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upgrade on inspiron 8600

post #1 of 16
1/23/05 at 5:34pm
Thread Starter 
got a inspiron 8600 with this hardware-

pen m 710-1.4 ghz
256mg pc2700
40gb hd
32mg nv fx 5200

the overall feeling i get on this notebook, sort of slow, what would be my first big upgrade that would speed the system up. i am thinking the hard drive-am i correct?
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post #2 of 16
1/23/05 at 5:50pm
haha oh wow only 256? FIRST UPGRADE YOU NEED IS RAM! lol you need 128 just to run window XP lol go out, get 1 sticks of 512 from kingsten or crucial, its only like 80 US dollars, that should help you out majorly
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post #3 of 16
1/23/05 at 5:57pm
Yeah, upgrade RAM from either newegg.com or crucial.com.
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post #4 of 16
1/23/05 at 6:51pm
Ram plays a big part of speed... I had 512 MB on my laptop (The current one in the sig...) and it was just not cutting it.. I only run less then 5 windows and 5 things in the task bar and my physical memory went from 150 to 2 MB

Now i've upgraded, its more stable and much more faster... even in regular surfing and all that... I haven't found a large drain on the battery... but that battery's worn out so bad.. i only get 36 minutes max on a full charge.. lol
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post #5 of 16
1/23/05 at 6:54pm
hey just out of curiousity I8600 can take 2 sticks of 1 gig ram right? i'm doing tons of photoshoping, well and compiling cpp programs, i know pm1.8 (which is what i have) can handle it, just need more speed! lol
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post #6 of 16
1/23/05 at 7:21pm
Yes it can, but if you already have one gig, you might not notice too big a speed increase.
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post #7 of 16
1/23/05 at 8:46pm
yup get the ram.
i ordered the i8600 with 256 as well since its cheaper to get ram somewhere other than at Dell.

got a 512mb chip, for total of 768. should be good for now, and can replace the 256mb chip down the road if necessary.

another way for a faster "feel" is to take it easy on the desktop customization and background images. keep it clean and simple (once you're done showing off your desktop screen on here, that is! )
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post #8 of 16
1/24/05 at 6:42am
Thread Starter 
thanks, i do plan on upgrading memory, but don,t ya think a 5200rpm or 7200 rpm drive would enhance my performacne more than the memory. the rig i have is equipped with a 40gb 4200 rpm drive with only 2mg buffer, thought a 5400 rpm drive with 8mg buffer would reallly speed things up
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post #9 of 16
1/24/05 at 1:05pm
naw i doubt it would make a BIG difference from 2mb buffer to 8mb buffer because its still only 5k2 rpm, if anything get 7k2, i do a lot of photoshop, website designing, lots of intensive stuff, i only have 1.8 pm, 756 mb ram, 64 mb gpu and intel 2200, works like charm
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post #10 of 16
1/25/05 at 2:21am
I would probably work in this order: First definitely get more RAM in the range of 512 - 1024 MB. 256 MB is just too small these days with Windows XP and the bloated software that runs on it. Second - if you intend to play 3-D video games - bump up to the ATI 9600 GPU. I suspect the one you have would really struggle with any kind of newer 3-D game. Next bump up your hard drive to the 7200 rpm drive.

To be honest though - I would be hesitant to drop all that money into that laptop. It only has a 1.4 Pentium M CPU, the model is nearing the end of its product life cycle with DELL, and when all of the upgrades mentioned are taken into account you are definitely dropping some $$$. If you are really looking for a boost in performance then you may be better off selling that laptop on EBAY and jumping into a I9200, I9300, or XPS.
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post #11 of 16
1/25/05 at 5:49am
Thread Starter 
when i bought this inspiron 8600, my goal was to get it cheap and have a multi-media setup. i ran ut2004, believe or not, it ran it pretty good with the 32mg fx 5200go, i was actually surprised myself. just found something out in regards to speed on my rig- when i disable the macafee security software- my 8600 felt like it ran twice as fast . the ati-virus software for some reason slows the inspiron down a LOT. i can get a 5400 rpm drive for $66, and 256mg of ram for $47, would help some i am thinking.

almost bought a 9200 before i got my inspiron 8600- i got it for $744- the 9200 was $1050- the extra $300 would have just too much at this time.

i,m happy with my inspiron 8600- of course there are nicer notebooks- but at a price. got a high powered amd 64 rig with a 6800gt for gaming, so this notebook will be for dvd,s, music, surfing. first notebook that i have owned-sort of neat having a computer on your lap-keeps legs warm too
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post #12 of 16
1/25/05 at 6:43am
Thread Starter 
quess i have a 5400 rpm drive. what was slowing my rig down was the macafee software. i disabled it, not my inspiron runs very fast.
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post #13 of 16
1/25/05 at 10:32pm
Yup, increase your memory. I wouldn't go more than 1024mb, if that much at all.
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post #14 of 16
1/26/05 at 5:39am
Thread Starter 
thanks, i will probably go 512 mg on the memory, i don,t see any need for more for what i do on a notebook.

getting to like the notebook, after disabling the mcafee security system, runs nicely now. for $775 , i cannot complain , and that was with a pent m, not a celeron
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post #15 of 16
1/29/05 at 4:27am
I hope you mean you'll get 512 meg more, not another 256 meg.
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post #16 of 16
2/3/05 at 2:06pm
I have one of Dells 512MB and one(Kingston) from frys for $60, now i have 1,024MB AKA 1 GB RAM of memory, being on DSL helps loads though.
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