CPU Upgrade for Dell Precision T3500

[ManOfArc]

My T3500 has a Xeon W3670 in it right now. I was wondering what the fastest CPU the system would accept. Dell's site only shows a few with my W3670 as the fastest they offered back then. Has anyone tested this 1366 socket board with a faster CPU? If I've left out any pertinent information, let me know.

 

[Susquehannock]

Fastest Xeon would be the X5687. Four core is all you need for gaming. Have one in the T3500 using to type this. Go X5690 if you want a hex core for programs that can utilize it, and you don't mind paying triple the price.

You really should update to the latest BIOS (A17) and chipset drivers. Link below.

>> http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/precision-t3500/drivers

 

[ManOfArc]

Thank you Susquehannock. CPU-Z already shows I have the A17 BIOS. So the 3.6GHz 4C/8T Xeon X5687 would be a faster gaming CPU than the 3.2GHz 6C/12T Xeon W3670 because of the extra 400MHz? I was wondering about that. Btw, I have a GTX 1060 6GB in it now and it manages a 10,7xx Firestrike score.

I will look into the x5687, thanks.

 

[Susquehannock]

Figured you had latest BIOS if running that Westmere CPU already. Just making sure. Games are not written to make good use of the extra 2 cores. The X3670 is a good chip. It will limit your RAM to 1066 whereas the X5687 allows for 1333, which your machine probably has. Check the sticker. In all honesty, all that may not warrant the upgrade. You did ask for the fastest.

[edit]
Good Firestrike score by the way. What GPU are you running?

 

[ManOfArc]

Figured you had latest BIOS if running that Westmere CPU already. Just making sure. Games are not written to make good use of the extra 2 cores. The X3670 is a good chip. It will limit your RAM to 1066 whereas the X5687 allows for 1333, which your machine probably has. Check the sticker. In all honesty, all that may not warrant the upgrade. You did ask for the fastest.

[edit]
Good Firestrike score by the way. What GPU are you running?

Ok, now I know the X5687 quad core is the fastest of the 4C/8T CPUs that the system will recognize. I'm good there.

The 1066MHz memory though, has indeed been an issue I would like to remedy. And yes, that's what I have in there now. 6x4GB. So, if I get an X5687 it will be able to run the 1066MHz triple channel memory that I have now at 1333MHz? Or will I have to buy new 1333MHz RAM? Either way, I think you sold me. Thanks for the help.

Btw, I have the Evga GeForce GTX 1060 SC GAMING. I originally got the short card because of the fact that the swing-away drive bays interfered with the 6 pin header location of longer cards. However, I removed the top half of the swing-away drive bay and put my SSD under the DVD drive, So now any length card would have fit. I didn't know I could do that until I started reading the T3500 manual.

 

[Susquehannock]

Good feature that removable section of the swing away.

Was saying the X5670 is limited to 1066mhz. You may have 1333 already, and if so, the X5687 will allow you to utilize the small speed boost.

Bit of a different situation, was running the system in my signature below with W3565 originally. Changing up to the X5687, with everything else the same, boosted my Firestrike by about 20%. Now about 10,5xx.

 

[william p]

T3500 doesn't support 2x CPUs so W3690 would work.