Upgrading Dell CPU HELP!!!

[knyghtbyte]

Hullo folks, first time posting in this part of AT so be gentle..heh

Ok, simple part, i have the specs listed below, in a Dell Dimension 8400 PCI-E.

I am going to buy a 7800 graphics card soon, but thats gonna be a little restricted by my 3GHz P4.......

so i wanna know is it possible to take my 3Ghz chip out and whack in a higher rated chip (when buying this PC it was possible to buy it with all the way up to 3.6Ghz) without doing anything else? or do i need to do something with the bios for the motherboard etc?

all help would be appreciated, any flames will be responded to with a fire extinguisher...arf arf.

I have changed most parts of a PC before btw except the CPU, PSU and Motherboard.

 

[stevty2889]

You pretty much already answered your own question. It supports up to 3.6ghz. You should be able to just get a 3.4 or 3.6, put it in, and be good to go. I would recomend the 6xx series since they run cooler, and have EM64T.

 

[knyghtbyte]

cool beans, so no need to fiddle with BIOS or anything? just rip out the old one, stick in the new one and enjoy better physics ability on CS:S...heh

cheers for the answer, im fine with graphics cards and memory/HDD stuff, i just never done a CPU before so dont wanna fry a few hundred pounds of tech...lol

 

[sbuckler]

If you can buy them with 3.6 gig chips in then it should work fine. Pretty small performance increase unfortunately.
You obviously want a games machine - if you're looking at replacing the cpu for an expensive (but still not that quick for games) intel one it might almost work out cheaper to buy an nforce 4 939 board and a lowish end venice A64 which you can o/c, and some DDR memory. After the o/c it would be much quicker and better match for the 7800, it also means you can upgrade it to an X2 in the future. You can sell the left over bits on ebay so it shouldn't cost that much.

Biggest downers with that idea are the hassle and the fact you'll need to do an os re-install (so need an XP install disk and windows license key).

 

[mindgam3]

Any intel socket T processor will work even 3.8ghz ones .. I work at dell .

 

[superfly27]

Hey Dell dude, can you replace your mobo in a Dell with a socket 939?

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: mindgam3
Any intel socket T processor will work even 3.8ghz ones .. I work at dell .

Thats funny the dual cores are socket T..and I know for a fact they won't work with that motherboard since they require a newer chipset..

 

[JohnAn2112]

Right, Socket T won't work. You need an LGA775 CPU for it to work.

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: OCZ John
Right, Socket T won't work. You need an LGA775 CPU for it to work.

LGA775 IS socket T..

 

[SrGuapo]

Wouldn't it be cheaper to replace the mobo and just OC the 3.0 GHz one a bit (to 3.4 or so)? You may need a better heatsink as well, especially if that is a prescott.

 

[mindgam3]

Ya sorry the dual core socket T wont work but that should be assumed.....
Make up a million reasons why your computer sucks ,(random no posts , blue screens etc and that you have reformated a million times) and for your trouble you want a upgraded processor from dell.. escalate it to a manager and theres a good chance you will get your new processor. Its been done many times.

Prescott P4 Kit, 570, 3.8G, 800FSB, 1MB, Socket-T, E0
(Includes Processor, Thermal Grease & Techsheet)

Thats the best cpu Dell can send you for this system.

 

[knyghtbyte]

Originally posted by: mindgam3
Ya sorry the dual core socket T wont work but that should be assumed.....
Make up a million reasons why your computer sucks ,(random no posts , blue screens etc and that you have reformated a million times) and for your trouble you want a upgraded processor from dell.. escalate it to a manager and theres a good chance you will get your new processor. Its been done many times.

Prescott P4 Kit, 570, 3.8G, 800FSB, 1MB, Socket-T, E0
(Includes Processor, Thermal Grease & Techsheet)

Thats the best cpu Dell can send you for this system.

well, i admit that would be nice.......however.........
i've had the system for almost a year now, so i doubt they'd be so willing for that reason as i could have put it through abuse (which i have..lol)....also im in England, and over here they couldnt give a monkeys copulation about me now they sold me it, same as any company (altho dell are much better i've found than most when there is a genuine problem...lol)

im wondering tho if its worth phoning them and asking if they could sell me the processor kit........i prefer to stay with Intel as i am often running multiple programs when im gaming and i've found going on mine and friends computers that AMD cant hack it as much, yes they are better for gaming, but only gaming on its own, multitask too much and AMD suffers more than Intel does.......

when i've got oodles of money tho i will buy a AMD gaming only rig and have that next to my Dell rig for the general multitask bit....heh

 

[o1die]

Have you read motherboards.org review comparing the fx57 to the Intel 670 cpu? If you've got deep pockets, I would do some more research before building. And get the baddest power supply you can find. Intel uses alot more juice.

 

[anandtechrocks]

I think Dell uses Intel motherboards so taking out your 3.0 Ghz and putting in a new processor should be no problem. Your computer probably has the stock heatsink which is easy to take out. (If you don't know how, there are instructions in the retail packaging of Intel chips).

Because you already have socket T (must be a 915 or 925 chipset right?) then you should be able to use any 500 or 600 series chip. I'd opt for the 600 series because of the reported cooler temps and added features (64 bit support, 2 Mb cache, Cool n' Quiet wannabe, and Execute Disable Bit whatever that is).

Also, you may want to check Clockgen to see if your motherboard is supported, 600 Mhz or so isn't that hard to OC. Good luck!