pc help

[EtchedPixels]

8 GB may be fine & dandy - but if you're using a 32-bit system it's an utter waste of money !  32-bit OS's cannot access above 3.5GB RAM (so plug 4GB in) ...  You need a 64-bit OS for that.

Mike

Sorry I forgot the Windows people still used a 32bit OS ...

[londonboi1985]

So what roughly would I be lOoking at to upgrade this system to work

[Sprintex]

448MB RAM ?  I'm surprised anything is running, including WinDoze !

My current Dell laptop has only 448MB RAM, that is the maximum it is upgradeable to as it's a few years old now. Nevertheless Windows XP SP3 runs just fine, as does everything else 


Paul

[londonboi1985]

Hi can I just check haad a look my pc I removved this faan thing and theere was a little square thing stuck underneath it with white paste is this the processor that I want to replace it has hundreds of little gold pins/teeth underneath it is this what I replace when changing processors

[Flakmunky]

Please be careful, ground yourself before touching anything inside your PC as electrostatic discharge can fry things... Also DONT run your PC without that fan securely attached, your CPU can overheat in seconds...

If you are a complete novice to upgrading a PC I would recommend you either buy a new upgraded system or find someone who can help you... It will be very difficult for forum members to talk you through the procedure.

[londonboi1985]

Cheers for the tip the pc turns on finee again having a look all fans start spinning however thhe orange light stays on the monitor and nothing displays???

[MikeDunn]

Sorry I forgot the Windows people still used a 32bit OS ...

It's an option, not a requirement ...  I've been using 64-bit Wintel OS for many years (server & desktop), and have been on 64-bit on my home PC since XP ...

Cheers for the tip the pc turns on finee again having a look all fans start spinning however thhe orange light stays on the monitor and nothing displays???

I did say if you don't know what you're doing don't do it ...  :'(

Sounds like you took the processor out, yes ?  Did you put it the right way back in ?  Have you applied more heat compound to the top of the processor / base of the fan ?  Is the fan clipped back / cabled in again ?  Did you remove any other cables ?  Not as simple as you've not plugged in the mouse / keyboard / monitor, is it ?

Worst case - you've shorted something (maybe the processor, maybe the main board) & you need to take it to a technician (and no I don't mean those muppets in PC World or similar, find a decent local PC repair place) for full diagnosis / repair - or just buy a new one.

Mike

[Sprintex]

Orange light on the monitor and no display sounds like it's not getting a signal at all. Either something display-related is still unplugged somewhere, or you've fried something related to it.

I've taken my laptop apart before to fix a screen cut-out problem but that was just removing screws and trim parts, not knowing that much about PC electronics myself I'd NEVER touch the motherboard or its components for fear of killing it 


Paul

[Fratton]

you can buy bare bones bundles from the novatech link i gave you, where they supply you with the bare system and you can use the old hard drives and cd drives from your last system,,, i did that for 3 pc's before my latest,,, a dell 9200 inspiron not a bad rig after i upped the ram and new graphics card, but i must warn i got world of subways 3 last week and my modest system wont play it well,,,,,,,,, i'm taking an rig off my grandfather in laws hands thats younger and better so once ive frankenstien'd the best bits from both pc's together HDD's Blue ray drives etc should have something to run it properly,,,,, as has been said before watch for static electricity, a friend of mine fritzed his iphone due to not taking precautions i have a bangle in my drawer that clips onto our radiator to rid of any static and dont take apart or change what you dont fully understand,,, the amount of pc's a friend of mine has fixed where someone couldnt resist changing the red voltage selector swith on the PSU at the back,,,

[poliss]

You shouldn't run your PC with a panel removed. The cooling system only works properly if the panels are in place. You can't tell what processor you need just by looking at it. You need to know the name of your system. You haven't told us yet. Is it a Dell, or a Hewlet Packard or what?
You shouldn't remove parts unless you know what you're doing. The fan on the processor is sometimes held on by a fragile ring which cannot be replaced if it comes out.
I have the instruction book for my motherboard which tells me where everything goes and the upgrade options. For instance, it tells me that I have a ZIF Socket 478 to install a Pentium 4 CPU with a 400MHz/533MHz System Data Bus.

[londonboi1985]

Tis a. Compaqi

[red_death]

The processor model should come up when booting through the bios (alternatively look at the BIOS), but if changing the processor it often helps to know the motherboard as well.

WRT to memory if it is displaying 448 MB for the RAM then it sounds like the system is either using some memory for graphics (eg a 512 MB with 64 MB used for graphics) or that the memory slots have just been filled with a bizarre combo of memory eg 256, 128 and 64.  If the latter it should be possible to put more a lot more memory in (though whether it is worth doing so will depend on the rest of the specs!).

[poliss]

Compaq make a lot of computers. You need to know the exact model.
Running the Belarc Advisor on my computer shows that my main circuit board is:
Board: http://www.abit.com.tw/ IT7-MAX2 (Intel i845PE-ICH4) 2.0
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG 03/27/2003

Running the Crucial System Scanner shows that I have:
Memory:DDR PC2700, DDR PC3200
Memory Type: DDR PC2700, DDR PC3200, DDR (non-ECC)
Maximum Memory: 2GB
Currently Installed Memory: 2GB
Total Memory Slots: 3
Available Memory Slots:1
Each memory slot can hold DDR PC2700, DDR PC3200 with a maximum of 1GB per slot.*
*Not to exceed manufacturer supported memory.

Although it is physically possible to install more memory, the system will only recognize the maximum listed. Installing more memory may cause major problems. Consult the system's manufacturer for more information.

I can go to http://www.abit.com.tw, find my motherboard, IT7-MAX2, and see what processor I can use.

If you don't have all the information you can't upgrade your PC.

[Pembo]

I've recently built myself a new computer using parts from this site:
http://www.aria.co.uk/

You can get a decent gaming PC for around £450 that will play all of the latest games. you can unscrew the hard disc from your old pc and plug it into your new pc so that you keep all of your files. 
http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Gaming+Range/Gladiator/Gladiator+IBIS+Deluxe+Intel+Core+i3-2100+%40+3.10GHz+DDR3+Gaming+PC+?productId=46328

If that's too much they sell more affordable 'family pcs' that arent quite as powerful but are much cheaper.  This one is £240
http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Home+and+Office/Family+PCs/Gladiator+Inspire+3300+Value+Desktop+PC+?productId=47277

They also sell components at very competitive prices so you can build your own pc (like I just did)

I'd also like to make it clear that i'm not affiliated with this company. They're just very good value which is important if you're a student like me 

[MikeDunn]

I've recently built myself a new computer using parts

Just curious ...

Was it part built (eg processor already installed onto a motherboard already in the case), or did you have an empty case & a lot of boxes ?

Mike