A few questions.

[tokin]

Well on my system info it says "2.78 GHZ' but then it says 2.8..does that mean its already been overclocked? I want to know how to overclock my videocard and cpu if possible. Anyone know how? A program maybe? Also i opened up my dell pc and took out my ram, its from like www.samsungsemi.com and i have to order it in pairs, so im thinking about getting 2 128MBs but i need to know which kind to get...i dont want to get some that will mess it up. They say if i get EEC or ECC or non EEC or ECC then it will not work...anyone know anything about any of this or can help me at all?

 

[Sgt.Igneri]

No, its the speed of the CPU. 2.78 is basically 2.8. On this dell i have a P4 1.6, but the real speed is like 1.59 or something. What vid card do you have? To OC an Nvidia card you need CoolBits, search on google. To OC a radeon you need rage tuner: www.rage3d.com I suggest not OCing anything on a prebuilt computer though, not enough cooling. As for the RAM, you dont need to buy the same brand. Just the same speed as the rest of the RAM in your comp.

 

[tokin]

well i need the right kind though, and im worried if i get another 256 which would be 512 + 256...then it might be to much and my computer could overheat. So im thinking i might stay with what i have but do you think if i got another 256 that i would have a problem? And yes i do need to get the right kind, im not sure what kind i should get though...ddram? i have 2 stricks of 256 of something...they are covered my a silver metal coat and have www.samsungsemi.com on it and some barcode...

 

[Sgt.Igneri]

Ok, like i said, you dont need the same brand RAM. How many slots are left on your mobo? It wont overheat, so dont worry. The only thing you should worry about is the speed. Say you have 2x256mb PC2100, then you need to buy PC2100 to work right. The silver things are heatspreaders, helps cool them down. It wont overheat anyway. You can buy heatspreaders and just stick em on the RAM.

 

[Hudson]

if its a dell thats been purchased before the last month or 2, it probably uses RAMBUS (rd ram), thats what mine uses. Its probably ECC (thats what mine is) but dont put full trust in me, and yeah RD ram does have to be bought in pairs, and its damn expensive too .

 

[tokin]

yeah i have 4 slots, 2 are taken with 2 256mb ram....so i guess ill buy 2 128mbs ram, i found a dell site for the dell dimension 8200 and it said i have to order them in a pair and its like $160 for 256mb of ram...!!!

 

[Sgt.Igneri]

Dude, will you listen to me. #1 Buy from newegg. #2 dont buy 2x128mb modules, just buy a stick of 256mb. www.newegg.com Just buy the RAM speed that you have now. The brand does NOT matter!!!

 

[tokin]

I have to buy 2 sticks of the same kind, it has to be installed in pairs....trust me. I want to buy 2x256mbs but its like close to 200 so im going with 2x128mbs....now i might buy from newegg...so far the best prices ive found are about $110. But...im only found PC800...and im not sure how fast my memory is...how can i tell? Also my memory is Rimm with the metal coatings but it does not have ECC.

 

[Sgt.Igneri]

Ok, you should have said it was RDRAM. D/l a system diagnostic tool like SiSoft Sandra to tell the speed of it.

 

[Chris D]

My mobo has 8 slots. Apparently each slot can hold no more than 256MB. So I can pretty much only use 256MB modules. I can have up to 2GB. That's what I was told anyway.

 

[Sgt.Igneri]

8 SLOTS? What??? Are you sure its not 4 slots? 8 slots is what server mobos have.

 

[Ridic]

With 8 slots you should be able to have mroe than 2gb anyways, i have 3 slots and i can get 4-5gb

 

[tokin]

any other way? i cant really find the program to download from this site that you gave me for Sisoft Sandra.

 

[bx|ch3f_0z]

well.. Just make sure you get ram from a dealer you trust. Newegg,allstar or googlegear. But Id always start at pricewatch.

edit:This will give you everything you wanted to know about your system.
and then some

 

[Sgt.Igneri]

I never used that, but in a nutshell: It sucked. http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/index.html?dir=dload&location=sware_dl_x86&langx=en&a= Theres a bunch of mirrors for SiSoft SANRA there.

 

[bx|ch3f_0z]

Originally posted by Sgt.Igneri
Ok, you should have said it was RDRAM. D/l a system diagnostic tool like SiSoft Sandra to tell the speed of it.

But cupz does that.
If you looking for someting to run dios or of that sort then run sandra. But if your o/c and what a good reading of all your parts m/b, ram, cpu, stepping... then run with cpuz .
If your looking to burn in your new hardware do a search for "prime 95".
Alot stronger some say has far as burn inn's go.

Here's a fourm that talks about it