[SOLVED] Downgrading from i7-6700

[Blueflare]

About 5 years ago I bought a Dell Mini tower PC that had a i7-6700 installed. I have since built a new system and used the i7-6700 in that, and the Dell has just sat around idle.

My question is, if I want to get the Dell working again only as a basic desktop pc with no gaming, what is the cheapest processor I can use that will fit?

Thanks

 

[siaan312]

Probably a pentium from that generation.
Pentium G4400 I think.
Though an i3 6100 seems like a better value at 5$ more on ebay, and having faster cores+hyper threading.

The jump to an i5 is to around 83$ though.


Dell sometimes block their boards down though, making upgrades/downgrades impossible, so you should check exactly what tower you have, and google if you can or can not upgrade it.

 

[Blueflare]

Probably a pentium from that generation.
Pentium G4400 I think.
Though an i3 6100 seems like a better value at 5$ more on ebay, and having faster cores+hyper threading.

The jump to an i5 is to around 83$ though.


Dell sometimes block their boards down though, making upgrades/downgrades impossible, so you should check exactly what tower you have, and google if you can or can not upgrade it.

Thanks for the help, It's a Dell Vostro 3650, and I would just fit the processor it shipped with, but they are all out of stock here in Asia.
I can get a i5-6500 but cannot find any info on whether this would be ok, everything I have read talks about upgrading, not going down.

 

[Karadjgne]

Ask Dell. It's a Dell custom bios, so only certain cpus are recognised, regardless of chipset. The only clue as to exactly what cpus the bios will support is to look for the exact same model with the smallest cpu. Your model might have come either i5-6400, 6500 or i7-6700, and thats generally all it'll support.

Dell does this for a reason, they have model lines with i3's, i5's and i7's at different price points. The last thing they want is you buying an i3 model and in a year when prices drop, upgrading to an i7 instead. They want to force you to pay extra for the i7 model to start with, or have to buy a new pc later. Consumers are a small part of this, it's geared towards company sales, where upgrades and new pc's are done at 1000 units etc.

 

[Blueflare]

Ask Dell. It's a Dell custom bios, so only certain cpus are recognised, regardless of chipset. The only clue as to exactly what cpus the bios will support is to look for the exact same model with the smallest cpu. Your model might have come either i5-6400, 6500 or i7-6700, and thats generally all it'll support.

Dell does this for a reason, they have model lines with i3's, i5's and i7's at different price points. The last thing they want is you buying an i3 model and in a year when prices drop, upgrading to an i7 instead. They want to force you to pay extra for the i7 model to start with, or have to buy a new pc later. Consumers are a small part of this, it's geared towards company sales, where upgrades and new pc's are done at 1000 units etc.

Thanks for the info, very informative.

I have seen an ad for a rebuilt Vostro 3650 which has an i5-6500 installed, so it looks like if I went for that processor it would be ok

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Celeron would be the worst for the socket, but whether it will actually support that is an unknown.

Sadly 6xxx i5s hold their value much more than they should for a 5 year old medeocre cpu with 4 threads.

 

[Karadjgne]

https://www.userbenchmark.com/System/Dell-Vostro-3650/35163

Looks to be the only supported cpus for that model

 

[carocuore]

working again only as a basic desktop pc with no gaming,

I second the Pentium but you'd need to check if the mobo supports it, some prebuilts come with firmware locks that won't let you change the CPU, it's made to prevent users from upgrading without paying D€LL hundreds more for an entire new computer. You could try with the pentium if you can refund it or resell it in case it doesn't works. The 6400... well it won't be that much of a downgrade if you want the computer to become a basic desktop.

And if you don't want anyone to game in it (like if it's for your son or whatever) just install Linux🤣

 

[Blueflare]

Ok, thanks all,

I can pick up an i5-6400 here for $100 which looking at that benchmark site seems to fit.

Also, I can get an i3-6100 for $85

Most of this stuff is beyond my knowledge, so would you guys take a chance on these?

 

[siaan312]

Ok, thanks all,

I can pick up an i5-6400 here for $100 which looking at that benchmark site seems to fit.

Also, I can get an i3-6100 for $85

Most of this stuff is beyond my knowledge, so would you guys take a chance on these?

From this: https://www.userbenchmark.com/System/Dell-Vostro-3650/35163
We know both cpus are probably going to work.
I would pay 15$ more for an i5.
It's 4 core 4 thread instead of 2 core 4 thread.

 

[Blueflare]

Thanks again,

Yeah, I figure the i5-6400 would be best, so have ordered that, hope it all works out.

Thanks for everybody's input on this.