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CPU upgrade for Dell E520

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I have a Dell E520 with Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E4300 (2M Cache, 1.80 GHz, 800 MHz FSB) and this processor has a voltage range of 0.850V-1.5V. The computer has the most current BIOS from Dell.

I would like to update the computer and have considered the Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E7400 (3M Cache, 2.80 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) and this processor has a voltage range of 0.850V-1.3625V. I have never upgraded my CPU before and have several questions:

1) Does the new CPU voltage range have to match the current CPU voltage range?
2) If not, then in the above voltage difference would the BIOS need to be changed to limit the maximum voltage?
3) Any other "do's" and "dont's" regarding CPU upgrades?

I don't want to purchase something that is not compatible and would appreciate any information regarding how to determine if the "new" CPU would be compatible.

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I don't think the E520 can upgrade to a E7300. Did it first come with a Pentium D CPU?

Reply to AKM880

No 5's , no 7's , no 8's

4's , 6's and Q6600

Message quoted 3 times

------------------------------ q9650 @ 4.050 | Asus Rampage Formula | 2x2 Corsair Dominators | WD Black 640 x2
EVGA GTX260 Core216 @ 686/1479/1103 | Antec TPN 750

Reply to DellUser1

ewiz has a much bigger selection of CPUs that would be usable for you and the E520.
http://www.ewiz.com/query.php?categry=677

I didn't look up if the E520 can use a 1333 fsb Conroe though. It does use the 1066 fsb CPUs.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by dirtmountain on 07-26-2009 at 08:50:12 AM

Reply to dirtmountain

Have you tried going to the Dell website and using your specific tag number to identify compatible upgrades, if any, available from Dell?

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna [...] PU=1&s=dhs

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to rockyjohn

DellUser1 wrote :

No 5's , no 7's , no 8's

4's , 6's and Q6600

the old Core 2 Duo 6000 series and the new Pentium E6300 CPU? The new chip would be a nice and cheap upgrade otherwise it looks like his only choice is to scan ebay.

Message quoted 1 times

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Reply to ct1615

ct1615 wrote :

the new Pentium E6300 CPU?

Forgot about that one, wish they'd come up with different numbers instead of making things confusing.
Don't know wether it would work or not.

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ q9650 @ 4.050 | Asus Rampage Formula | 2x2 Corsair Dominators | WD Black 640 x2
EVGA GTX260 Core216 @ 686/1479/1103 | Antec TPN 750

Reply to DellUser1

DellUser1 wrote :

Forgot about that one, wish they'd come up with different numbers instead of making things confusing.
Don't know wether it would work or not.

I had a feeling that would be the case.

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Reply to ct1615

It's a Wolfdale, so i doubt if the new Pentium Dual-Core E6300 would work.

Reply to dirtmountain

This looks like a good option. Q6700 2.66GHz 1066fsb 8MB at $175. I've got to say that Delluser1 knows a helluva lot more about Dells then i do. I'd certainly check with Dell to make sure it's a viable choice and the motherboard BIOS supports it.

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=Q6700

Here's a thread in the Dell forums, make sure you read it to the bottom.
http://en.community.dell.com/forum [...] 25007.aspx

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to dirtmountain

dirtmountain wrote :

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=Q6700

If you're looking for an older Quad that's a nice price, Newegg wants $200 for the Q6600.

------------------------------ q9650 @ 4.050 | Asus Rampage Formula | 2x2 Corsair Dominators | WD Black 640 x2
EVGA GTX260 Core216 @ 686/1479/1103 | Antec TPN 750

Reply to DellUser1

Thanks to all for the information posted so far! I will review the suggestions/inputs and see what my best options are.

Reply to kanpoke

rockyjohn wrote :

Have you tried going to the Dell website and using your specific tag number to identify compatible upgrades, if any, available from Dell?

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna [...] PU=1&s=dhs

Yes but they only sell two, a refurbished pentium 4 and a refurbished celeron. Not much of a choice through dell for my specific system.

Reply to kanpoke

dirtmountain wrote :

ewiz has a much bigger selection of CPUs that would be usable for you and the E520.
http://www.ewiz.com/query.php?categry=677

I didn't look up if the E520 can use a 1333 fsb Conroe though. It does use the 1066 fsb CPUs.

I did look at the EWIZ website and it looks like they have competitive prices on the various CPUs that would be supported by my system. Does anyone has experience purchasing from them? Are they reputable and can something be returned easily without a lot of headaches? Asking because I have purchased only from newegg and tigerdirect in the past and neither show that they currently offer the E6600 or E6700 cpu which is what I am thinking of buying.

Reply to kanpoke

DellUser1 wrote :

No 5's , no 7's , no 8's

4's , 6's and Q6600

Does that mean an intel Pentium E6300 dual core will work?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to JACKIETOOLS

JACKIETOOLS wrote :

Does that mean an intel Pentium E6300 dual core will work?

nope, see Delluser's reply several post's up

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Reply to ct1615

I've never used ewiz, but have a friend that uses them fairly regularly. No bad feedback from him. I think either the Q6600 or the Q6700 would be a good choice.

Reply to dirtmountain

DellUser1 wrote :

No 5's , no 7's , no 8's

4's , 6's and Q6600

Again thank you all the information posted thus far and as I posted before this is all new to me so I appreciate everyone patience. I do have several other questions. Given that I have 1.8Ghz, 2mb cache, 800fsb chip now (E4300):

1) how much performance increase (relatively speaking) would I expect to see going to a 2.4Ghz, 2mb cache, 800fsb chip (E4600)?

2) how much performance increase (relatively speaking) would I expect to see going to a 2.4Ghz, 4mb cache, 1066fsb chip (E6600)?

I am trying to determine if the price differences I see between the 1066fsb vs the 800fsb is worth the difference to me and also how much influence the cache has particularly on video editing performance (which is why I need to upgrade the processor).

Reply to kanpoke

Here's a chart that you can plug different CPUs into and get benchmarks. (E4500 vs. Q6600) you can change to some other CPUs

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/def [...] p=65&p2=53

Toms charts
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts [...] ks,60.html

Reply to dirtmountain

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