Best CPU for Dell Dimension 8400.

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setha

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Apr 15, 2014
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Hi,

A friend of mine gave me an used Dell Dimension 8400. I am confident that is has Pentium 4 CPU in it with only 1GB of RAM. I would like to upgrade it to the maximum setting starting from the CPU first from within this forum. I will create a different forum for GPU as well, but let's focus on the CPU for now. I will pretty much buy the new PC case as well as a new power supply as long as I can get some idea of what the maximum setting could be like.

Please give me some idea. I know I will have to download and install new BIOS from Dell's website first too :)

Thanks.
 
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If you have a Socket 478 Pentium 4, there is nothing worth upgrading to. If you have an LGA775 Pentium-D then you might be able to upgrade to a Core2 CPU but even those are pretty far gone on the obsolescence curve. With only 1GB of RAM, I'm guessing you have DDR2 at best.

If you want a truly meaningful upgrade, you should seriously consider a motherboard+CPU+RAM upgrade since modern LGA1150 CPUs perform 70-90% faster clock-for-clock than the best LGA775 has to offer.
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Titan
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May 18, 2007
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If you have a Socket 478 Pentium 4, there is nothing worth upgrading to. If you have an LGA775 Pentium-D then you might be able to upgrade to a Core2 CPU but even those are pretty far gone on the obsolescence curve. With only 1GB of RAM, I'm guessing you have DDR2 at best.

If you want a truly meaningful upgrade, you should seriously consider a motherboard+CPU+RAM upgrade since modern LGA1150 CPUs perform 70-90% faster clock-for-clock than the best LGA775 has to offer.
 
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Obnoxious

Obnoxious

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It would be a waste of funds investing more money into the Dell Dimension 8400, however I am not saying don't upgrade it; sure feel free to upgrade. Only upgrade the processor, RAM and may be even the GPU too, but nothing else, don't even bother with a case, PSU or any other upgrade. You'd be better off spending those funds on a new build.

The motherboard in the Dell Dimension 8400 supports Pentium 4's and Pentium D's on socket 775, and it does not support the Core 2 Duo's or Quads. The motherboard will allow for a maximum of 4GB RAM on DDR2 and also contains a PCI-Express x16 slot. Regardless of all the upgrades you may provide to the desktop, you still won't match the performance levels of a new budget build; hence I would recommend you save costs for a new build entirely whilst only upgrading minimal parts on your existing Dell system.

You could upgrade the motherboard to support newer processors, however in doing so would require new DDR3 RAM and a processor to support the new motherboard. You also state you want a new case, PSU and GPU; put all that together you pretty much have a new build, except for storage. So it's not absolutely worth upgrading the Dell.

It's you call however.

All the best. :)
 
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setha

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Apr 15, 2014
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Thanks for all your fast response. I still want to try upgrading it, though, because even for a new build, I will have to buy new cases, new power supply, and new RAMs. At least, for now, I will just buy used RAMs and CPU from Ebay for this one :)

Now, by entering service tag on Dell's support website, I found that the current CPU is
Part Number: W8400
Description: PROCESSOR, 80547, PENTIUM 4 PRESCOTT DT, 630, SKT-T, MALE.

Now, if you may guide me further on the exact model of CPU I should get.
 
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Titan
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May 18, 2007
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The problem with upgrading it is that even the best parts you might be able to throw at it are still pieces of junk compared to a modern low-end system: even if you could put a 3.6GHz Pentium-D in your old PC, a modern Pentium G3258 (~$80 new) for a modern LGA1150 platform would still be about three times as fast.
 
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Titan
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May 18, 2007
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The 925-series chipset DOES NOT support Core2 CPUs. If you want to keep that motherboard, you are stuck with crappy old stinking hot and god-awful-slow Prescott Pentium 4 CPUs.

My advice: kill it with fire. Prescott was Intel's worst design ever and that is the only architecture you can use on that board.
 
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