Dell E521 cpu upgrade question am2

justin4pack

Senior member
Jan 21, 2012
521
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I got a couple old dells. I plan on making one a htpc and 1 for school work. Question is what does the MB support as a cpu upgrade. I understand that this motherboard is an AM2 socket. From what I read it only supports athlon x2 5600+. But I also herd you could put an fx or phenom in there with a bios update. This is a link to the motherboard. http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Dell-MotherBoard-Part-Number/dp/B001R5N0ZO any help would be great. I was a Intel guy at the time hehe.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,581
10,220
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I can tell you that an AM2 socket will NOT support an FX CPU, those require AM3+ and DDR3.

You may be able to support an Athlon II or Phenom II, depends on board and BIOS support.