Intel Pentium 4 - 3GHz 3.0GHz 800MHz 1MB Socket-478

[dennis tomlin]

I have an old dell dimension 8250 that I am trying to upgrade a little. It has 2gb memory a 250gb western digital hard drive and a intel pentium 4, 2.53ghz, 512 kb, Socket-478. I tried to install the
Intel Pentium 4 - 3GHz 3.0GHz 800MHz 1MB Socket-478 and it will not work. From all the data that I read this processor is compatible. Is there any reason that it will not work. I am running windows xp. Do I need a bigger power supply? Currently it is a 250w power supply.

 

[RaDiKaL_]

Might need a BIOS update, check dell's website for any update available for your mobo.

 

[dennis tomlin]

Bios was already updated to dells latest.

 

[drtweak]

Only takes 400/533 FSB CPU's. the 3.0 is an 800 FSB.

a list of 533 FSB P4's

http://ark.intel.com/products/series/28379/Intel-Pentium-4-Processors-with-533-MHz-FSB#@All

 

[drtweak]

And it uses Rambus Ram. Honestly, Toss it out lol Get a cheap celeron CPU which will most likely be more powerful than that P4 lol

 

[spentshells]

I have to agree with the statement above. That computer is a dead end and frankly a lame duck.

and embedded celeron j1800 dual core or j1900 quad core with 2gb of ram will outperform the p4 by leaps and bounds and cost around 100 dollars with ram motherboard and cpu.

 

[dennis tomlin]

Thanks for the suggestions. Where can I get one?

 

[spentshells]

www.newegg,com
www.amazon.com

ASRock Q1900M Intel Quad-Core Celeron Processor J1900 Micro ATX $61.99- 15 MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157513&cm_re=j1900-_-13-157-513-_-Product

G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 $34.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231396

You will need a new hard drive or to find a IDE to sata conversion cable.

 

[dennis tomlin]

Really don't want to change mobo. Just looking to upgrade cpu.

 

[spentshells]

Really don't want to change mobo. Just looking to upgrade cpu.

The motherboard I suggested has the quad core cpu and graphics intergrated.

What you have is worthless to upgrade. going from 2.5 to 3Ghz will show no noticeable improvement, it's time to move on from that p4.

 

[dennis tomlin]

Thanks all for the help. Think I will take your suggestion and move on. Will just buy a new tower. I was just trying to get it to work for my 5 year old granddaughter. Thanks everyone.

 

[drtweak]

On top that that forget about running Windows 7 on it. You would have to use XP and if you have to use an OS that hasn't gotten an update in almost a year and never will again then you know its time to move one.

 

[spentshells]

Thanks all for the help. Think I will take your suggestion and move on. Will just buy a new tower. I was just trying to get it to work for my 5 year old granddaughter. Thanks everyone.

OH!!!! Do you have a copy of windows? The only thing that will speed up that computer is a small SSD. That would be the only real upgrade available that would give you a noticeable improvement in performance. 2.5- 3ghz won't really make any difference/. Not terribly sure of the exact model of dimension 8250 you have, if you tell me I will check to see if the motherboard would support an ssd.

 

[drtweak]

Thanks all for the help. Think I will take your suggestion and move on. Will just buy a new tower. I was just trying to get it to work for my 5 year old granddaughter. Thanks everyone.

OH!!!! Do you have a copy of windows? The only thing that will speed up that computer is a small SSD. That would be the only real upgrade available that would give you a noticeable improvement in performance. 2.5- 3ghz won't really make any difference/. Not terribly sure of the exact model of dimension 8250 you have, if you tell me I will check to see if the motherboard would support an ssd.

the 8250 Has no SATA ports. Would have to buy a PCI Sata Controller then hook it up to that.

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks all for the help. Think I will take your suggestion and move on. Will just buy a new tower. I was just trying to get it to work for my 5 year old granddaughter. Thanks everyone.

There comes a time when 'upgrading' is not worth it.
A $250 box from Walmart will be faster and cheaper for that use.

 

[dennis tomlin]

spentshells Here is what I got from belarc advisor.

Operating System

Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3 (build 2600)
Install Language: English (United States)
System Locale: English (United States)
Installed: 2/2/2015 10:14:18 AM
Boot Mode: BIOS (Secure Boot not supported)

System Model

Dell Computer Corporation Dimension 8250
System Service Tag: 3QZDK21 (support for this PC)
Chassis Serial Number: 3QZDK21
Enclosure Type: Mini-Tower

Processor

2.53 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
8 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Not hyper-threaded

Main Circuit Board

Board: Dell Computer Corp.
Bus Clock: 533 megahertz
BIOS: Dell Computer Corporation A04 01/09/2004

Drives

250.05 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
241.43 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

_NEC CD-RW NR-9100A [Optical drive]
LITEON DVD-ROM LTD163 [Optical drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

WDC WD2500JB-57GVC0 [Hard drive] (250.06 GB) -- drive 0, rev 21.02J21, SMART Status: Healthy

Memory Modules

2048 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory

Slot 'RIMM1' has 512 MB
Slot 'RIMM2' has 512 MB
Slot 'RIMM3' has 512 MB
Slot 'RIMM4' has 512 MB

Local Drives Volume

c: (NTFS on drive 0) 250.05 GB 241.43 GB free

Controllers

Standard floppy disk controller
Intel(r) 82801BA Bus Master IDE Controller
Primary IDE Channel [Controller]
Secondary IDE Channel [Controller]

Display

NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420 [Display adapter]
DELL E178FP [Monitor] (17.1"vis, s/n XX-0RY979-XXXXX-786-DLEU, August 2007)

Bus Adapters

VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Companion Controller (4x)
VIA USB Enhanced Host Controller (2x)

Multi Media

Intel(r) 82801BA/BAM AC'97 Audio Controller

Other Devices

USB Human Interface Device
Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
HID-compliant mouse
USB Root Hub (6x)

Hope this will help.

 

[bmacsys]

Really don't want to change mobo. Just looking to upgrade cpu.

And your right. That Dells can't be upgraded with those parts these guys are listing. Your ram is incompatible, your hard drive is parallel ata, your psu is proprietary, the motherboard i/o connectors are proprietary, the motherboard form factor is proprietary, even the cpu cooling is Dell proprietary. You would not be able to utilize anything from the Dell. Not to mention then you would also need to purchase Windows.

 

[bmacsys]

Thanks all for the help. Think I will take your suggestion and move on. Will just buy a new tower. I was just trying to get it to work for my 5 year old granddaughter. Thanks everyone.

There comes a time when 'upgrading' is not worth it.
A $250 box from Walmart will be faster and cheaper for that use.

Yeah. Upgrading is for recent builds. Not 15 year old OEM machines.

 

[ribpeal]

If you want to get a new budget system that will outperform yours at everything, get this: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8WGjgs

 

[drtweak]

Really don't want to change mobo. Just looking to upgrade cpu.

And your right. That Dells can't be upgraded with those parts these guys are listing. Your ram is incompatible, your hard drive is parallel ata, your psu is proprietary, the motherboard i/o connectors are proprietary, the motherboard form factor is proprietary, even the cpu cooling is Dell proprietary. You would not be able to utilize anything from the Dell. Not to mention then you would also need to purchase Windows.

FYI This was before Dell went BTX. The PSU is a standard ATX the motherboard is a Standard ATX, The CPU Cooling is a standard P4 Cooling (Only the BTX Boards had Proprietary Cooling. All the new ones are standard ATX Boards, with Stock Coolers (They use screws though not the Push plug thingys but standard hold size) Except for the new Optiplexs and Percision Workstations. They do have proprietary PSU's now.

 

[dennis tomlin]

drtweak, explain in plain English. I really do not understand what you are telling me. I am not that computer savvy.

 

[USAFRet]

drtweak, explain in plain English. I really do not understand what you are telling me. I am not that computer savvy.

What he's saying is that some old Dells can mostly be upgraded, and some are really not able to be upgraded.

------------------
But basically, any upgrades to that old machine are really, really not worth it.
Especially for the use you want it for.

 

[drtweak]

lol no I was just correcting a few things that bmacsys said is all. Just trying to get some of the facts straight for him lol

no i agree. Its not worth upgrading. You can, how ever, to save money, reuse the case, and get the motherboard and memory mentioned above, a hard drive, and DVD Drive, and windows and build a new PC. You can even reuse the Power Supply but i wouldn't use a 10-12 year old power supply for very long.

 

[bmacsys]

Really don't want to change mobo. Just looking to upgrade cpu.

And your right. That Dells can't be upgraded with those parts these guys are listing. Your ram is incompatible, your hard drive is parallel ata, your psu is proprietary, the motherboard i/o connectors are proprietary, the motherboard form factor is proprietary, even the cpu cooling is Dell proprietary. You would not be able to utilize anything from the Dell. Not to mention then you would also need to purchase Windows.

FYI This was before Dell went BTX. The PSU is a standard ATX the motherboard is a Standard ATX, The CPU Cooling is a standard P4 Cooling (Only the BTX Boards had Proprietary Cooling. All the new ones are standard ATX Boards, with Stock Coolers (They use screws though not the Push plug thingys but standard hold size) Except for the new Optiplexs and Percision Workstations. They do have proprietary PSU's now.

Not true. The old Dell Optiplex etc... Not the later BTX machines were filled with all proprietary crap. I should know. I had tons of them. The boards mount on a tray. The psu pinout was different. The cpu cooler was just that hood type thing that vented air from the back case fan. The front i/o was all unique to Dell. Even the fans had a proprietary headers.

 

[USAFRet]

Saving money by reusing the case is false money. A rational case can be had for $30 new.
Forcing all new parts into a 12 year old Dell case will cost more than $30 in brain power.