Upgrading Dell Dimension E521

[jhmmhj]

Hi,
I have a dimension e521 and I read with gratitude the thread about upgrading to AMD 6000+ etc from earlier this year.

My computer already has the AMD 64 X2 5000+ 2.60GHz.

Is there a worthwhile upgrade from that? As you know, Dell are saying absolutely not. I would love to consider a 6 core AMD...?

 

[o1die]

No. Unless you want to install a newer windows operating system. Non dell boards may not activate with a dell windows dvd. If you don't need 2 systems, I would sell the dell intact and build your own. I have worked at dell several times; they aren't designed for upgrading the board or cpu easily. There are still some 785 hdmi boards that make for a nice upgrade, but the cost of the cpu/board/operating system could easily top $350, and you would still be using ddr2. Not worth it in my opinion.

 

[jhmmhj]

No. Unless you want to install a newer windows operating system. Non dell boards may not activate with a dell windows dvd. If you don't need 2 systems, I would sell the dell intact and build your own. I have worked at dell several times; they aren't designed for upgrading the board or cpu easily. There are still some 785 hdmi boards that make for a nice upgrade, but the cost of the cpu/board/operating system could easily top $350, and you would still be using ddr2. Not worth it in my opinion.

Thanks to both of you for the comments.
I think I will take o1die's advice and sell/gift the existing system. I do a lot of raytracing and that is CPU intensive. I know the program can utilise multi-core and requires a 64 bit OS. I am therefore planning to go quad core, i7 (probably 870), and 8GB RAM. I would like to overclock it and the cheapest system I have found is a Dell 8100XPS, I jut don't know if their BIOS will allow overclocking. If it does I can get into one for about $1,400 incl 4 yrs parts and Windows 7 Pro 64 bit.

 

[Guest]

The E521 will actually support 16 GB of DDR2 RAM. Even though Dell says the limit is 4 GB. I am currently running vSphere 4.1 on an E521 with 16 GB of RAM and a Brisbane 5600+ processor. I am able to run 10 VMs on the computer.

 

[trueblu8]

tell me more - mott72..! tell me more about your e521 and 16GB of ddr2.! I haven't tried more than 4GB yet with my e521 but you just
made my day...! I'm gonna toke up and visualize.
give me more system specs please...

You ever get around to seeing if 16gb of ddr2 would work in an e521?