I have a dell dimension 2350 and i want to upgrade the motherboard and processor.Do i have to upgrade other parts or can i just upgrade the motherboard and processor

What processor and motherboard are you looking at to upgrade this Dell?

im just trying to figure out my options, but im looking to install a dual processor motherboard

You'll want to make sure your RAM is compatible, and you will also want to reinstall Windows (it will freak out when it boots and can't communicate with all the motherboard components because you've changed the motherboard).

Would it be allright if i made a backup with Norton Ghost and then installed this.

No. Ghost will image your hard drive as it is. Restoring that image will restore the chipset drivers that were there before.

Some say that there's a registry branch that you can delete and then change the motherboard without having to reinstall Windows. Windows will realize that the registry is not complete and rebuild the missing portion by detecting the new components and looking for the appropriate drivers (have your Windows disc handy for that). I'm not sure what the registry branch is, and I've never tried it. My thought is that this could be asking for trouble at worst (the finding the new drivers part) or messy at best (leaving old files in your system folders). I might recommend using this as a quick fix to try to get the computer back up for a critical task, but without knowing any more about how well it works, I'd recommend a reinstall if you're not pushed for time.

I just remembered that XP (and ME) copy all the cab's over to the hard drive on installation, so you wouldn't need to have the Windows disc handy for the registry rebuild if you use one of those versions of Windows.

For the RAM, you'll most likely need to upgrade to ECC/parity RAM, as most multi-CPU chipsets require this.

You'll also want to make sure that any dual-CPU mobo fits in your tiny Dell case (could be very problematic), and check your PSU wattage and type. If this is an older Dell, the PSU is likely insufficient and/or incompatible with a dual-CPU mobo. Some of the lower end dual-CPU mobos are standard ATX, but most are extended ATX or NLX (server mobos).

Another thing to watch out for are the expansion slots. If you have a new Dell with an AGP 8x slot, you'll need to make sure your new mobo also has that, or your vid card and/or new mobo can get fried.

saphalline:

Clear this up for me. It's OK to put, for example, a 2x AGP card in an 8x slot. Right?

But it's apparently not OK to put an 8x card in a 2x slot. (8x and 2x in both scenarios are just for-instances - I was just picking two unequal numbers)

I was under the impression that the AGP card would "slow down" to the available interface. :confused:

saphalline:
I was under the impression that the AGP card would "slow down" to the available interface. :confused:

Not quite what I meant - I thought that the system would only access the card as fast as it could, not that the card would slow down.

Must be voltage differences???

The voltage is largely the problem with AGP, yes.

AGP 1x and 2x are the original AGP 1.0 spec, and use 3.3V. AGP 4x is the 2.0 spec and uses 1.5V. AGP 8x is the 3.0 spec and uses 0.8V.

Now, for the most part, mixing voltages is bad for a vid card, so putting 8x with 1x is just begging for a fried part! But, some allowances had to be made when switching between them. So...

Mobos with AGP 1x/2x use the same spec, so they are obviously compatible with 1x and 2x. Mobos with AGP 4x are often compatible with 1x, 2x, and 4x (but some later models only accepted 2x and 4x). Early mobos with AGP 8X were compatible with 4x and 8x, but the more recent ones are often 8x only.

Vid cards that use 1x were very rare since 2x came out shortly afterwards, but in any case are compatible with 1x and 2x mobos. Moving up to 4x, most vid cards were dual-moded and could run at 4x or 2x (or 1x if necessary). 8x vid cards can run at 8x or 4x, but not any lower, and in fact some will only run at 8x (like the more recent 8x mobos).

Basically, you can move up or down one spec revision, but no more. And it all depends on the mobo and vid card as to whether or not they'll get along. When they do get along, they will default to the fastest common denominator. So if you have a vid card that will do 4x and 2x, and a mobo that will do 8x and 4x, they'll run together at 4x.

The AGP spec issue can be a serious problem because it's easy to fry something. The voltage changes over each spec revision, but physically everything still fits! :eek: Be careful out there...

OK, I understand. Thanks, saphalline.