Search
Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in
Closed

Dell Optiplex 745 USFF cpu upgrade recommendations

Last response: in CPUs
Share
Register or log in to remove
Related ressources
Ask the community

Thanks for the advice guys - I'd only been looking at C2Ds with FSB of 1066. I was concerned about the Dell firmware recognising newer cpus, but you think that'll be OK? The Q9650 would give my system a 5x cpu boost which should make my media work run a bit faster....

..there's a number of 745s with Quads (all Kentsfield Q6600s) in those benchmarks. The cpu heat output is only 10% more, and the 745s all use the same bios, so this may work. Interestingly, the quads are the only cpus (in those 745 benchmarks) that seem to offer significantly more processing power than the D 925, so it's probably not worth trying anything else.
CPUs Expert

silchesterblade said:
..there's a number of 745s with Quads (all Kentsfield Q6600s) in those benchmarks. The cpu heat output is only 10% more, and the 745s all use the same bios, so this may work. Interestingly, the quads are the only cpus (in those 745 benchmarks) that seem to offer significantly more processing power than the D 925, so it's probably not worth trying anything else.



you could try a q6600 but it will be on a suck it and see basis. Dells are really not forgiving in any upgrades appart from ram and hard disks.

It should work but should is not would and as i have never tried it its a case of hope....

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/262413-10-quad-core...

heres one from a previous post.

youll need to add another powersupply to make the quad work but check with Dell..


Dells are really not for upgrading.
CPUs Expert

saaiello said:
even if you cant go quad a good e7000 or e8000 series will be a vast improvement in performance i just recently went from a D940 to a E8400 and its like night and day



The 965 doesnt support 1333 fsb chips if im not mistaken.. Only Asus high end board does this with a bit of tweaking

..the the end I went for a Q6600 (SLACR which has the same TDP as the D925 it replaced). I guess the key here was the Optilpex 745 2.3.1 bios update which " Added support for Extended Model and Extended Family Intel CPU's".

Anyway, installation took about 10 minutes (most of which was cleaning the old thermal paste off the heat sink before I re-applied it. Windows 7 booted fine, and then asked to be rebooted. I then ran a couple of benchmarks. Geekbench came in at about 4200 (from memory twice the D925) whilst PerformanceTest Passmark went from 456 to 723 (CPUMark doubled to 1468).

More importantly my media work seems to run 2-3 time faster.

So thanks to people who took the time to comment about this. I guess what I learned was to be careful of comments on here since opinion is often presented as though it were fact.
CPUs Expert

silchesterblade said:
..the the end I went for a Q6600 (SLACR which has the same TDP as the D925 it replaced). I guess the key here was the Optilpex 745 2.3.1 bios update which " Added support for Extended Model and Extended Family Intel CPU's".

Anyway, installation took about 10 minutes (most of which was cleaning the old thermal paste off the heat sink before I re-applied it. Windows 7 booted fine, and then asked to be rebooted. I then ran a couple of benchmarks. Geekbench came in at about 4200 (from memory twice the D925) whilst PerformanceTest Passmark went from 456 to 723 (CPUMark doubled to 1468).

More importantly my media work seems to run 2-3 time faster.

So thanks to people who took the time to comment about this. I guess what I learned was to be careful of comments on here since opinion is often presented as though it were fact.





Unfortunately not all Dells are easy to upgrade...

Dells are usually left as is as this is as Dell are tempermental to do anything with.

Anyway glad I could be of help..

silchesterblade said:
..the the end I went for a Q6600 (SLACR which has the same TDP as the D925 it replaced). I guess the key here was the Optilpex 745 2.3.1 bios update which " Added support for Extended Model and Extended Family Intel CPU's".

Anyway, installation took about 10 minutes (most of which was cleaning the old thermal paste off the heat sink before I re-applied it. Windows 7 booted fine, and then asked to be rebooted. I then ran a couple of benchmarks. Geekbench came in at about 4200 (from memory twice the D925) whilst PerformanceTest Passmark went from 456 to 723 (CPUMark doubled to 1468).

More importantly my media work seems to run 2-3 time faster.

So thanks to people who took the time to comment about this. I guess what I learned was to be careful of comments on here since opinion is often presented as though it were fact.



I am attempting to upgrade my Dell GX620 on the cheap. It currently has the Intel Dual Core 2.8Ghz and is only upgradeable to Pentium D 3.2Ghz as far as I know, which is a minimal upgrade. After some research it appears that it is possible to swap motherboards and put a GX745 motherboard into it, thereby opening the doors to the Core Duo processor class. By all appearances it looks to be the same Dell form factor, and the 745 motherboard was only $25 on ebay. I am curious how problem free your Q6600 is running, and whether I should be looking for a Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad. It appears that the Q6600 are selling for less on ebay than say the E8600 Duo, but I want to make certain that there are no low voltage or heating problems with the Quad given that the Optiplex Dells have small power supplies. Any advice or recommendations would be much appreciated.

stratokazter said:
I am attempting to upgrade my Dell GX620 on the cheap. It currently has the Intel Dual Core 2.8Ghz and is only upgradeable to Pentium D 3.2Ghz as far as I know, which is a minimal upgrade. After some research it appears that it is possible to swap motherboards and put a GX745 motherboard into it, thereby opening the doors to the Core Duo processor class. By all appearances it looks to be the same Dell form factor, and the 745 motherboard was only $25 on ebay. I am curious how problem free your Q6600 is running, and whether I should be looking for a Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad. It appears that the Q6600 are selling for less on ebay than say the E8600 Duo, but I want to make certain that there are no low voltage or heating problems with the Quad given that the Optiplex Dells have small power supplies. Any advice or recommendations would be much appreciated.



The Q6600 in my Optiplex 745 USFF has run problem free since installation (today's date is Sept 16th 2010). My only concern was the temperature of the cores (Speedfan reports them at about 40C), but as I say, no problems at all.

silchesterblade said:
The Q6600 in my Optiplex 745 USFF has run problem free since installation (today's date is Sept 16th 2010). My only concern was the temperature of the cores (Speedfan reports them at about 40C), but as I say, no problems at all.


I am looking to do the same in my 745 USFF. Have you had any problems with this setup since it has been over 2 years since the install?
Register or log in to remove
 
Ask the community
Read discussions in other CPUs categories
!