I want to change the processor on my handed down pc...Help?

jonnye

Honorable
Nov 12, 2013
2
0
10,510
I want to change the processor on my handed down pc, it has an 'intel 2' so yeah. I have absolutely no idea how to go about this so any advice would be great. Also if there are any ways you know of speeding a pc up without spending vast amounts, that would be good. thanks.
:)
Also the pc is a dell studio 540.
 
Is it the intel core 2 quad? The problem with upgrading computers from dell and other companies is the CPU support of their motherboards. Being that it is a bit old finding a chip that will work with it may not be worth the money and trouble. If it is indeed the core 2 quad it's not a bad processor. If you want to give new life to the machine and make it noticeably faster I would look into putting an SSD into the machine.

 
Looking at Page 46 of this Dell Studio 540 document the Processor support section says that it supports Intel Core2 Quad Processors with an L2 cache size of 6 MB/8 MB/12 MB.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 <=== A lot of the Dell Studio 540 PCs shipped with this one
Clock Speed: 2.33 GHz
L2 Cache: 4 MB
FSB Speed: 1333 MHz

Intel Core2 Quad Q6700
Clock Speed: 2.66 GHz
L2 Cache: 8 MB
FSB Speed: 1066 MHz

Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 <=== Some of the Dell Studio 540 PCs shipped with this one
Clock Speed: 2.40 GHz
L2 Cache: 8 MB
FSB Speed: 1066 MHz

Intel Core2 Quad Q9450
Clock Speed: 2.66 GHz
L2 Cache: 12 MB
FSB Speed: 1333 MHz

Intel Core2 Quad Q9550
Clock Speed: 2.83 GHz
L2 Cache: 12 MB
FSB Speed: 1333 MHz

Intel Core2 Quad Q9650
Clock Speed: 3.00 GHz
L2 Cache: 12 MB
FSB Speed: 1333 MHz

It really isn't worth dumping money into a better CPU unless you can find and get one one for a low price. Good luck with that. All those CPUs are EOL (i.e. End-Of-Life) products.

The motherboard's SATA controller only supports SATA1 1.5 Gbps and SATA2 3.0 Gbps speeds. If you decide to get an SSD and it has a SATA3 6.0 Gbps interface you won't get the full performance out of the SSD. You may still be able to find cheaper SATA2 3.0 Gbps SSDs.