Dell Radeon X1300 Pro Driver Upgrade Available and Installed

In search of trying to get Second Life to run on my Vista Ultimate 64-bit machine (currently) not supported, I started a search for updated video drivers. My current card was a Dell installed 256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro video card.

A quick run to the AMD / ATI website and it looks like Catalyst Software Suite version 7.10 is now available. In fact, it just shipped on October 11, 2007. I am not sure what my current version is from the information provided by Catalyst, but this must be newer based on the date.

Hopefully, there will be an OpenGL update so that Second Life will stop crashing. While it is still not 'supported', people have been reporting moderate successes with updated video drivers. Here goes my shot.

Before the upgrade, the current settings were:

Driver Packaging Version: 8.332-070108a1-041388C-Dell
2D Driver Version: 7.01.01.569
Direct3D Version: 7.14.10.0464
OpenGL Version: 6.14.10.0660
Catalyst Control Center Version: 0108.2146.2565.38893

The 56.1MB download was no big deal. Only difference during installation was the addition of the 'free' software - Earthsim.


Installation and reboot were successful and the Video Drivers on the ATI Radeon X1300 PRO were updated:

Driver Packaging Version: 8.421-070928a-053254C-ATI (Interestingly, no longer the Dell version)
2D Driver Version: 7.01.01.693
Direct3D Version: 7.14.10.00532
OpenGL Version: 6.14.10.6956
Catalyst Control Center Version: 2007.0928.2231.38404

It looks as if the original ATI X1300 PRO driver installed was a Dell only driver. While I am not an expert at ATI driver versions, it does look like from the increase in version numbers that the OpenGL Video driver was significantly upgraded.

If you have a Dell computer that shipped with teh ATI Radeon X1300 PRO, then I would recommend checking out the ATI download site at http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx?p=vista64/common-vista64 to download an apply the upgrade to your Vista Ulimate 64-bit system. It upgrades flawlessly.

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5-Minute 500GB Hard Drive Upgrade for my Dell Dimension E520

Since I had upgraded to my Dell Dimension E520 a few months ago, I had been living in the world with a single hard 300GB SATA hard drive. This always concerns me given the number of hard drives I have had go bad on me in the past causing lost data. Usually what I prefer is a second, larger hard drive in my machine that can be used as a primary backup drive for both of our computers.

In Friday's ad for Fry's electronics, they had a $40 price break on a new Seagate SATA/300 500GB hard drive for $109. I have had really good luck with Seagate drives in the past (fingers) crossed and the majority of the losses were from either Western Digital or Maxtor driver. With that, I dropped by Fry's while out on errands and saved a few bucks on shipping.

I have replaced or installed at least 50 hard drives in my time ranging from some old 20MB ones to the current generation of 500GB drives. The process specifically with Dell in the past had somewhat painful, often needing to grab a mounting bracket or some other piece of hardware from someone on eBay. With this Dell Dimension E520, the upgrade takes 5 minutes from the time your machine is shut down until you have it turned back on and seeing the new drive. No joke!

All you need to do the installation is your bare hard drive and a SATA interface cable. No screwdriver, no additional power cord, or any other sort of mounting hardware! Dell's chassis design makes this almost as easy and quick as a hot-swappable SCSI or Fibre-Channel device!

Here is how the process went for me:

1. Unbox you new Seagate 500GB hard drive. The retail kit does come with a SATA interface cable, so you can use that without purchasing a new one.



2. Unplug your computer after it is safely shut down. Remove the cover from your Dell Dimension E520 (or similar). You can do this by sliding the black lever on the top of the computer back, releaseing the right side panel which the top will rotate down so you can lift it off.

3. Place your computer on its side and locate the drive carriers and installation bay in the lower left hand corner. On the bottom drive (empty bay) push the two side tabs in to release the drive carrier and remove from the computer.



4. Unwrap your hard drive from the anti-static bag and insert into the plastic carrier by carefully bending the carrier. The large blue plastic tab should be on the electronics side of the drive next to the SATA interface and power controller. The pins will insert themselves into the drive screw holes.



5. Snap the hard drive carrier back into the computer chassis and connect both the power cable (already there) and the new SATA interface cable to the hard drive. In my case, the included SATA interface cable was not as long as the other cables in my computer so I had to route it over the CPU fan cover into the clips there and then down onto the motherboard.



6. Insert the other end of the SATA interface cable into the open slot on the motherboard. Since I have a hard drive, DVD burner, and CD-ROM burner on my machine, there was just one SATA interface cable slot open in the main section of the board.



7. Place the cover back on the computer, plug it in, and power it up.

8. When the machine "posts" or shows the "Dell" logo, hit the F2 key to enter the BIOS setup to configure that SATA channel to the "On" position. In my case, the new drive was located on channel 5, where channels 3 & 4 were unavailable on this chassis. Save the configuration and exit.

9. The computer now recognizes the hard drive on boot, and you can either go to your computer management or disk management in Windows (Windows Vista in my case) or you can use the included Seagate Disk Utility software to setup the drive on the Operating System.

Congratulations, you are now done with the upgrade -- all in about 5 minutes of effort!

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Dell Printer 924 64-bit Drivers for All-In-One Photo Printer x64

As I continue in my first foray into the 64-bit (x64) operating system world, specifically with Microsoft Windows Vista – there are a number of things that you run into. Probably the most concerning is that there is some difficulty in obtaining 64-bit / x64 drivers for many of the products that you have. In fact if a device or peripheral that you have is older than a year or two, you may simply not be able to use it with your new 64-bit / x64 system. That brings me to today’s problem, with my Dell Photo Printer 924 – an All-In-One printer.

Finding 64-bit drivers is not the easiest thing in the world. If you simply go to Dell’s support site and go through their product finder to download drivers for your Photo 924 Printer, you will only be pointed to the x86 / 32-bit driver application which will not work on your Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit / x64 system. Unfortunately, the only way to find them easily is to search via Google.

Via Google, I was able to locate the drivers on the Dell website. In fact you can find them here. Just download them and the installation is smooth. Best of luck!

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Dell Dimension E520 Purchase with Windows Vista

A couple of weeks ago, I posted negatively on Dell based on a recent coupon experience and difficulty in some of their new navigation elements when configuring a system. Today I sit with a slightly different perspective having just received the Dell Dimension 520 that I ordered last week.

What changed my mind? Well, I am not sure if my mind or opinion has greatly changed since that first post. However, the impact on my wallet definitely changed. I had the nice fortune of coming across a coupon for $300 off any Dell Dimension E520 purchase of $1,000 or more and went for it given that it was practically 30% off the purchase price. In addition, I used their "Switch to List View" to configure the computer which made the process smooth. In addition, my current computer did not have a capacity to run any of the applications I have recently had interest, including Microsoft's Virual PC 2007

What did I end up getting? Given the price range (and a couple of outside Dell add-ons), I was able to put together a pretty powerful package for a reasonable cost.

Here are the details:
- 222-8901 Dimension E520, Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6420 (2.13GHZ,1066FSB) with 4MB cache
- 311-6461 3GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (1GB DDR2 SDRAM came with the computer, and for $80, picked up an additional 2GB of Kingston PC5300 DDR2 SDRAM from Outpost. Dell wanted an extra $100 for only 1 more GB)
- 320-5089 256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro
- 341-4211 250GB SATA II Hard Drive (7200RPM)
- 341-3867 Dell 13 in 1 Media Card Reader
- 430-0441 Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
- 313-4427 56K PCI Data Fax Modem
- 313-4583 16X DVD-ROM and 16X DVD+/-RW
- 313-5013 Sound Blaster Audigy MB Audio
- 310-8164 Dell USB KEYBOARD
- 310-7966 Dell Optical USB Mouse

In the next few days, I will be configuring away at the machine including re-installing the Microsoft Windows Vista Operating System as I never like how they come from the factory. In the future, the majority of the posts should be produced by the new Dell Dimension E520. Comments and experiences to follow!

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Dell or not to Dell? Microsoft Windows Vista?

Dell has made it really difficult to buy a new computer. That is the simple conclusion that I have come to, based on my recent shopping experience on their site. However, I am really surprised that it is has come to that. I have purchased somewhere in the neighborhood of $20M-25M (yes, million) worth of computer hardware & software over the last 10 years, it is really hard to get me to this point.

You see, I have been thinking about purchasing a new Dell computer for the past few weeks. Nothing against my Dell Dimension 2400, but the 2.2GHz Pentium 4 processor simply is not cutting it anymore. Over the weekend, I think I spent more time waiting for Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE 7) to render and load web pages which the processor sat at 100%. (No spyware, the machine is clean) And, if I am going to keep up with my blogs, I cannot allow that to continue. :-)

In addition, this morning I received a "See how much you can save with surprise coupons worth up to 30% on select systems." coupon in my inbox as many people did. It is also known as the Small Business "Mystery coupon" by some. The really had me considering purchasing a Dell right there and then. After spending 45 minutes trying to configure a decent system, I abandoned my shopping cart and decided against the $600 purchase. Let's not add to the confusion that you might receive a 20%, 25%, or 30% off coupon AND that in some cases the 20% off coupon was less than the discount already offered by the site!

Truth be told, it should not be this difficult. By no means am I a first time Dell user. Of the 10-15 computers I have personally owned (not to mention the 20-25 work machines I have had), most have either been Dell (Desktops) or Toshiba (laptops). Only recently have I forayed into the IBM world, and I am relatively happy with my T60. In fact, both of my recent Digital Camera purchases -- the Canon G7 and the PowerShot SD800 IS came from the Dell store.

In terms of the problem is that there is choice, and then there is too much choice. Dell has pretty much overloaded the user when they want to visit their site and purchase a new machine. Furthermore, it has -- with the recent coupon frenzy -- become too difficult to determine whether you receive good or equivalent value. It almost borders on the purchasing a new car.

Here is where I ran into the biggest issues that Dell should be solving during the configuration process.

1. Which processor is right for me? There is AMD Athlon 64, AMD 64 X2 Dual Core, Intel Pentium D, and Intel Core 2 Duo. What are the benchmarks and how do the varying processors with similar pricing compare at simple tasks?
2. What does processor speed mean? What difference can I expect to between a 1.86GHz and 2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor? Is it worth the extra $50 and why?
3. Video cards are a mess. What is the difference between "256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache" and the "256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro"? Yes, the ATI Radeon costs $50 -- but why? What is the advantage.

The bottom line is that Dell needs to quickly clean up their site and provide a little more information in order for buyers to make a decision. I know in my case that they simply did not provide me with the information I needed to make that final decision and complete the purchase. Perhaps I will consider another vendor this time. In any case, I almost took the plunge and finally tried out Windows Vista!

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