Will a Dell Inspiron 546 handle a Phenom II X4?

[mikeymikec]

The system currently has an AMD Sempron LE CPU and DDR2 RAM. From a bit of googling it appears that the system could handle an AM3 CPU (I'm thinking about the PhII X4 840 because of the price and 95W rating, as the PSU says it can do 18A on the 12V rail - the system has integrated graphics atm).

I've considered the possibility of ringing Dell to see if they can say whether the board is AM2+ capable or not, but I suspect that I would just get a load of "at your own risk" and not a lot of actual information.

Does anyone here have any experience with this Dell model, or any suggestions for how I could find information that would boost my confidence further?

I have no problem doing the CPU upgrade, I just don't want to run the risk of buying a CPU and finding that the system can't handle it. Admittedly the possibly weedy PSU worries me a bit too.

The latest BIOS update isn't very informative, IIRC its enhancement list says "improved system support" or something equally helpful

 

[Arkaign]

It appears so :

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/p/19345874/19748123.aspx

The 546 had options at the time to support Phenom I X4 (65nm), so the board should be able to handle a PhII power wise no problem. So the mobo is definitely AM2+, that was the designation of all PhI CPUs.

 

[mikeymikec]

I've put in a Phenom II X4 960T. The machine gets to the BIOS, then visually complains about a keyboard error. I've tried multiple keyboards.

I upgraded the BIOS to the latest that Dell offered before starting, and I've resetted the CMOS.

I've put the old processor back in and the keyboard works.

Any suggestions? I'm considering trying my Athlon II X4 630 in the Dell machine to see if it works any better with that.

 

[mikeymikec]

I guess I know why it didn't work, this Dell box doesn't like Thubans.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2209714&highlight=