DELL Computers

Unfortunately, they have a proprietary BIOS (and possibly Motherboard for that matter) which do not allow you to adjust FSB or Multiplier. In fact, with most major brand PCs, if you even try to swap out the chip for something better, a lot of times they won't even POST. Sad, really... But this is why so many of us build our own.
 
yeah, I've actually tried overclocking my Dell for months and I'm quite positive, without building a new bios to flash, there is no possible way to mess with anything. I've tried both software and hardware overclocking and the only thing that I can overclock is my graphics card, but that's a hunk of junk anyways. Trust me, it just is not possible.
 
It is possible to overlcock a Dell, either through software or through actual hardware modification, but your 3.4 GHz cpu should be way more than adequate as it is right now. There's a 100% chance that it's a software issue (spyware, Norton AV, internet explorer are the likely culprits). Fixing your software problems is the key to better performance.
 
There's a 100% chance that it's a software issue (spyware, Norton AV, internet explorer are the likely culprits). Fixing your software problems is the key to better performance.
Yeah, probably time for an OS reinstall. With the amount of crud that DELL ships on their PC's, your not starting out with an optimally setup OS anyways, and then over time the registry can get bloated, and or damaged. The OS can get munged up fairly quickly, and unless you use regular maintanance routines, you aren't likely to get 2 years between Reformat/Reinstall(at least not without performance degradation). GL :)
 
When your Dell arrives, format and re-install OS right away, this will dispose of bloatware (you can still download the software you needed from their homepage).

OCing Dells is pretty tricky. You have to find modified BIOSes for your model, which is going to take a few days (IF there is a modded BIOS).
 
Why bother? Dells are for the masses, not enthusiasts! 😱
Go out and buy the parts and build your own. Better fun, better results.
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