Newbie here, can I upgrade the CPU on my Dell?

[Jonestown]

I've got a Dell comp with a P3 500 Katmai on a 440BX mobo. Is it possible to upgrade the cpu without replacing the mobo? I checked out the support site, and for my particular model (Dell Dimension XPS T) it had processor speed (that I assume the mobo will support) up to 800mhz on this 440BX. If this is possible, any input is appreciated. Also, some XPS T models had a little "r" after the model number. Mine does not. Don't know if that makes a difference, just for information. Again, thanks for any input.

 

[plush]

email me your service tag (the alpha numeric # off the side of the system) and I will let ya know

-plush

 

[Nessism]

I am 99% sure that the Dell Dimension XPS T uses a Intel motherboard, most likely the SE440BX or SE440BX-2. Only the later revision SE440BX-2 boards support Intel coppermine processors - any P3 higher than 600mhz. As you already may know, the Cumine processors require a lower supply voltage than the older Katmai chips and some boards do not support these lower voltages. To find out if your board supports Cumine processors, check out Intel's motherboard information page.
Also, you may have to flash the bios to the latest upgrade.

As a side note, the XPS T only uses a 200W power supply which is on the low side. I do not know if this is enough to power both a high speed processor and a fast video card so keep this in mind. Good luck.

 

[ingenue007]

here is a good page for dell upgrades (and overclocking too IIRC)

http://roberthancock.netfirms.com/dell/

 

[Jonestown]

Thanks for the replies. I checked out the http://roberthancock.netfirms.com/dell/ site, it proved to be very useful. After visiting that site and the delltalk site in the Dell support section, I am convinced that I can upgrade to around a P3 800, possibly higher. It appears I have the SE440BX-2 chipset, which should autodetect the lower power requirments of the cumine according to the above site. Shouldn't be a problem, and all I should have to do is update the BIOS. Agian, thanks for the help.

 

[goophie]

you might have to take your old heatsink and put it on your new processor... i've opened up those dells before and they got funny ducting instead of normal heatsink+fan combos...