CPU upgrade for Dell Dimension E310

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zeyuanfu

zeyuanfu

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Jun 19, 2014
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Hello, I am sorry if there are threads similar to this, but I have a Dell Dimension E310 and I was wondering if I can upgrade my CPU to an Intel Pentium 4 650 that I can get on eBay (link here:CPU), the seller seems legit enough and has lots of good reviews. If possible, could I get a suggestion to a better CPU I could get? I am getting an Antec NeoECO PSU upgrade (please see my other post, link here:Post) so I am sure to have enough power. Also, is it safe to buy CPUs from eBay?

Thanks in advance!
 
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Yes the Pentium 4 650 will be compatible, and is one of the best compatible processors your motherboard accepts. Also yes it's safe to buy CPUs from eBay; if there is a fault with it, or if you have any other issues just claim with eBay/PayPal, and eBay usually side with the customer (that's you).

If you want my honest opinion regarding your system, do not purchase a new PSU, you can even forget the idea of upgrading the CPU too (although it is cheap), as it's money being wasted in an old machine. Pentium 4's are weak processors, and to be honest your DDR2 RAM is outdated too; your entire machine is obsolete. You'd be so much better off buying a new computer all together; you don't even have to spend much, even the cheapest modern...
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Yes the Pentium 4 650 will be compatible, and is one of the best compatible processors your motherboard accepts. Also yes it's safe to buy CPUs from eBay; if there is a fault with it, or if you have any other issues just claim with eBay/PayPal, and eBay usually side with the customer (that's you).

If you want my honest opinion regarding your system, do not purchase a new PSU, you can even forget the idea of upgrading the CPU too (although it is cheap), as it's money being wasted in an old machine. Pentium 4's are weak processors, and to be honest your DDR2 RAM is outdated too; your entire machine is obsolete. You'd be so much better off buying a new computer all together; you don't even have to spend much, even the cheapest modern computer would run laps around your current machine all day long.

Of course it's your decision, but I cannot empathise enough that you would far benefit from a new machine. I would absolutely recommend a new computer if you use your computer often, and if you're willing to build a new one yourself (or are at least willing to learn). If you do want a new computer, please reply back with your budget (the amount you're honestly willing to spend) and we'll curate a list of components in your price range; once it arrives, all your need to do is build it. :)

All the best. :)
 
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Oh, I see... I have a budget of about 350-400$ this year. Should I get an Intel NUC, or something like that because it`s kind of cheap or something else? It`d be nice if I could get a machine with DDR3 RAM, but given the prices of RAM today, it would be expensive. I went on Amazon and the only things that I could get for 200$ were NUCs and other small computers. By the way, I forgot to mention that I was planning to add a GPU to my computer to play Minecraft (link here:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121778), so that`s why i wanted a new PSU, but based on your post, I guess I should save for a new computer. Are there any cheap but good components I could get? I could also not buy a new computer case, although that could cause a lot of problems (I was thinking about that idea and how it could save me lots of $$$, lol). Would it actually be doable (the no-case thing)?
Also, I personally dislike AMD, to say it politely, but I`m willing to get an AMD CPU if it`s good and cheap.

Thanks!
 
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I overcame my dislike for AMD and thought about getting this CPU:A6-6400K.
I also picked out this mobo:ASRock FM2A88X+. I went on another post and it said that FM2 CPUs were compatible with FM2+ mobos. Is that true?

A day or two after posting the above CPU and mobo choices, I did some PC partpicking (although not on pcpartpicker.com) and I came up with these parts:

Either 8 GB G.SKILL Sniper Series (link:G.SKILL) or Corsair Vengeance Pro 8 GB Black (link:Corsair Vengeance Pro Newegg, and both are DDR3 2400 (PC3 19200) and the same price. I prefer the red Corsair RAM just because it says it`s for overclocking, which is what I will do when/if I get it and because it matches two of my motherboard`s RAM slots` colors. I plan to buy some identical Corsair RAM next year, IF the Corsair Vengeance Pro RAM works on the mobo I want.

An EVGA 500 watt PSU (link:PSU)

A refurbished WD 1 TB 7200 RPM 32 MB cache SATA II HDD (link:HDD), although it has A LOT of bad reviews, it`s still pretty cheap, even cheaper than Amazon stuff. I could also get this one, because it seems a bit safer and it`s not refurbished (link:WD Blue 1 TB HDD SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB cache ). it also has a LOT of good reviews.

I don`t really know if a case is necessary, but I picked out one anyway:Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-01 RED LED

I also decided to get a cheap but good liquid cooling unit (IF I have enough money):Corsair Hydro H60

I plan to buy some more case fans and a RAM fan next year.

Thanks!
 
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The intel line of the newer from around 2004-2008 dell dimensions are acutally quite upgradeable they can usually atleast be upgraded to a dual core or even a quad core if you know how to update the bios propery the my friend upgraded his Dell dimension e520 to a Q700 and added a ssd and poped a radeon 7750 in it now it runs pretty much any game at decent frames if you want to keep that computer I can give you recomendations on compatible parts and adding ram and a compatible gpu/cpu. I have spent alot of time working on dell dimensions almost 3 years If you decide to go with upgradeing this computer I can help.
 
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okay so I've did my research and supriseingly has left me leaning toward get a new computer the very best processor is the 3.8ghz pentium and the most you can put in it is 4GB of ram and a pci e x1 graphics card.
 
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Oh, I just decided to build a new computer, I have done the research and I picked out the parts, of which the total cost is about 350-400$. I`m leaving the Dell Dimension to my parents for them to go on the internet and stuff like that. Please see my above post and tell me if there are any compatibility issues or something like that.

Thanks in advance!
 
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I could spend about 350-400$
 
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($56.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-DGS R2.0 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($48.38 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V2 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.92 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Gamma Classic (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $398.23
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
 
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Thank you for picking out a list of parts, but:
1, The AMD A6-6400K APU I picked out is 30$ (although it`s used and I`m buying on eBay) and is better than that Pentium (although I really dislike AMD, to put it politely). The multiplier is also unlocked and it has more cache.
2, The motherboard which I also picked out is a bit more expensive but still better (and it offers me an upgrade path to an AMD A10 APU later, while the motherboard you picked does not support Intel Core i7, which is a CPU I really want, but maybe a few years later), heres a link:ASRock FM2A88X+ BTC
3, Is the memory you picked out good for overclocking? I plan to do that with some Corsair Vengeance Pro RAM
4, I went on Amazon and the reviewers said that a LOT of the HDDs failed after weeks or months. I picked one out too, one that has a LOT of good reviews:WD Blue 1 TB HDD 7200 RPM SATA III 64 MB cache
5, The case looks nice, I`ll give you that. I picked out a Corsair case but I might consider yours or another one:Corsair carbide Series SPEC-01 RED LED
6, The PSU you picked out is the one I`m going to use, so that`s nice.
7, Do I really need an optical drive? I could get a Windows ISO, burn it onto USB and boot from USB, for installing Windows. Or, I could get a USB optical drive or borrow one from one of my friends.

Overall, your parts aren`t half bad, but they could be better. I would get liquid cooling, though, because I plan to do some major overclocking. Thanks for your time, though. I would get the AMD A6-6400K APU, the ASRock FM2A88X+ mobo, Corsair Vengeance Pro RAM, a WD HDD and maybe not an optical drive instead.

I also have a question, is it really IMPERATIVE to have a computer case? One of my friends says that it`s purely for decoration and stuff like that besides for turning on the computer, of course.

Thanks again!
 
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The A6 is only better on the graphics side. CPU wise, the Pentium would wipe the floor with that A6. That A6 can't even keep up with an old Phenom II. Benchmarks have proven that a 750k, for instance, is clock for clock, slower than a Phenom II X4. The board I picked will allow you to drop in any Haswell or Haswell refresh CPU, i3/i5/i7/ Xeon E3. Not sure where you got your info on it not supporting i7, but you are dead wrong. http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/H81M-DGS%20R2.0/?cat=CPU



Overclocking really isn't worth the cost involved. Intel offers great performance right out of the box, that overclocking is unnecessary. AMD has to overclock to so much as compete, and still can fall short.

Combined-Average-Gaming-Performance.png


Combined-Applications-Performance.png

 
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Oh? I thought the Intel Core i7s were all on the LGA 2011 socket... I'll have to go check... But, the Pentium you chose has a 3 ghz clock speed whereas the a6 has a clock speed of almost 4 ghz! How could the Pentium be better aside from the fact that it MIGHT have a bit more cache?
BTW why would I want to put an Intel XEON in a GAMING PC except for the fact that is has about 10-20 cores? Its clock speed SUCKS. Sorry if I'm not an expert on CPUs and APUs, though.
 
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There are i7's for 1150 as well. There is more to it than clock speed. I see you are not an expert, that's fine, I will explain as best I can. The pentium is faster because it has a more efficient architecture. It can do more per clock than the A6 can. The Xeon E3 series chips, like the 1230v3, are nothing more than desktop, quad core, i7's without the integrated graphics. The models ending in 5, like the 1245 v3 does have the integrated graphics. For a gaming rig, it isn't necessary. The 1230v3/1231v3, will perform similar to an i7 4770 for about $50 less. 😉 The Xeons you are thinking about are the LGA 2011 E5 series. The ones I am talking about are 1150 just like the pentium uses. 😉
 
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There are several things, though.
1, I am on a VERY low budget for this and a LOT of the upcoming years, and I would LOVE An Intel Core i7, that's for sure, but it costs about 300-350$ each. I know I could get an i5 or even an i3, but they have some not really good graphics and I can't buy a GPU until next year, and that brings me to my second point:
The CPUs all get outdated, eventually. There'll be some 5th, 6th gen CPUs after some time, and when I'll upgrade the computer, people will say that the 4th gen CPUs are obsolete and stuff like that, while AMD will keep rolling out FM2+ socket APUs (I hope!).
3, The AMD high-end A10 Kaveri APUs are NOT expensive (at least not that much, about 100-150$), unlike the Core i7 which costs at least the double of what an A10 would cost, and anyways, I don't nee it for stuff like AutoCAD and video encoding. I'll just play Minecraft and stuff like that. Also, you can't Crossfire or SLI with and Intel CPU's integrated graphics, unlike the AMD APUs. Like that, you don't waste any clock speed ( you know what I mean?). If Intel came up with something like that, I'd buy an Intel computer in a heartbeat.

BTW, do you know how you can put 2 CPUs on 1 mobo? I could get 2 A10s that way instead of an i7.
 
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Crossfire with an APU is still doesn't work very well, and is best avoided. An A10 would be sufficient for minecraft, but keep in mind that you will bottleneck any GPU beyond an R* 265/270, if you go with a dedicated GPU. Also you need to run faster ram, which can cost more, in order to get optimal performance from an A10's graphics. I would consider a pentium with a dedicated GPU over buying Kaveri, though. For the price of a 7850k, you could have a pentium 3220 and an R7 250x. For games, it would be superior to an APU.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($59.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R7 250X 1GB Video Card ($84.99 @ TigerDirect)
Total: $144.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
 
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I did some more research and I saw that:
1, I could get 2 A10s with the money I have to get to buy an i5,
2, The maximum memory frequency supported by the i7 EE is the same as the A6-6400k
3, The graphics core clock on the 6400K is 500mhz better than that of the best Core i5
4, I didn't even see a graphics frequency on the best Core i7 EE ARK page.

*sigh* I wish AMD had an Intel ARK-like page.
 
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I can vouch for logainofhades' build he curated; it's a solid build for the budget in my opinion whilst also including Windows 7. The build is relying on integrated graphics however, if you save up funds you're willing to spend on your system in the future, you can always install a dedicated/discrete GPU; as the motherboard supports the standard PCI-Express x16.

To be honest however, if you're not gaming you don't necessarily need a GPU. Before installing a GPU into my current machine, for 2 years I was able to conduct all my tasks way better than my previous Pentium 4 machine. I mainly used my computer for university work/office, Adobe Photoshop, programming in various languages such as vB.net, Java along with other tasks, even emulating Android Virtual Machine all with integrated graphics. The integrated graphics of my Intel Pentium Dual-Core beats my GeForce 6800 without doubts (although benchmarks seem to state otherwise). 😀

So you may not necessarily need to install a GPU at all if you're not planning to play any games. The motherboard logainofhades includes does indeed also support i3, i5, i7 and Xeon E3 processors. So the upgrade path is open and sure does beat AMD.

For the budget I believe it's a strong build, and if you're willing to exceed your budget you could purchase the Spec-01 case you desire.



Apologies to hear you're on a tight budget, unfortunately we're not all fortunate enough to have funds to splash around. 🙁

Intel i7's are no doubt but high-end CPUs, unless it's a mobile i7 it'll usually perform on par with desktop i5's or in certain cases, even weaker. They do leave a hole in your wallet however. In most cases, I believe the performance levels of an i5 would satisfy most users, where the i7 may not provide a major boost in performance for the average user's requirements.

If you're planning to save up and install a dedicated GPU in the future, I would sacrifice on the integrated graphics for now. I wouldn't shop for Intel CPU's considering their integrated graphics, after all I was able to get by with Sandy Bridge Pentium G Intel HD graphics. You may not even notice a difference between the Intel HD graphics anyhow, from opinion.



You're correct. Everything has a lifespan and processors are no exception to that rule. Depending on how long we're talking, even in 2016 when we're on 7th gen, the 4th generation processors would be dated but they won't be "obsolete" in the sense that they're worthless. I bet 4th gen would still have a lot of kick to it, especially the i7's. Processor developments have slowed down if you look back over the past decade, we had Hyper Threading (HT), dual-core, quad-core and even quad-core with HT. Whereas AMD went with six cores.

A 4th gen, heck most likely 2nd and 3rd gen i7's would still be solid in 2016. Sure they may not be the utmost high-end, but again for most consumers, I believe it's more than satisfactory.

All the best. :)
 
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1) That is why you go pentium and discrete GPU, for about the same price as an A10.
2) You need 1866 at minimum with an APU if you want to game with the IGP
3) clock speed isn't everything, but yes, AMD's GPU is a bit better than Intel's, generally.
4) Extreme Edition i7 doesn't have IGP. Quit looking at LGA 2011 chips and look at the 1150 ones like the i7 4770.
 
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Oh, OK... Why doesn't Crossfire work well with an APU and why would it bottleneck? Isn't Crossfire's basic principle, like SLI, to make the GPUs work together?
BTW Corsair Vengeance Pro 2133 and 2400 both cost 93$ on Amazon, although the 2400 might be the same price because of its slower CAS latency...
As for the memory requirement, you can buy some slow sticks (1600 or 1866) and GREATLY overclock them to 2133 or 2400, but I'm sure that'll require some good cooling (it's about 30$ for a Corsair Airflow)...
 
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Not all games support CF, and there are issues with microstuttering as well. You are best off getting DDR3 1600, a Pentium G3220 and a 250x. The price would be similar, and the 250x is far superior graphics wise. The 7850k's GPU is roughly equal to a ddr3 equipped R7 240.
 
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Ok, IF I ever buy a Xeon CPU, would it be good for gaming (with and without a dedicated GPU)?
Also, I went on Can You RUN It:systemrequirementslab.com/cyri and it said something about the minimum graphics core clock for running Minecraft being somewhere around 300-400. I'm on my iPad now, and the page bugs, so I can't tell you the exact amount.
 
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While I was looking at the Core i5s, I looked at the Pentiums and the G3258 caught my eye. It's the same everything, except for the clocks speed, the fact that it was launched in this year's second quarter, some other stuff and the fact that it's only 8$ more expensive. Here's the link:http://ark.intel.com/compare/82723,77773
That CPU MUST be compatible with your build and everything, right?
 
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So you get the performance of an EE CPU for the price of a Xeon and a dedicated GPU... I might tell that to my friends, who are also computer amateurs...

 
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