Question How to upgrade a CPU without ruining a system

[MajorPager]

I made a deal with a friend a few days ago where I traded one of my desktops for one of his game consoles and a whole ton of games. I'm looking to upgrade it for him by getting a new graphics card, CPU, and a bit more RAM, but I don't know how to change out the CPU. I know how to get one in and out easily, since the mainboard is not proprietary, but every other time I've tried changing CPU's it doesn't work. I know you have to update BIOS or something along the lines of that, but I'm afraid that I'll end up bricking the entire system. So what do I do?

 

[SkyNetRising]

I know you have to update BIOS or something along the lines of that, but I'm afraid that I'll end up bricking the entire system. So what do I do?

Well - it seems, you have no clue about upgrading cpus.
May be ask for onsite help from somebody, who has actually done it before.

You have to
1. make sure new cpu is compatible with existing motherboard.
2. find required BIOS level for cpu upgrade.
3. successfully perform BIOS upgrade.
4. replace cpu.
5. reinstall cpu cooler.

Does that seem like something you can do?

 

[MajorPager]

Definitely.

 

[Order 66]

Well - it seems, you have no clue about upgrading cpus.
May be ask for onsite help from somebody, who has actually done it before.

You have to
1. make sure new cpu is compatible with existing motherboard.
2. find required BIOS level for cpu upgrade.
3. successfully perform BIOS upgrade.
4. replace cpu.
5. reinstall cpu cooler.

Does that seem like something you can do?

I concur, if you don't know what you are doing you should definitely have someone physically there to help you.

 

[artk2219]

I made a deal with a friend a few days ago where I traded one of my desktops for one of his game consoles and a whole ton of games. I'm looking to upgrade it for him by getting a new graphics card, CPU, and a bit more RAM, but I don't know how to change out the CPU. I know how to get one in and out easily, since the mainboard is not proprietary, but every other time I've tried changing CPU's it doesn't work. I know you have to update BIOS or something along the lines of that, but I'm afraid that I'll end up bricking the entire system. So what do I do?

What motherboard are you using?

 

[MajorPager]

I am currently unable to check the specific model, but it's one of the Dell Inspiron 530 mainboards.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I am currently unable to check the specific model, but it's one of the Dell Inspiron 530 mainboards.

Core2 Duo system - from year 2008 ?
What's the point in upgrading that?
Build a new pc.

 

[MajorPager]

Core2 Duo system - from year 2008 ?
What's the point in upgrading that?
Build a new pc

Its not an 08, its an 07, I remember seeing it on the service tag.
You might be surprised, or not, I don't know, but it's actually a pretty decent system, almost as good as the Optiplex 745 that I use.
I will build a new one eventually, when I get to it.

 

[Order 66]

Its not an 08, its an 07, I remember seeing it on the service tag.
You might be surprised, or not, I don't know, but it's actually a pretty decent system, almost as good as the Optiplex 745 that I use.
I will build a new one eventually, when I get to it.

It is not decent anymore as those old cpus don't support some modern instruction sets that modern programs need. Good enough for basic web browsing, sure, but definitely not gaming.

 

[MajorPager]

It is not decent anymore as those old cpus don't support some modern instruction sets that modern programs need. Good enough for basic web browsing, sure, but definitely not gaming.

I haven't had any issues in the past nor present with using both the Duo and Quad, although you might have answered a game display problem I had with the Duo CPU.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, which I most likely am, but I thought the display issue along with a DirectX issue would be resolved by replacing the graphics card, right?

 

[artk2219]

It is not decent anymore as those old cpus don't support some modern instruction sets that modern programs need. Good enough for basic web browsing, sure, but definitely not gaming.

Eh with a quad core you can play games from 2016 and before pretty well. You need to see what motherboard you have, dell part numbers DG33M03 or DG33M02, the 02 cannot be upgraded past a dual core, core 2 duo is it for that one. The 03 can take a core 2 quad, the processors compatible with the 03 are listed below.

The following processors are compatible:


Intel Pentium Dual-Core 2140 (1.6 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)
Intel Pentium Dual-Core 2160 (1.8 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)
Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200(2.5 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 (1.8 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)
Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 (2.0 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)
Wolfdale Core 2 Duo, E5200, 2.5GHz, 2MB, 65W, M0
Intel Core 2 Duo E6320 (1.86 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) 65nm
Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 (2.13 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 (2.33 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 (2.66 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB)
Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 (2.80 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB)
Wolfdale Core 2 Duo, E8400, 3.0GHz, 6MB, 1333FSB, 65W, E0 45nm
Wolfdale Core 2 Duo, E8500, 3.16GHz, 6MB, 1333FSB, 65W, C0
Wolfdale Core 2 Duo, E8600, 3.33GHz, 6MB, 1333FSB, 65W, E0
Yorkfield Quad Core, QX9300, 2.5G, 6MB, 1333 FSB
Yorkfield Quad Core, Q9450, 2.66G, 12MB, 1333 FSB
Yorkfield Quad Core, Q9550, 2.83G, 12MB, 1333 FSB
Yorkfield Quad Core, Q8200, 2.33G, 4MB, 1333 FSB
Yorkfield Quad Core, Q9550, 2.83G, 12MB, 1333 FSB
Yorkfield Quad Core, Q8300, 2.5G, 4MB, 95W
Yorkfield Quad Core, Q9400, 2.66G, 6MB, 1333 FSB
Yorkfield Quad Core, Q9650, 3.0G, 12MB, 1333 FSB
Kentsfield Quad Core, Q6600, 2.4G, 8MB, 1066 FSB


Conroe E6850, 3.0G, 4MB, 1333FSB, G0
Conroe E6700, 2.66G, 4MB, 1066FSB, B2
Conroe E6600, 2.4G, 4MB, 1066FSB, B2
Wolfdale E5700 3.0GHz 65W Dual-Core

 

[MajorPager]

DG33M02, the 02 cannot be upgraded past a dual core, core 2 duo is it for that one.

That's the thing, I think it's the 02 since the computer is the 2007 make. Although the Duo is still somewhat decent for some things.

 

[Order 66]

I haven't had any issues in the past nor present with using both the Duo and Quad, although you might have answered a game display problem I had with the Duo CPU.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, which I most likely am, but I thought the display issue along with a DirectX issue would be resolved by replacing the graphics card, right?

Not necessarily, depends on the GPU really, modern GPU's and DirectX may not support your CPU. As far as the dx error, what GPU do you have?

 

[artk2219]

That's the thing, I think it's the 02 since the computer is the 2007 make. Although the Duo is still somewhat decent for some things.

If its running Windows you should be able to open up system information and it may tell you which one it has, some thing like this:
BaseBoard Manufacturer Dell
BaseBoard Product
BaseBoard Version

 

[MajorPager]

The GPU, which I'll admit needs a definite upgrade, is an ATI Radeon 256mb PCIe card that I tore out of an XPS 400.
I am hoping to replace it with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 745 4gb PCIe card, I've never had problems with this card.

 

[artk2219]

The GPU, which I'll admit needs a definite upgrade, is an ATI Radeon 256mb PCIe card that I tore out of an XPS 400.
I am hoping to replace it with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 745 4gb PCIe card, I've never had problems with this card.

If you have a decent enough power supply you could probably get a card that uses a 6 or 8 pine PCIe power cable. That opens you up to being able to use a GTX 970, 1060 or RX 470 \ 570 or 480 \ 580

 

[sitehostplus]

I am currently unable to check the specific model, but it's one of the Dell Inspiron 530 mainboards.

A dell machine?

Even if there is a CPU that fits the socket, good freaking luck trying to update the BIOS. They lock that stuff down tight to get you to buy a new machine in order to do almost any upgrade.

The best thing to do is take the motherboard, CPU, memory, and graphics card out, go out back and have a really big bonfire roasting those parts. Then go to some place like fleabay or amazon and buy all new parts for what you really want, and put those in the machine instead.

If you're squeamish about the bonfire, you can modify that to recycle the old parts, but for the love of god, do not just try and replace the CPU and GPU.

 

[DSzymborski]

Yeah, if you've been upgrading CPUs in prebuilts, it's not surprising that you've had trouble with CPU upgrades in the past. It could very well be that you did the upgrades exactly correctly in the past.

While you frequently *can* upgrade CPUs in prebuilts, the support is very inconsistent and almost always poorly documented. They're simply not designed for hobbyists who will be tinkering with their PCs while aftermarket motherboards are. So BIOS support can be very limited when it comes to supporting CPUs, These companies have financial incentives to *not* make upgrading easy; very few of their customers demand it and it would cannabilize sales.

ASUS and Gigabyte and the others would no doubt also prefer people buy new motherboards with every upgrade, but in the case of aftermarket motherboards, it *is* something their customer base will take seriously and abandoning BIOS updates and CPU upgrades would likely cause a significant exodus to one of the other brands.

 

[stonecarver]

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Is the above computer the model your working with.

I would just leave CPU alone get the Nvidia GTX 745 GPU and settle there. I think you already get it that it has limitations playing anything new and it's a strictly vintage game , gaming machine.

 

[Tac 25]

That's the thing, I think it's the 02 since the computer is the 2007 make. Although the Duo is still somewhat decent for some things.

your pc is still decent for web browsing.
but on gaming, it's extremely limited. Give your pc the GTX 745 and call it a day.
_____________

I have a functioning lga 775 pc here in the house. Keeping it as a hobby. Well, and a pc with Windows 7 is useful for retro gaming. It's a core 2 duo upgraded to a quad Q9500. Gave it an SSD, a new psu, and for the fun of it.. a GTX 1650 GDDR6 -- it runs even some playstation 4 games just fine.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2jMHaJggG4


0:00, shows the specs.
at 1:33 Street Fighter, and 4:55 Xenon Racer, it works. However, for more resource demanding games like Black Tail at 18:29 -- you can see that it's struggling even at 720p medium. Sadly, an lga 775 can't do much with newer games. However, for retro gaming, it's still good.