Ilyavich

Junior Member
Nov 27, 2007
9
0
0
Installed $120 worth of upgrades today.

1. Went from 1GB PC-4200 RAM to 2GB PC-5300 RAM, and
2. Went from AMD Athlon 3600+ to AMD Athlon 6000+

The difference in computer responsiveness is quite good. :)

The computer is a Dell E521, with everything else still stock.

I re-used the Dell heatsink from the old chip as I couldn't figure out how to attach the new one, and where to plug it into the motherboard. :(

Anyway, I'm pretty happy!
 

kotrtim

Member
Jun 9, 2007
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WARNING Use a cooler that is used for single core on this dual core, I bet you haven't tortured your CPU yet, it might overheat or burnt under full load, better get one heatsink that is certified for 125W TDP procs. Responsiveness is due to dual core, any dual-core is more responsive compared to single core.
 

Ilyavich

Junior Member
Nov 27, 2007
9
0
0
Originally posted by: kotrtim
WARNING Use a cooler that is used for single core on this dual core, I bet you haven't tortured your CPU yet, it might overheat or burnt under full load, better get one heatsink that is certified for 125W TDP procs. Responsiveness is due to dual core, any dual-core is more responsive compared to single core.

The heatsink that came with the chip does not fit on the Dell supplied motherboard. I tried and tried but no go... there are things soldered to the board that get in the way, and there only seems to be one anchor point for the heatsink, not two like the instructions show.

 

betasub

Platinum Member
Mar 22, 2006
2,677
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Originally posted by: kotrtim
WARNING Use a cooler that is used for single core on this dual core, I bet you haven't tortured your CPU yet, it might overheat or burnt under full load, better get one heatsink that is certified for 125W TDP procs.

Good advice in general, particular if this processor is to be run under stress, or in a poorly ventilated case.

Responsiveness is due to dual core, any dual-core is more responsive compared to single core.

ORLY? So cache structure and memory controller/access aren't important? Considering that most ppl have their CPUs at idle (<1% usage) for the vast majority of the time.
 

Denithor

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2004
6,298
23
81
Methinks there's a problem on the horizon...

The issue is, the custom heatsink on the Dell was not designed to handle the heat generated by a 125W cpu. Does the Dell have good case fans? Perhaps you could replace them with higher-flow fans for better heat removal.
 

kotrtim

Member
Jun 9, 2007
77
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Does not fit? oops, maybe you can order one from dell? I thought heatsink for AM2 is standardized? It's very risky, the heatsink that comes with Dell might be designed for 125W or it might not.

The stock HSF of 6000+ is different from the rest of HSF of dual cores from AMD, 6000+ needs better HSF due to 125W. If you can't really get a replacement HSF, you better control the CPU speed when you want to stress it for a long period of time(gaming, encoding etc), use RMClock to lock the clock of the CPU to 2.0 GHz and below, you can try to find the lowest stable voltage for each clock speed. By staying below 2.0 GHz, heat dissipation should be under 65W, the standard mainstream TDP of AMD procs. The sad thing is you bought a 3.0GHz proc but can only use 2.0 GHz, but that's the only way to prevent your CPU from burning.
 

o1die

Diamond Member
Jul 8, 2001
4,785
0
71
Use core temp, a free download, and monitor those temps. If your cpu peaks at 65c or higher, get a heatsink with custom backplate to work with your motherboard. Check newegg's open box section.
 

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
If you can't get a proper cooler, I'd monitor your temps very closely and always be certain that you have good air flow.
 

eBauer

Senior member
Mar 8, 2002
533
0
76
Actually, the stock heatsink used in the E521 is pretty darn good. Just monitor your temps and you should be ok.
 

razor2025

Diamond Member
May 24, 2002
3,010
0
71
I wouldn't worry too much about the heatink in E521. I've taken apart the C521 that originally shipped with single-core Athlon 64 3000+ and installed a X2 3800+ in its place. The heatsink in C521 (and most likely same in E521) is pretty hefty piece of aluminum, and it has a 90mm fan blowing directly at it. It should be good enough to handle the 6000+ easily. People on these boards are far too obsessed with cooling. You don't need a Tuniq tower on every computer.
 

Ilyavich

Junior Member
Nov 27, 2007
9
0
0
Thanks, all.

Yes, the fan that comes with the E521 is pretty big, and the stock heatsink is a good chunk of aluminum. I downloaded a temperature gauge program and it showed something like 56c with Photoshop CS3 activity, an anti-virus, and Firefox open for some time. I think that's OK... it's under 35c at idle. The way the E521 has the stock heatsink set up, there is no way to attach this new heatsink to the same area as the old one. It's too wide, and sits on top of some of the little barrel-shaped things soldered onto the motherboard.
 

Goldfish4209

Member
Nov 21, 2007
165
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That sounds decent. Have you tried to run anything that would max it out, though? Try prime95 if you don't have any games you can stress this thing with.
 

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
2
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Originally posted by: betasub
Responsiveness is due to dual core, any dual-core is more responsive compared to single core.

ORLY? So cache structure and memory controller/access aren't important? Considering that most ppl have their CPUs at idle (<1% usage) for the vast majority of the time.

So, nobody thinks that the extra responsiveness had anything to do with doubling (and increasing the speed) of the RAM? That was the FIRST thing I thought of.

Originally posted by: Ilyavich
It's too wide, and sits on top of some of the little barrel-shaped things soldered onto the motherboard.

I love those barrel-shaped things! Tasty and have a nice chewiness on the inside. Oh wait, I'm thinking of something else. :eek:

Those are probably capacitors.

 

bryanW1995

Lifer
May 22, 2007
11,144
32
91
the 3600+ is an x2. they didn't make a 3600+ single core. download realtemp and leave it running while also running orthos. if you stay under 65c and don't have any lockups then you're gtg.
 

SlowSpyder

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
17,305
1,001
126
Isn't the 6000+ a 125 watt CPU? That PC is a year or two old, right? Anyone here sure if that machine/motherboard will run a 125 watt CPU ok? It might not fail right away, but if it doesn't support a 125 watt CPU, it will almost for sure fail eventually after the CPU is at load for a while. I'd be more worried about that then heat. I'm not sure if it's just AM2+ boards that this is a real issue with, or is AM2 boards also have this.
 

Ilyavich

Junior Member
Nov 27, 2007
9
0
0
Originally posted by: bryanW1995
the 3600+ is an x2. they didn't make a 3600+ single core. download realtemp and leave it running while also running orthos. if you stay under 65c and don't have any lockups then you're gtg.

Here are the results I used with SpeedFan instead of realtemp (only for Intel).

Type: Blend - stress CPU and RAM Min: 8 Max: 4096 InPlace: No Mem: 1725 Time: 15
CPU: 3000MHz FSB: 1000MHz [1000MHz x 3.0 est.]
6/18/2008 8:48 PM
Launching 2 threads...
Using CPU #0
Beginning a continuous self-test to check your computer.
Press Stop to end this test.
Test 1, 4000 Lucas-Lehmer iterations of M19922945 using 1024K FFT length.
Test 2, 4000 Lucas-Lehmer iterations of M19922943 using 1024K FFT length.
Test 3, 4000 Lucas-Lehmer iterations of M19374367 using 1024K FFT length.
Test 4, 4000 Lucas-Lehmer iterations of M19174369 using 1024K FFT length.
Torture Test ran 10 minutes 13 seconds - 0 errors, 0 warnings.
Execution halted.

So just at the 10 minute mark SpeedFan finally got to 65c.

Is this decent?

EDIT: Did some Googling and saw that some people say to run it for 8 HOURS... yikes. I don't game on the PC though, and don't load it up with that much stress for long at all.

Am I to worry?



 

solog

Member
Apr 18, 2008
145
0
0
Just keep your temp program running for a few days and see how hot it gets with your regular use. Check your case fans and might as well clean out any built up dust or tie back cables that are in the way
 

Dadofamunky

Platinum Member
Jan 4, 2005
2,184
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Dells are notoriously hard to upgrade. Good job pulling that one off! Going from a 3600 to a 6000 and improving the RAM - on a DELL! - is amazing. Don't try OCing that puppy, though. (In fact, the Dell BIOS probably doesn't offer any options for that anyway). Amazing that the RAM you bought actually worked. Not that it's bad RAM, but that turnkey computers like Dell's are often set up so that you can only buy very specific DIMMs for upgrades, at a premium. Usually Kingstons will work... I've had to do upgrades for many turnkey Dells and HPs and they're usually a bitch. So what you did is pretty rare.
 

kotrtim

Member
Jun 9, 2007
77
0
0
Dell like other vendor (HP, Lenovo etc), they use generic RAM such as Hexon, Hynix, Samsung.... a good MB should be able to take all sorts of RAM? I am not sure though, but I am currently using Aeneon 1GB 667 DDR-2 & Hexon 1GB 667 DDR-2 on MSI mainboard (AMD X2 3800+) running in dual-channel mode, it worked.
 

magreen

Golden Member
Dec 27, 2006
1,309
1
81
I dunno about what Dell used to be like, but I upgraded my e521 to 2gb of a-data ddr2-800 from 1gb of ddr2-667 with no prob. I don't think it's so hard to do -- just make sure it's 1.8V and you're good to go.

And I agree with Zap -- the increase in responsiveness for the OP is due to the faster ram. I don't think you run anything on your comp that would distinguish between an x2-3600+ and 6000+ except the occasoonal winrar or something. ddr2-800 would've increased your performance even more. AM2 procs are really sensitive to memory speed. But hey, you got a really strong cpu so that's cool.

As for the 125W tdp cpu... Yeah, I'd be worried about power regulation and delivery on the dell mobo more than the heat. Wouldn't want it to blow up like those uATX AM2+ boards that blew up in that AT article... But hey, OP, I hope it works out for you!

Congrats on the upgraded computer.