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installing sata hdd


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#1
JuanDan

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Hi, I have a dell dimension 2400 I want to install a sata hdd I know the 2400 doesn't have a sata port on the MB, would it be ok to install a sata controller would it be compatible with the MB? as you can tell I'm a novice
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#2
Spider-Man

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Hello there. The answer to your question is yes, the Dimension 2400 does support a PCI Sata controller, as I personally have installed one on a Dimension 2400 before. Bear in mind the access times for a Sata hard drive connected via a PCI controller card are much slower than the standard Sata onboard connectors, which your motherboard does not support.
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#3
JuanDan

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Thanks Spider-Man for the prompt reply, so is it worth installing one, or should I just go for the ATA. I'm trying to make it as fast as it will go. I don't play games just mostly surf the web download video and music do you think I should buy a faster PC? if I put another 1GB of ram thats going to cost me a £100 I've had the PC about 4 years I only have a 40 GB hdd so by the time I get more ram and bigger hdd I might as well buy a faster PC what do you think?
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#4
Spider-Man

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If I remember correctly the motherboard already has 1 x 512mb (PC2700) of ram when bought from Dell. The motherboard can handle upto 2gb of ram - 2 x 1gb of PC3200 being the fastest ram type it can handle. As you may gather, PC 3200 ram is faster than PC 2700, but in a system like this the difference you will notice is minimal - although I would advise if you were to upgrade you go with PC 3200.
Are you looking to upgrade the hard drive because you need something bigger, or is it because you want a 'faster' hard drive? The stock hard drive is a 40gb 7200rpm ATA 100 drive, so for upgrading purposes to make it 'faster', I would advise you go with an ATA-133 hard drive, the higher the RPM, the faster the access time will be. At present the fastest hard drives are around 15000rpm, bear in mind these don't come cheap either. The processor in the system ranges from 2.4 to 2.8ghz with 128kb Level 2 cache. For better, faster performance I would get a processor with a higher cache, something like the 2.6ghz 512kb Intel socket 478. That is also another point you need to bear in mind, socket 478 went out the window some years ago and is no longer in production, so your upgrade possibilities are becoming limited by the day.
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#5
JuanDan

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Spider-Man thanks again, I think I'll go for a faster PC I'll just have to tell the wife its nacked she knows less about PC than I do thanks for time.
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