CPU swap out

[catfishhoward]

I want to make my moms computer faster so I was wanting to swap out her Celeron 450 2.20GHz 1 core processer with a Intel Pentium E5800. I believe they are both LGA 775. Is it that simple?

Is this okay or does the mother board or other component matter? Can anyone tell me the name of her motherboard or how to find it on a dell so I can check how many ram slots she has so maybe I can add ram to?

Additional existing computer info:
Windows 10 Home
Dell Inc. A06, 12/1/2010
Inspiron 560
x64-based
BIOS Mode: Legacy
Installed Physical Memory (Ram) 4GB
Total Physical Memory 3.96 GB
Available Physical Memory 342 MB
Tatal Virtual Memory 7.96 GB
Available Virtual Memory 2.54 GB
Page File Space 4.00 GB

2nd question: would you by a brand new Intel Pentium E5800 or a (OEM/Tray) Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 for the same price?

 

[Dugimodo]

What is slow that you are trying to improve? you may get more benefit from an SSD than a CPU upgrade depending on what is actually slow about it. Then again a single core celeron is pretty dog slow by todays standards.

Looking at the manual http://www.dell.com/support/home/nz/en/nzbsdt1/product-support/product/inspiron-560/manuals seems it supports pentiums, and also core 2 duo and quad core processors so maybe if you can find something like an E8400 it may be a better option.

You need to clean off the old heatsink paste from the CPU and cooler and apply some new paste - best to look for some guides on youtube and watch how it's done

Edit: also I'd buy the Quad personally

 

[SchizTech]

I see a Dell Inspiron 650 model reviewed at Cnet with a Pentium E6700, so it seems that model can accept dual core Pentiums, yes. As to the quad core, I couldn't verify that. The Intel chipset used supports those chips but whether the custom Dell BIOS does or not I can't say 100%.

In what way is it slow, BTW? It could likely benefit also from a clean-out: remove unnecesary software, run malware scans, remove stuff from loading on boot to speed up how long it takes from start-up to a usable state, etc.

 

[catfishhoward]

What is slow that you are trying to improve? you may get more benefit from an SSD than a CPU upgrade depending on what is actually slow about it. Then again a single core celeron is pretty dog slow by todays standards.

Looking at the manual http://www.dell.com/support/home/nz/en/nzbsdt1/product-support/product/inspiron-560/manuals seems it supports pentiums, and also core 2 duo and quad core processors so maybe if you can find something like an E8400 it may be a better option.

You need to clean off the old heatsink paste from the CPU and cooler and apply some new paste - best to look for some guides on youtube and watch how it's done

Edit: also I'd buy the Quad personally

I forgot to mention we have a $100 budget. So I don't think a SSD will be an option.

 

[USAFRet]

What is slow that you are trying to improve? you may get more benefit from an SSD than a CPU upgrade depending on what is actually slow about it. Then again a single core celeron is pretty dog slow by todays standards.

Looking at the manual http://www.dell.com/support/home/nz/en/nzbsdt1/product-support/product/inspiron-560/manuals seems it supports pentiums, and also core 2 duo and quad core processors so maybe if you can find something like an E8400 it may be a better option.

You need to clean off the old heatsink paste from the CPU and cooler and apply some new paste - best to look for some guides on youtube and watch how it's done

Edit: also I'd buy the Quad personally

I forgot to mention we have a $100 budget. So I don't think a SSD will be an option.

Depending on how much drive space you need, an SSD is absolutely an option at $100.
And will benefit far more than the slight change you might see with a different CPU.

 

[catfishhoward]

What is slow that you are trying to improve? you may get more benefit from an SSD than a CPU upgrade depending on what is actually slow about it. Then again a single core celeron is pretty dog slow by todays standards.

Looking at the manual http://www.dell.com/support/home/nz/en/nzbsdt1/product-support/product/inspiron-560/manuals seems it supports pentiums, and also core 2 duo and quad core processors so maybe if you can find something like an E8400 it may be a better option.

You need to clean off the old heatsink paste from the CPU and cooler and apply some new paste - best to look for some guides on youtube and watch how it's done

Edit: also I'd buy the Quad personally

I forgot to mention we have a $100 budget. So I don't think a SSD will be an option.

Depending on how much drive space you need, an SSD is absolutely an option at $100.
And will benefit far more than the slight change you might see with a different CPU.

I'll have to look into a SSD, I just figured a 1 core 2.2GHz is pretty slow vs a 2 core 3.2 GHz? Benchmark about +63 faster.

 

[USAFRet]

I'll have to look into a SSD, I just figured a 1 core 2.2GHz is pretty slow vs a 2 core 3.2 GHz? Benchmark about +63 faster.

This one, for instance:
https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX300-275GB-Internal-Solid/dp/B01IAGSD5O

Crucial MX300, 275GB, $99.

 

[need4speeds]

https://www.cnet.com/products/dell-inspiron-560-p-e6700-3-2-ghz-monitor-none-series/specs/

Look for one locally, even a whole system with a cpu in it like that. Then you can rob memory, hdd, cpu ect.
Or a used cpu. A used core2 should be $5-$20. A whole system $10-$40.

No-one wants a core2 dual core.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1744676/upgrading-dell-inspiron-560-gaming-friendly.html

I suppose clock speed is king, so try and get a faster clocked core2.

 

[need4speeds]

No don't do the HDD swap. That computer doesn't support 4K sectors it wont work without some effort. Also the HDD controller is older and slower.

Instead look for a used SATA hdd that is reasonably fast and mirror it with something like Seatools. A SATA seagate 500gig or WD640 or one of the older 1tb hdd's. Even a used WD Raptor. It's likely the system has a IDE hdd or early 4 to 5 platter SATA drive that runs slow and hot. Going to a much faster single or 2 platter 500 gig Seagate or WD that is much newer from the Sandybridge\Bulldozer era will greatly improve HDD speed.

Google about the 4K sectors first.

-It has Serial ATA-300, that's SATA2. So your maxed out at 300mb\s.

 

[catfishhoward]

thanks for the replies. Can anyone tell me what motherboard it is from the information above or how to tell?

 

[need4speeds]

1tb WD HDD. OEM Tray E8400 3.0ghz cpu. Nvidia GT710 1gb card will give you a much newer video engine for videos and even some light gaming or other light apps. It also frees up system memory that is no longer used for the onboard video.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz Dual-Core OEM/Tray Processor ($12.95 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital - RE3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($41.82 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GT 710 1GB Video Card ($32.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $87.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-03 21:18 EDT-0400



If you go with a Quad core you will also need a better cpu cooler, this ads to the cost. With the E8400 you can just reuse your existing cooler. The E8400 is 45nm instead of the Celeron 450 that's made at 65nm so they are close in wattage.

 

[need4speeds]

I would look locally for parts so you are not waiting. likely you can find better deals too.

 

[Dugimodo]

I linked the manual and service guides earlier, that's as much info as I can find.

One final comment, there are some low wattage quad core options such as the Q8400S (the S is important) that have the same TDP as the E8400 but having personally upgraded a E8400 to a Q8400S this year I can tell you it's not really worth it, in practice they perform almost the same. Still if you want a quad core with the same cooler it's an option.

It may be worth just skipping the whole issue and looking for a better second hand PC. I think someone suggested that already. Ex lease core 2 duo and even early model i3 & i5 Business class PCs are very common and sell cheap here in NZ. I don't know if that's true where you are. Companies sell them off in bulk after upgrading.

 

[need4speeds]

-You can just reuse the cpu paste. Re-smear it on the cpu cooler, it will work. This saves you the cost of buying new paste.

 

[dudeman509]

-You can just reuse the cpu paste. Re-smear it on the cpu cooler, it will work. This saves you the cost of buying new paste.

...don't do this. Ever.

 

[need4speeds]

why? It's not like this is a high wattage cpu with a big heat-pipe cooler. It wont matter just as long as there is enough paste and it's not totally dried out.