whole new Base computer, I'd just buy individual parts, and build yourself. You learn about the PC, and its parts, and how to fix things, plus you know all of the parts you added for future reference.

Depending on your Budget for those parts, AMD Phenom II X4 would be a good starting point, or Intel Core i5 Quad would be for the higher price ranges.