Replace Processor in a Dell

[jelifah]

Well my brother-in-law has a Dell Dimension 4100 and he was wondering if he could simply swap out the Processor.

After pulling up the info from Dell, with his Service Tag, I can't tell what Processor he has. This computer was purchased 10/22/2000 and he doesn't really want to buy a completely new computer if he can just plop a faster chip in.

Part # 2336V
CARD (CIRCUIT), PLANAR (MOTHERBOARD), NO SOUND, DIMENSION, 4100, A

Part #657WP
PROCESSOR, 80526, 1GHZ, 256, 133, FIBER CHANNEL

Can anyone here tell me what type of Processor he has? and recommend what type of Processor he could step up to?

Thanks

- Jelifah

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Since it's 1 GHz, most likely it's a Pentium 3 processor. Unfortunately, that was pertty much the fastest P3 made (iirc, they came out with a P1.13GHz but there were issues with stability and not many were put on the market. Upgrading to that proc, if he could find one, wouldn't really gain him anything anyway.

He's pretty much screwed on upgrading with his existing hardware. The best thing he could do is to get a new system.

 

[LTC8K6]

Run CPU-Z, it will tell you.

Sounds like a 1Ghz P3 Coppermine FCPGA Chip. If so, there's not much to step up to.

You could get an adapter and put a Tualatin or a Tualatin Celeron in. They go up to 1.4Ghz. I doubt it is worth the effort, though.

 

[RalphTheCow]

My 4100 866 MHz is still very good for office and web use and older games. Sims 2 was too much for it though. More memory could be worthwhile, although I'm not sure what PC133 goes for these days. Only two memory slots though.

A video card upgrade would also help a lot (AGP slot, unlike new 3000s! ). I just swapped out the old original ATI Rage Pro 16 MB for a GeForce 2 (32 MB I think), and that did help a lot on games, even though it's still old.

 

[jelifah]

- RalphTheCow 'upgrades'

Yeah, he'd actually already got a new Video Card last year, and has pumped in some RAM. So it was his hope to 'step up' to maybe a 1.4 or, pipedream, 2.0. Looks like that's not gonna happen.

Like LTC8K6 said, I'm not getting an adapter to go up to 1.4.

Thanks for the info, all of you

- Jelifah

 

[Slowlearner]

Check out www.roberthancock.com/dell/ for upgrade possibilities. And dont rule Powerleap's adapters completely, they sometimes work wonders; one of my PCs went from a PIII350 to a Celeron 1.4. Also post your query in forums.us.dell.com/Dimension/Upgrade hardware for other options and actual upgrade feedback.