Techies of the BBS, please help! I’m looking to give my wife’s old Dell Dimension L7331 an extreme makeover – new hard drive and more RAM. I found a deal at Staples on a Maxtor Ultra Series 160GB hard drive for $60. Also found a deal at Circuit City on the Kingston 512MB PC3200 DDR Memory for super cheap after rebates. So, here are my questions: 1. Anyone ever used a Maxtor hard drive? Are they reliable/unreliable? If not, which hard drive manufacturers do you recommend? 2. What kinds of specs do I need to look at on the Dell Dimension to know if the Maxtor and the Kingston are compatible? Or are all hard drives and RAM memory standard for desktop PCs? I don’t want to go out and buy these things only to return them because they don’t fit my old Dell. Thanks!
Thats a good price for a 1160GB HDD. I usually get all my parts from newegg.com but thats a great deal. Maxtor isnt bad really. They have gotten better. Just make sure you get a IDE hard drive as opposed to a SATA drive (for newer models). SATA wont work on any older models like you have. Most SATA board have IDE connections though. I usually use Western Digital Raptors in the stuff I build and they fly but for that older model I am almost positive the maxtor will be fine as long as its IDE. I dont think you need that 3200 DDR memory. I am guessing you might use PC 100/133 for that older Dell. Desktop RAM is not all compatible so check that to be sure. Good luck
Hmm I always thought if you put faster ram into a computer that uses slower ram, it will only run on that slower speed. But the advantage of buying the faster type ram right now, would be that you could use it later down the line for newer computers.
Normally true but Dells can sometimes be picky (maybe just my experiences with them) I figured I would just have him get what Dell specs call for and save him any possible conflicts.
wrath, you're right except this is a different type of ram altogether (not just different speeds). DDR is Double Data Rate memory, which is different from the older standard of SDR, which is just Single Data Rate. Can't use them interchanageably. Double check to see what kind of memory the Dell supports before you go buy the wrong standard. (You can open up the computer and look at the memory physically if you need to, but you should be able to find it in your computer specs).
Outpost has a Maxtor 200gb for 69.99 plus shipping.. http://shop2.outpost.com/product/3492233?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
Ah I hate to have to say this but, you should probably not upgrade that system. After some thorough searching to find the Dell L733r system specs, I found it to support a ATA-66 Bus along with a PC133 Memory compatibility. Although I am pretty certain of this, you could confirm it with me by going into your bios to tell me the FSB and Hard Drive type already installed in your system. The 160 GB Hard Drive may work, however, until you get a better system will be wasted as it will only work at ATA-66 speeds as opposed to a more natural ATA-100 or even ATA-133 on a newer system. The Ram will almost definitely not work, and I can almost guarantee that. The L733r system will only work with outdated memory, which seems to be a commodity these days and is overpriced almost as much as modern Ram. However, you cannot buy a more recent PC3200 184-Pin stick of Kingston and place it into a PC-133/PC-100 slot, and although Wakkoman is mostly right, this level of Ram difference has 168 Pins, and will not even fit the larger 184. Dammit I talk too much: here is your solution. Either A) Don't Upgrade Or B) Use these sites I got this information from www.pricewatch.com if you want to search yourself. Reliable Micron memory, from a 4/5 star dealer at PC-133 for $46 Finding a hard drive will be tougher, you could always buy that hard drive at staples, take a risk and use a toggle utility to lower it from ATA-100 to ATA-66. Or leave it at ATA-100 with a few minor compatibility issues.
Just checked, the Dell Dimension L series uses PC100 SDRAM memory, you could run the PC133 in there at PC100 speeds most likely if thats cheaper. But look for PC 100/133 SDRAM when buying not DDR.
Hey, thanks everyone for taking the time to give me some well thought-out and researched advice. As you can probably tell, I don’t really know what I’m doing here, so this help is greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, getting an entirely new PC isn’t an option at this time. However, this desktop clearly needs more oomph as performance is starting to lag (puny 10 GB HDD), so I’m hoping I can find a cheap solution. (By the way, I’m at work right now and can’t go into the system to check for the info you all requested.) Let me see if I understood the bottom line: 1. For the RAM, I need SDR and not DDR RAM. I also need a PC133 stick (which has 184 pins). One option would be the reasonably Micron product that Fuzzybear found. 2. For the Hard Drive, I need an IDE and not a SATA drive. I could get the drive from Staples but there might be “minor compatibility issues.” Fuzzybear, what kind if “minor compatibility issues” am I looking at? Since I’m no expert, I’m not confident in my ability to troubleshoot any issues down the road. I’d rather get something I know works.
Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!, I have friends that swear by Fry's. Look at their daily sales ad in the chronicle.
I've got 512MB (Crucible, 2 sticks) PC133 ram i can't use cuz of a recent upgrade. PM me if you want them. Just give me 4 bux for shipping.
Aww, look at the BBS love. One quick thing - don't older BIOS have a problem with HDs that are larger than 40 gigs? I'm trying to rack it up in my memory, but it's been a while.
Wow that's mighty nice of you Kyakko, Khan, you should jump on this. BTW - your ram has 168 pins while the newer ones have 184 and most recently i believe 240. Here's my suggestion, get the seagate 200 GB off of outpost (if you don't mind rebates) for $70. Seagate is the most reliable hard drive manufacturer period. They have a five year warranty, and they quote themselves to be backward compatible. I'm pretty sure that this is a safe bet. IF it has any issues, you can post again and I can send a link to a ATA-66 toggle program, which should be simple to use. In the worst case scenario, you can always return it in one month, and you should know if it is working in that time. Seagate's reliable 200GB HD
Kyakko, I'm all over that (per my consultant Fuzzybear's advice). Looks like you're offline now, though, and I can't e-mail you through the board. Can you e-mail me through my profile and let me know we can coordinate? That doesn't sound good. Anyone know about this? 40 GB would be plenty for me. Fuzzybear, thanks for the link to the Seagate drive. I was wondering about Seagate vs. Maxtor -- when you look an on-line user reviews you get equal amounts of people hating and loving both manufacturers. I'm digging the five year warranty; Maxtor's one year warranty was worrisome.
Thats really subjective. Western Digital has been way more reliable for me. Dont get me wrong, for that price Seagate isnt bad though.
I think you'll be okay on the BIOS problem I mentioned. I think the limitation was on > 8.4 gigs (back in the day), but since you have a 10 gig already, I think you'll be okay.
Cool, thanks for the clarification. Sounds like I'll be in good shape. Well, I think I'm set for now. I'll order the Seagate drive when I get home and coordinate with Kyakko on the RAM. Thanks again for everyone's help in this thread. When I have trouble installing all this stuff, I'll be back asking for help again. (For the record, though, I have successfully replaced hard drives and added RAM to a laptop before. )
70 bucks for a HD, 40 bucks for memory. that's 110 bucks Here is a system for 199AR http://www.vster.com/ccsystem.jpg Starts Next Week. This should meet your basic needs while upgrading t something a bit better.
