Dell Precision 390 Upgrade Help!!!

[gforcejames]

Hi guys, this is my first post so please take it easy on me.

I have a dell precision 390, with a intel core 2 duo e6400.

It has a dell branded motherboard with a model number of 0my510, this has an intel chipset of
i975x and a south bridge intel 82801 GB(ich7/r). This is according to cpu-z.

I am looking to find out what I can upgrade the processor to, I do a lot of multi-tasking and gaming.
If possible something that would help video encoding would be nice.

Any Ideas

James

 

[festerovic]

most likely all that will work is chips of the same era ie. other e6xxx and 4xxx series, as well as q6xxx series. A q6600 is the most likely chip to work out for you.

I just checked wikipedia, they claim it will work:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_Precision

 

[gforcejames]

Thanks for the reply.

So will a q6600 be a worthwhile upgrade.

James

 

[festerovic]

Well, I have a q6600 and I have no complaints about computing speed. I play games and do video transcoding occasionally. This processor isn't close to the fastest out anymore, BUT, it fits and works on the motherboard.

If you don't want to upgrade the entire system ie new mobo, ram etc, this is a good upgrade if you can find the chip for sale and at a reasonable price. I picked mine up for $100 US and it was totally worth it.

 

[gforcejames]

Ok thanks for your help, i'll be on the look out for one then I think.

James

 

[hansnet]

The precision 390 shipped with 2 different motherboards. One for the Cedar Mill and Conroe CPU's, and one for the Kentsfield CPUs. the Kentsfiled are the quad core Q series, the E6xxx and E4xxx are the conroe series.

Depending on the part number of the motherboard it may not work with the Q series processors.

 

[awildthingy]

Hello friends, I am in a similar predicament to Gforcejames. I also have a Dell 390 Workstation, though I have the Cedar Mill Pentium 4 chip and respective board. I am looking to upgrade motherboard and processor to the Core i7 variety. I need help discerning whether there is a motherboard on the market that will fit in my dell case. I wish I could tell you the form factor (i.e. ATX, BTX, etc.), but I am unable to find that info on my own. Thanks a bunch for input in advance.

 

[festerovic]

@awildthingy,
You are probably better off just getting all new parts. The only things that will transfer from that system are your drives.