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Switched CPU of Dell Optiplex GX520 --> BIOS says CPU is incompatible

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CPUs Authority

Its a Dell, a prebuild. The BIOS support will be very limited for any upgrade CPU, usually only a couple notches faster of the same identical processor, that is it. Dell, or any other OEM prebuild vendor for that matter, does not want you upgrading, they want you to buying a new system. Good luck trying to find a BIOS revision, they are just as limited.
CPUs Expert

The fact that the computer can tell you that the cpu is not compatible means that it electrically at least it is compatible. If it had no cpu in it it would not do anything.

Best bet put the old chip in update bios then try the new chip.

The images are not very detailed, but in the past Dell used genuine Intel motherboards in some of their PCs. So, look at the board, whether you can see any Intel mode markings (Intel board names usually start with D)

Put the old one back in and did an update. Was a little tricky since I'm running Linux and the file provided was of course a Windows .exe. Found a way to do it though. Put the new one in. Works nicely. Even shows the P4 logo on bootup now.

Back to topic LOL. PC works fine but the CPU fan is loud now. I got an applet showing me what the CPU is doing and whenever it's got work to do, the fan turns up till full throttle. During idle it's nice and quiet again. Before the fan was comparatively quiet even when the Celeron got revved up. I don't think the CPU is hot. The air coming out is quite cool. There's no option in BIOS like smart fan or whatever. I'm trying to get a read on the sensors in Ubuntu but it doesn't find any. Have you guys any ideas?
CPUs Expert

The p4 was one of the hottest running consumer CPUs ever made. I would expect the temp to be a good bit higher than the celery. As long as your sure you have good thermal paste and the heat sink is properly attached just try to live with it.

The P4s does have an internal temp sensor but very few boards seem to be able to read it correctly and report it in the OS. I have ubuntu on an old laptop but I only use it for internet and youtube, so I do know of any good linux system health tools that you can use to check the temp, or control the fan.
CPUs Expert

The wierd part about malmetals change to verbalizer is that it retroactivly changes all his posts. You cant change history. I was looking at a conversation we had 5 weeks ago and those old posts changed too.

Quote:
thermal paste, have to get it on just right..


First time I changed a CPU. Could I have spread it too thick? I googled how-tos and did it like they said with a credit card. Not too thick. Dunno... Maybe because I had to put it out and back in again?

Quote:
Dell OEM heatsink still correct.?
if so then take an 80mm fan and zip tie it to the heatsink blowing into the rear case fan and outta case..


Why wouldn't it be? It's the medium size version that you put your monitor on. Not the tower. It's got just this one fan behind the heatsink blowing over the heatsink and out of the case at the front.

Quote:
ah, OK then...
that case needs better ventilation but it seems your limited there.


The fan speed seems to be coupled to work load, not temperature because the air coming out is cool. When there's no load the fan quiets down to a whisper.
CPUs Expert

if the fan is spinning like nuts and the air is cool that suggests your not getting good thermal transfer from the chip to the heatsink. This means the chip is getting hot and telling the fan to speed up but the heatsink is not getting hot.

You could try to clean the thermal paste off the chip and heatsink with a papertowel and try to use only a bb sized dab in the middle of the cpu and put it together. Some of the dells use thermal pad. like a piece of plastic wrap on the heatsink. If you used thermal paste you have to peel that thermal pad off.

bucknutty said:
if the fan is spinning like nuts and the air is cool that suggests your not getting good thermal transfer from the chip to the heatsink. This means the chip is getting hot and telling the fan to speed up but the heatsink is not getting hot.

You could try to clean the thermal paste off the chip and heatsink with a papertowel and try to use only a bb sized dab in the middle of the cpu and put it together. Some of the dells use thermal pad. like a piece of plastic wrap on the heatsink. If you used thermal paste you have to peel that thermal pad off.


Would you recommend to buy a pad? I've seen some on ebay wich can be compressed in order to ensure a tight fit.
CPUs Expert

I dont like the pads for the cpu. They are good for ram on video cards and small stuff.

Only a few dells I have take apart had them. If your dell had/has one it really should not be reused, and it can't be mixed with thermal paste.

My point is if you have the thin plastic like pad and thermal paste you wont get good heat transfer.
CPUs Master

Quote:
thanx for the video link, I hope it was informative to the thread, i haven't seen it yet..


A bit off topic, but you were Urban Legend before right, just remember you avatar..

Just wanna mention that I put the Celeron back in and the fan is quiet again. I got no idea why it wouldn't work with the P4. I tried to get a read on the sensors including the one controlling the fan but I couldn't find any. I also tried getting a new heatsink since I heard that Dell had an updated version but I can't get any of those. So I guess I'll leave it like that. Thanks for everyone's input!

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CPUs Master

h3r3t1k said:
Just wanna mention that I put the Celeron back in and the fan is quiet again. I got no idea why it wouldn't work with the P4.

The P4 likely has a much higher TDP than your Celeron, hence much lower tolerance to sub-par HSF and HSF mounting job.
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