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08-07-2004, 06:46 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-07-2004, 06:47 AM by Taem.)
I need to upgrade my RAM, video card, and processor but I need to know what my motherboard can handle before I go out and blow a bunch of cash (i.e. how many AGP slots I have, what RAM and pin number my dim slots use, how many dim slots I have, how much RAM each dim slot can handle, how much RAM my motherboard can handle, the maximum processor speed my motherboard can handle). If I knew which one I had in my computer, I could easily look up this information. Does anyone here know how to check what motherboard is in your computer from the desktop without opening up the computer? Or if you do open it up, where the name of the motherboard is located?
So far, I've tried right clicking on My Computer/Properties/Device Manager/Device Manager, but couldn't find it.
I also tried START/Program Files/Accessories/System Tools/System Information, but nothing was there either.
Thanks for any help ahead of time.
"The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self." -Albert Einsetin
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08-07-2004, 09:00 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-07-2004, 09:09 AM by Kylearan.)
Hi,
try Everest, an amazing freeware program that shows you all kind of statistics about your computer hardware. It will show you the vendor and model of your motherboard, and even will provide a link to the manufacturer's homepage, both for the exact specs of the board and for bios upgrades.
Hope that helps,
-Kylearan
There are two kinds of fools. One says, "This is old, and therefore good." And one says, "This is new, and therefore better." - John Brunner, The Shockwave Rider
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Hi,
That's a pretty fine program. Thanks.
--Pete
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08-07-2004, 03:05 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-07-2004, 03:14 PM by Taem.)
Hey thanks for the help and the quick replies. After finding out what my motherboard was, I have just one last question you may know. My motherboard is the Intel Winnipeg D845WN and I went to Intelâs web site but was a bit confused: http://support.intel.com/support/motherboa...b/CS-008926.htm
I want to upgrade my processor but I think it says the highest I can get is a 2.6 GHZ. Is that right?
I want to use the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro video card or the geforce fx9500 Ultra but I don't know if this is possible with this motherboard. It says I have a 4x/2x AGP connector, but I don't know what this means in regards to the card I would like to have. Both cards require the following: Quote:Intel® Pentium® 4, AMD® Athlon® or higher with AGP 8X (0.8v), 4X (1.5V) or Universal AGP 3.0 bus configuration (8X/4X).
It says the compatible ram is PC 133 SDRAM, but when I had the computer build, it originally came with DDR ram but I asked them to use SDRAM because at the time, DDR wasnât much faster than SDRAM and SDRAM was much cheaper. Can this motherboard use DDR ram?
Once again, thanks for any replies ahead of time.
"The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self." -Albert Einsetin
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Ah ha! So that is what happened to AIDA32. I knew the guy who had created AIDA32 had taken a job with somebody and that AIDA32 would no longer going to be free. But then I lost my bookmarks file and couldn't find the guys homepage anymore. Glad that they made the utility free again even if it isn't AIDA anymore.
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2.6 Ghz Pentium 4, yes.
Be sure to get a good heatsink and fan.
"Can this motherboard use DDR ram?" Use the specified PC133 ram like;
Kingston ValueRAM 168 Pin 512MB SDRAM PC-133 - OEM
Either card should work in your machine at 4x and be a little slower -- these cards require additional power. Be sure you have at least a 400W power supply.
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kandrathe,Aug 7 2004, 11:06 AM Wrote:2.6 Ghz Pentium 4, yes.
Be sure to get a good heatsink and fan.
"Can this motherboard use DDR ram?" Use the specified PC133 ram like;
Kingston ValueRAM 168 Pin 512MB SDRAM PC-133 - OEM
Either card should work in your machine at 4x and be a little slower -- these cards require additional power. Be sure you have at least a 400W power supply. Thank you so much for the advice! My only question now is with the video card. So the 8x AGP will still work with my 4x AGP motherboard? But will it be significantly slower? Okay, its this simple really... I should stop pussyfooting around my main question: will it be able to play Doom III, or will the decrease in speed hinder it?
I'm heading down to Fry's Electronics on Tuesday to pick up a 5-ink cartridge printer/scanner/copier combo, and while I'm there I'm going to get some 'upgrades' for my computer. They have some amazing processor/motherboard deals, and I wonder if it would be cheaper for me to get a processor/motherboard combo instead of just the processor. For example, in todays paper they list a P4 3.2 GHz with motherboard combo for only $129.00 <no rebates required>. Just the P4 2.6 GHz processor alone would cost me $129.00. But then I'll need ram that supports the new board. Such choices... so little time.
"The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self." -Albert Einsetin
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In practice, you probably won't notice much difference between AGP 4x and 8x.
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Wow, that program is fantastic. So many uses, notably, I can finally see the path of the programs that are running. If you do the ol' CTRL+ALT+DEL to get the Task Manager, it just tells you the process name, and not the path, so this is a great boon. Thanks for the link!
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Hi
Great program, very detailed :D
I was using this free program: Belarc Advisor ;)
Quote:The Belarc Advisor builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware and displays the results in your Web browser. All of your PC profile information is kept private on your PC and is not sent to any web server. Click here to download a free copy for personal use.
http://belarc.com/free_download.html
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Hi
You might want to consider the Readon 9600XT...the 9800 will require you to use a additional power line...check your PSU & see if you have the power & a spare power plug.
Here is a Video Card Chart:
ATi and NVIDIA Video Card Chart @ Toms Hardware
Quote:Radeon 9600 XT ATI RV360 DX 9 ChipClock 500 MemClock 600 128-bit 4x1
Radeon 9800Pro ATI R350 DX 9 ChipClock325 MemClock 580 256-bit 8x1
$129 - Radeon 9600 xt 128mb www.pricewatch.com/
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I didnt bother with the vid card after all but I did get Doom 3 amoungst many other goodies.
I have another problem you lurkers may have knowledge of: I bought a 250GB Maxtor Diamondmax Plus Ultra ATA/133 harddrive. I can't get the installiation disk to run in windows so I need to get into my BIOS but I can't figure out for the LIFE of me what key (or combo thereof) to press!
Also, my motherboard says my IDE interface is ATA 100/66, Ultra ATA 33, and PIO. Does this mean I can't use ATA 133 without a specific PCI card that supports ATA 133? My motherboard also said USB Technology 1.1, but the guy at Fry's told me I could use 2.0 with a PCI card for it, and it works!
So anyways, I tried installing the software and it installed, but wouldn't boot up (keeps giving me a windows error and sends an error report to Microsoft). I figure I need to get into my BIOS first and foremost and thats probbably the problem. I'm so confused right now, my heads spinning. It's 3AM in the morning and I've been trying to get this harddrive up and running since around 8PM. I tried Maxtors phone tec-support but all I got was a dead dial-tone. I tried their web-site but they don't mention my problem with the software error.
Oh well. Need to finish installing the OTHER things I bought then figure this out in the morning. Hopefully their tech support will be around in the morning. If any of you lurkers have any ideas, I'd gladly accept them. :D
"The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self." -Albert Einsetin
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