I've got an old Dell Inspiron 570 that I'm trying to give a second life in a hobby electronics project. It came with an Athlon II X4 630. I'd like to milk a little more processing power out of this old machine and am considering a few possible CPU upgrades.
Here are a few options I'm considering.
The Athlon II X4 650 is the safest bet, but won't provide much improvement. The Phenom II x4 B97 provides the most boost and it's the same wattage as the existing CPU (95w). The Phenom II X4 955 comes in a close second, but runs at 125w.
I've read a few old posts where people installed the X4 955 in the Dell 570, they all spent a significant amount of time and money on cooling, but they were also overclocking.
Here are my questions.
If I were to install the Phenom II X4 B97 (95w) would I still need an upgraded aftermarket cooling solution, assuming I don't overclock it?
With the Phenom II X4 955 (125w), again assuming I don't overclock, what sort of cooler should I be looking at?
Many thanks!
Here are a few options I'm considering.
The Athlon II X4 650 is the safest bet, but won't provide much improvement. The Phenom II x4 B97 provides the most boost and it's the same wattage as the existing CPU (95w). The Phenom II X4 955 comes in a close second, but runs at 125w.
I've read a few old posts where people installed the X4 955 in the Dell 570, they all spent a significant amount of time and money on cooling, but they were also overclocking.
Here are my questions.
If I were to install the Phenom II X4 B97 (95w) would I still need an upgraded aftermarket cooling solution, assuming I don't overclock it?
With the Phenom II X4 955 (125w), again assuming I don't overclock, what sort of cooler should I be looking at?
Many thanks!