Motherboards in Dell computers?

[kbreese]

Hey guys,
I ordered a Dimension 5150 which I believe has their own motherboard in it, which I know nothing about. I usually order totally custome systems and this is my first Dell, and I heard they can be more of a pain to upgrade b/c everything is totally proprietary.

Anyhow, the system just comes with a basic onboard intel 950 video card that I will want to upgrade to a much better card for gaming, b/c I am a bit of a gamer (mostly RTS games). The sales guy told me the mobo had 2 AGP slots, but didn't seem positive. Can anyone verify this? I want to make sure I can upgrade to a better video card with no problems.

Also, it comes with 512MB ram which is 2X256. I will probably want to upgrade this to 1GB down the road. Does anyone know how many memory slots the board has? Will I have to take out the 2, 256ers and put in 2X512 making the 256ers useless at that point?

Any other info or opinions on Dell's MB's would be great!

Thanks,
Kevin

[Darthtanion]

Re: Motherboards in Dell computers?

I'm not familiar with this particular model, but I have used and worked on several. While the motherboard is partially proprietary, you will still be able to upgrade most major components normally. I doubt that the board will have dual AGP slots, but as long as it has one you can upgrade to a normal AGP video board that compliments the system. Memory is also standard. Most of the system boards I've seen in the Dimension line have either 2 or 3 memory slots depending on the model, so you may very well have to replace the existing modules with larger ones, but just double check the manual or the website to make sure it canhandle the size modules you are going to want to use. If you're just upgrading to a 2x512 configuration, you should have no problems at all.

As a rule, the main thing about Dell motherboards that is proprietary is the power supply bracket. The pinout is different than industry standard so you have to replace it with a Dell branded one. Other than this, I have had no problems upgrading or updating Dell machines.

[kbreese]

Re: Motherboards in Dell computers?

Thanks very much for the info. I actually cancelled the order on the dell b/c I decided I wanted a computer with an AMD processor since I hear they are actually better. I am debating buyin components and either trying to build one myself or buying components and having a freind build it. The only thing is the last time I added up a though about doing this, I added up the components list and it was more expensive than what I could order one built that way for. Problem on the other end is who to order these totally custom systems from that is really cheap like cyberpowerpc.com but actually has a good reputation??

I guess I really need to make a seperate thread at this point. Thanks again though!