Can I replace Pentium D820 Dual with Core 2 Duo E6700

[swbruce21]

On a Dell E5150 desktop, can I replace Pentium D820 Dual with Core 2 Duo E6700 ?
.
I have a Dell Precision 390 with the E6700 a Dell E5150 with the Pentium D820. Im sure people might not like Passmark Benchmark, but the CPU performance on the E6700 is twice as good at everything. I don't know if the computer itself makes the difference.

Anyway the Precision is too noisy for me in my quiet home office, so I want to put the E6700 in the Dell 5150 which is super-quiet.


Thanks.

 

[C12Friedman]

I think first you should know here is that there is only two sources of noise in a computer - mechanical drives which if unusually noisy would probably indicate replacement is needed - Fans which are the primary noise producers.
I would start by giving the Precision 390 a good cleaning with compressed air. Ensure the heatsink gets cleared of dust and the fans get as clean as possible (a brush helps on the fans) - that may lower your noise factor just by doing that. If not, you can replace the heatsink with an aftermarket one (which will be quite a bit quieter) and quiet case fans are also available - much easier route IMO.
Something to consider

 

[swbruce21]

Thanks,

The computer is as clean as brand-new, "White Glove" clean. The precision is not noisy by normal standards, but the e5150 is almost silent (a faint whisper)

The 5" CPU/CASE fan may be slightly out of balance compared to the several other Dells I have, which is transmitting some of the noise into the case.

The presision also has a another chasssis fan, that the Dell Dimensions don't have. Its pretty quiet but noiser than not having this fan. This system could live without this fan because it is for the expansion cards, and I don't have any cards, but the Bios error message cannot be disabled when the fan is unplugged. Finally the power supply fan seems to be running a higher rpm than the Dimensions.

Bottom Line, the Dell E5150 is virtually silent and it could take a lot of time trying to make the Precision computer equally quiet and it may not be possible.

 

[C12Friedman]

I see your issue. looking only at the noise issue with the Dell Precision 390 I found this thread http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/18424381.aspx which has the following advice posted by Xa3r0 that seems to make sense
"...my reply may be worth it for some people with this problem. I am a computer engineer and i bought 1 of these PC's from an auction and i had a very noisy fan with it for a while. a month ago the noise finally got to me so i opened up the case and removed the heatsink off the CPU and i discovered that it was around the wrong way. so i reversed it, put it back together and now the PC is as quiet as a mouse. In fact the AMD machine i have here now which is considered very quiet is actually louder!

To explain in detail: the fan causing the noise is the cpu fan which is not attached to the heatsink at all. it's a large 4-5 inch fan blowing air from the front side of the case through the cpu heatsink. when you remove the heatsink (2 screws, 1 top 1 bottom) you remove the screws with a phiips head (star head) screwdriver, then you open the outer housing like a door from left to right.

when you look at the base of the heatsink (the bit the actaully rests on the cpu) you'll see that 1 of the sides is straight and the other is angled, kind of like this: straight edge --> [ > <-- not straight edge.. face the not straight edge towards the fan and put the heatsink back into place... once i did this, no more noise!. Also, i disabled all SPEEDSTEP options in the bios. I tried doing that before removing the heatsink, no luck..." then continues later
"additional note: some engineers/DC administrators would face the heatsink the wrong way intentionally because these machine were housed in a server environment with inadequate cooling so having the fans run at high speed constantly would guarantee that the cpu remained cooler no matter what state the computer was in which meant longer running PC's... the downside is decreased fan life, but being as robust as DELL pc's are , this hasn't been an issue for mine. I use mine as a server at home with the heatsink mounted correctly and it runs 24/7 so far for nearly a year now and no issues to report aside from the occasional power blackout/brownout "
Still looking into the swap possibility though

 

[swbruce21]

The heat sink is installed normally . . but there were other noise issues.

Thanks for directing my attention to fixing the noise on the Dell Precision 390 , instead of replacing the unit by upgraded the Dell Dimension 5150 I had been using. Last night I reduced the noise level to the quiet state I was used to with the Dell Dimension.

Sources of Noise:
1. The hard drive didn't have any bearing noise, but it is slightly out of balance transmitting noise into the computer chassis. I removed the drive from its bay and made an isolated mount outside the drive bay.

2. The main 5" inch chassis/cpu fan was creating a buzz between its mount and the big heat-sink duct. Fixed with 2 soft rubber washers as shims to separate plastic components

3. The Fan the BIOS calls the "expansion card fan" is normally installed tight to the front of the computer which is fully perforated for airflow, so there was no accoustical separation between this fan and the room. Don't really need this fan, except to avoid the "Press F1 error" on startup. Moved this fan towards the back of the computer where there is a lots of room because only 1 expansion card is in this space. It now blows out the back, rather than suck in the front

The computer is now as quiet as the Dimension, and actually better because the Dimensions tend to have sheet metal buzzes in several places that need shims, tape etc to fix.

Thanks again.

 

[C12Friedman]

That's the kind of outcome I like to see.
There are noise reducing parts available such as rubber padded hard drive mounts, rubber fan 'screws' and the like if you find the need in the future, in fact there is a company dedicated to just that here http://www.quietpcusa.com/default.aspx
Enjoy
ps I've never used QuietPCUSA, I came across them while researching your issues but I thought I'd put it out there for you

 

[swbruce21]

Best answer selected by swbruce21.