please help me with some numerated Vostro 1500 questions. (see signature)

Hi,

1.) do i need a "dualcore optimizer" program? i already changed processor numb from 1 to 2 in msconfig.

2.) how expensive would it be to change 8400 GS to 8600GT? I made a Big mistake.

3.) there are so many drivers available. do i need "intel matrix storage manager" and "intel turbo memory" when i already installed the "intel chipset" ?
i don't want to use the dell support-utility, don't want to connect over the internet with them.

and what about the shipped "media-direct" cd. what is that?

4.) check the pics: my CPU FSB is not running synchronized with RAM FSB!?!?! is that a problem? (frequency = ~330mhz / cpu bus speed = ~200mhz !!)

CPU-Z pics:




5.) in the bios, what is "flash cache module" // "module bay device"?

cYA

 

1) There's a dual-core patch for Windows XP, but as far as I can tell it doesn't really do much. On my desktop E2160 it didn't improve anything. Other people might beg to differ. It might even be integrated into SP3. Short answer? No.

2) EDIT: Refer to Moidock's post a few down. I'm an idiot.

3) The Storage Matrix driver gives you AHCI, the Turbo Memory gives you Turbo memory. You don't really need either. The MediaDirect CD allows you to reinstall MediaDirect in the advent that you want to reformat your hard drive.

4) No problems there. All those numbers are normal. There aren't any current Intel mobile chipsets that support 800MHz DDR2.

5) Flash cache module is probably the Turbo Memory and module bay device is probably... a feature the Vostro doesn't have because it doesn't have a module bay? I'm not too sure about that one...

 

1) I wouldn't think an "optimiser" would make any difference. The couple of optimisers out there (like AMDs optimiser patch) simply try to help some older programs recognise they can run threads on different processors

2) If the card is part of your motherboard which it usually is the answer is very expensive. You would need to replace the entire motherbaord with a matching one for your series of laptop

3) Intel Matrix is a SATA driver and monitoring program. I don't think you explicitly need it but it probably wouldn't hurt. Intel turbo memory is a hardware addition so unless your computer actually has a turbo memory card no, you don't need the driver. See point 5.

5) That cache module is most likely Turbo memory. Its an extra memory space basically. You will need to install the driver.

Hope this helps

Grand Admiral

 

The video card on the Vostros 1500 can be upgraded and changed.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1520/en/sm/graphics.htm#wp1179839

Dell usually sells those parts but you will need to ask them. The higher the Vostro 1500 can currently get is an 8600 card.

If you find a card from another place it will usually be one pulled out from another compatible system.

Oh, and upgrading certain parts on a notebook could be a pain in the @** as some major disassembly may be required and is not really recommended if you're not used to working on a mobile system. Also, one mistake could cause problems later on, so if you are concerned about it, you're better off paying a technician or send it back to Dell to perform the upgrade.