Can I upgrade an i3 4130 to an i5 processor?

[Nicholas Nicolaou]

I have a dell inspirion

basically exactly this, except i have the model before it with the i3 4130, then this one came out http://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-inspiron-desktop-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-black/5859005.p?id=1219165151225&skuId=5859005

but i wana know if I can upgrade it to an i5 and if I can which one should I upgrade it to?

 

[LilTwist]

yes you can upgrade the i3 4130 cpu to a newer generation i5 because they are all cpu socket lga 1150

 

[margibso]

Yes, and if you don't want to overclock the i5 4460 is sitting in the sweat spot right now (although keep an eye on the 4590).
You'll void your warranty of course

 

[Eggz]

Your CPU uses an FCLGA1150, and I don't know if that's compatible with LGA1150. It's probably the same physical layout, but you'll have to see whether the motherboard will support normal LGA1150 chips, the fastest of which is the i7-4790k. When upgrading to newer generations, you'll usually have to update the motherboard BIOS, but premade computer manufacturers can make getting BIOS upgrades difficult. You'll need a bios version that supports the generation of chip you plan to use, which is highly specific information that large computer manufacturers are notorious for hiding somewhere deep in the company that no mortal consumer can access. Dell maybe different, though. Call and check with them first.

 

[margibso]

I don't know enough to say definitively but the i5 4690k is also FCLGA1150 so is the i7-4790K you just mentioned. I would be very surprised if FCLGA and LGA are not compatible

 

[LilTwist]

all CPUs under any kind of lga 1150 no matter how it is spelled is compatible with lga1150

 

[Eggz]

Yeah, the CPU will work. That's not the concern. It's the motherboard. He'll have to check with Dell. Who knows what board they crammed in that thing.

 

[margibso]

I'm still not following you Eggz. The i3 4130 is current generation. There's no such thing as a motherboard that will only accept i3 Haswells but not i5's.

 

[Eggz]

Yeah, I mean it will probably work, but it's worth checking with Dell first. Large manufacturers get specialized boards to cut costs a lot of times. That's all. I've had compatibility issues from non-standard boards in HP computers in the past - only twice, though.

Best thing might be to order from Amazon Prime for the free return policy, and just return if it doesn't work.

 

[mlga91]

You need to check in the motherboard manual what CPUs are supported, they dont have the best compatibility like asus or asrock boards, they just make them to support a certain number of CPUs and thats it, try to identify what motherboard that your DELL has and post it here.

 

[LilTwist]

it doesnt matter what cpu it supports in it now you should always check to see if you need a bios update to support the new cpu because even if the cpu and socket are lga 1150 sometimes the bios wont recognize the new cpu because that cpu wasnt registered in the bios when they first manufactured the motherboard

 

[Nicholas Nicolaou]

You need to check in the motherboard manual what CPUs are supported, they dont have the best compatibility like asus or asrock boards, they just make them to support a certain number of CPUs and thats it, try to identify what motherboard that your DELL has and post it here.

how do I check which motherboard I have?

 

[Eggz]

how do I check which motherboard I have?

Like I was saying in my earlier posts, large computer manufacturers like Dell often hide that information. You can search for your model at this Dell User Manual Website. If it shows a different product, choose "View Different Product."

I went and got a sample manual (see here) just to see if they give specifics about the motherboard. It doesn't. The term "mother" doesn't even appear. It calls the motherboard a "system board," and it only appears in the context of error codes and images (pointing out in unhelpful diagrams roughly where the motherboard is located).

Your manual will likely have similarly vague information. I'd call Dell's customer support line to find out more, but chances are they will look at the same information to which you have access, though they may have something in their system you can't see online.

. . . you should always check to see if you need a bios update to support the new cpu . . .

That's exactly the issue, isn't it? If you can't even find your motherboard model, it's going to be even more difficult to find which CPUs the BOIS supports and whether there's a BIOS update supporting the CPU you want. Often times the information is secret because the company supplying the motherboard (often a subsidiary of ASUS) knows the boards are not up to industry standards (because they don't need to be for such a specific use in a pre-assembled computer), and they don't want their name associated with the product. They only supply them because the likes of Dell, HP, and others create a large demand for them.

This is a major part of the reason people who care about specific configurations will just build their own computers. When you do, you do so with industry-standard parts that are made to be compatible with literally anything that fits on the board. Another reason is that swapping out a CPU will often void your warranty, which is a huge hint the machine isn't designed to accommodate different configurations.

Lesson learned, right? Next time, just take the plunge and build your own. You can't go wrong if you use www.PcPartPicker.com

🙂

 

[margibso]

Hah! I have the reverse problem. I have always built my own machines so I never even knew this could happen. The more you know, I guess.