what's the difference between an inspiron i580 540 and a i580 550

[tomloc]

i recently bought my dad a dell i580-540 desktop PC & 6 months later i am buying a dell i580-550 for myself because how fast his computer is. i went online to see what the reviews were for my computer but just for my setup alone there three different versions for the i580. there is the i580 5108nbc, i580 6736nbc & i580 8139nbc. other than the retailer reporting the suffix 8139nbc i cant find out where on the documentation or in the OS control panel i can find out which one it is. my dads is a 540 processor and mine is a 550. what does this mean and other than taking the computer apart how do i find out what i have? essentially we have the same intel core i3 system but his clocks at 3.02ghz and mine is 3.2 ghz. both have 4gb of ram and run windows 7 64bit os systems. any insight on the differences wohld be appreciated. when you go to dell's site they dont distinguish between an inspiron 580 540 or 580 550.

 

[rolli59]

The difference is that I3 550 is just faster than the I3 540. 200MHz difference means up to about 7% performance difference in favor of the 550.

 

[tomloc]

The difference is that I3 550 is just faster than the I3 540. 200MHz difference means up to about 7% performance difference in favor of the 550.

Ok thanks. I understand that part, but why the different i580 8139nbc, 6736nbc & 5198nbc names all having the same 550 processor? Where in the device manager can I tell which architecture my motherboard is?

 

[rolli59]

I will only take a guess on that! It is just model codes for them to differentiate between these http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-580/fs
They most likely all have the same lga1156 motherboard.

 

[tomloc]

The difference is that I3 550 is just faster than the I3 540. 200MHz difference means up to about 7% performance difference in favor of the 550.

Also, when you go to purchase the inspiron 580 on dell website it doesn't even give you a choice between the 540 or the 550. So why the difference in cpu for the same inspiron name but for different retailers, when the speed difference appears minimal? The reviews between the i580 5108nbc and i580 8139nbc are like night and day. The 8139 was rated very good in pcmag but in CNET the 5108nbc was rated between 1 and a half stars by users. Seems like the 5108 is unstable and prone to crashing.

 

[rolli59]

The 540 machines are older and Dell is not producing them anymore! There is a difference http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/dell-inspiron-i580-5108nbc/4507-3118_7-33964706.html?tag=mncolBtm;rnav I5 650 GT220 video!

 

[tomloc]

The 540 machines are older and Dell is not producing them anymore! There is a difference http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/dell-inspiron-i580-5108nbc/4507-3118_7-33964706.html?tag=mncolBtm;rnav I5 650 GT220 video!

Thanks. So confusing. The link calls it an i580 but the processor is an i650 core i5. When you are on the dell site for the i580 from your first link the 580s says in the description the core i5 for the power option you need but when you click on the tech specs for this same version it says core i3. So damn confusing. I appreciate the replies. Its like they post this stuff to confuse you to prevent you from price comparisons, sort of like mattress shopping. They should make it completely illegal. The FCC or dept of consumer affairs should make them itemize everything prior to purchasing.

 

[tomloc]

Best answer selected by tomloc.