Processor Upgrade Help Req Pls

[hypnosis75]

Hi all, im a newbie to these forums and pc's in general so please bear with me a little & try to keep it simple in any responses, anyway.........

 

 

I have a DELL OPTIPLEX GX260 which i want to upgrade a bit.

 

The motherboard is a FOXCONN LS-36, the current processor is a PENTIUM 4 1.8 ghz part number SL5VJ and its the 478 socket type.

 

It has 1Gb of RAM & a combined total of 80 GB hard drive.

 

Initially i phoned a couple of local pc repair shops to gain advice from them as to compatibility etc and before even asking details of which machine i have they immediately recommended i replace it as Motherboards are quite expensive and it more be cheaper to just replace the whole machine.

 

I have done a little research via google etc to see what may or may not be compatible and have read of someone who successfully installed and ran a 2.4ghz and then a 2.8 ghz processor into the same machine but being a newbie im not wanting to dive straight in without gaining advice from someone knowledgable first.

 

 

Thanks in advance

[Jelly Bean]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

 

I found conflicting information.

 

It appears your mainboard is an older PIIII.

 

It can take up to 2 gig RAM.

 

Apparently depending on what version your mainboard is to what CPU upgrade can be installed.

 

It could be 2.0 GHZ upto 2.6 GHZ but I cannot confirm this.

 

Others will input and help you.

 

You can use this to analyze your system or enter your service tag number,it may help?

 

 

Dell : Parts and Upgrades for Your Dell

 

JB.

[Tootech]

Agree with JB,

 

Can you post the Dell Service Tag and we should be able to pin down the board you have.

[hypnosis75]

You can use this to analyze your system or enter your service tag number,it may help?

 

 

Dell : Parts and Upgrades for Your Dell

 

JB.

 

 

Hi and thanks for the prompt responses.

 

I tried the Dell analyze service and it says analyser is currently only supported only for internet explorer or your service tag could not be found!!

 

I looked for the service tag sticker on my unit and came up with 2KF3GOJ (could possibly be a zero) and express service code is 05588243155 if that helps.

 

Tried entering the service tag manually and doing a search and it comes up cannot find.

 

I there any other program i can run to find the required information??

 

Thanks

OPTION 1 Dell System Analyzer http://i.dell.com/images/global/general/spacer.gif http://i.dell.com/images/global/snp/scanneroffbtn.jpghttp://i.dell.com/images/global/general/spacer.gif Sorry, System Analyzer is currently supported only for Internet Explorer or your Dell Service Tag could not be found. You can either try entering your Dell Service Tag under Option 2 or use Search For Your Dell Product.

[hypnosis75]

Also which information is conflicting as i may have entered or read the info incorrectly?

 

thanks

[Jelly Bean]

Try this:

 

Dell Technical Support Home Page / Dell Troubleshooting Search

 

Click on Find my service tag.

[hypnosis75]

Service tag 2KF3G0J

 

System type GX260

 

Ship date 01/07/2002

[Jelly Bean]

As far as I can see your computer only takes 1.5 GHZ upto 2.0 GHZ CPU.

 

Again I cannot find specific information on this board it is old.Dell do not do a CPU upgrade.

 

A newer revision of this board could possibly take upto a 2.6 GHZ CPU but what I have read so far it will NOT take a 2.8 GHZ CPU.

[hypnosis75]

As far as I can see your computer only takes 1.5 GHZ upto 2.0 GHZ CPU.

 

Again I cannot find specific information on this board it is old.Dell do not do a CPU upgrade.

 

A newer revision of this board could possibly take upto a 2.6 GHZ CPU but what I have read so far it will NOT take a 2.8 GHZ CPU.

 

 

Ok so i would only be able to upgrade up to 2Ghz which surely wouldnt be a noticeable difference??

 

So what are my options in your opinion??

 

Thanks

[Tootech]

Ok so i would only be able to upgrade up to 2Ghz which surely wouldnt be a noticeable difference??

 

Agreed - a waste of money.

 

I don't think its worth attempting any upgrade - if you tried say a 2.8GHz, it may or may not work - it could be wasted money. Dell only released 1 BIOS update for that board and so it looks as though officially you can't do it.

 

Changing the board will mean deciding an upgrade path - you often find yourself with a starting budget and then quickly increasing it.

 

Perhaps an upgrade to an AMD Athlon board and CPU, still using your memory, I think it will be DDR. For example a Socket 939 micro ATX with 3800+ CPU would do the job if it will fit and it will be cheap buying from ebay.

 

The question is 'will it fit', and will your PSU be up to the job.

 

At this point I'm really not sure.

 

Let us know your thoughts.

[hypnosis75]

would replacing the board be the most cost effective way forward or would i be just as well to buy a second hand tower with a bit more power than my current one??

 

Also i have no idea how to go about changing a motherboard, never done it before....is it straight forward enough to do as im trying desperatly to avoid paying leaches labour costs

[Jelly Bean]

If your budget is tight and you have already got monitor,keyboard ect I would possibly go for a second hand tower with a little more power.

 

I know I can pickup PIIII with 2.8 GHZ CPU and 512 mb RAM in my area for £30-00.But that is only the tower.I also note in my local paper that a 15 in flat screen+keyboard/mouse+tower of the above grade can now be bought for £70-00 upto £120-00.Depends if the seller is a greedy person.

 

This would then mean you could possibly upgrade the RAM to 2 gig and just buy Kingston Value RAM.It is cheap and is fine for older machines.

 

I know for a fact a PIIII with a 2.8 GHZ CPU and 1 gig RAM can run Vista Ultimate 32 bit easily.Why because I am running it on that spec.

 

Your computer you have now is old.The hardware and power supply may not be upto the grade now to power a newer mainboard and CPU.

 

Do not be ripped off when buying a secondhand computer or tower.Always check the system is functioning correctly.

 

Others may say I am wrong on this but I found that Compaq computers of the above grade are usaly fine to buy if they been looked after.

[Plastic Nev]

I agree with JB on looking out for a decent second hand but not more than say three or the most four years old machine.

 

Your old one is not really worth spending money on a new mother board for it as you may have to obtain a higher spec power supply as well.

 

But the most important thing about a machine that age is the likely hood of the hard drive dying pretty soon after, it has done well to last this long and being a mechanical device they do wear out. So you would be faced with even more expense to replace the drive if it died.

Nev.

[Tootech]

Looks like a newer tower is the way to go then.

 

I'd say look at an AMD Athlons or Athlon x2's of that era - they are far superior to P4's until Dual Core/ Core 2 came along.

[hypnosis75]

Well im thinking a budget of £100 ish to replace just the tower as i already have lcd screen, wireless keyboard & mouse etc, would i be best to look for a business seller who has refurbed a tower or a private seller who has "alledgedly" replaced due to upgrade not faults.

 

Ive looked into some of the newer p4 HT technology processors, what are your opinions on those as they seem quite impressive to me so maybe look for a tower with HT already??

[Jelly Bean]

What I quoted above is a Hyper Threading CPU.

 

A buisness seller as you call it,a lot of them do not refurb a computer,they just give it a clean and reinstall windows then you get charged a higher price.

[hypnosis75]

What I quoted above is a Hyper Threading CPU.

 

A buisness seller as you call it,a lot of them do not refurb a computer,they just give it a clean and reinstall windows then you get charged a higher price.

 

 

Well that sounds more than reasonable if its for the HT one, so what would be the best i could expect for around £100 tower only??

 

I'll more than likely keep my current machine to put in my workshop as it already has quite a lot of relevant software on it, i just want a better one for home

[Jelly Bean]

This is what I would do:

 

I would buy a similar tower as I said above.

 

Then buy 2x1 gig Kingston Value RAM.

 

Add a new 160-250 gig hard drive reinstall windows and have a half decent tower for around £80.

[hypnosis75]

This is what I would do:

 

I would buy a similar tower as I said above.

 

Then buy 2x1 gig Kingston Value RAM.

 

Add a new 160-250 gig hard drive reinstall windows and have a half decent tower for around £80.

 

Got one coming now, 3Ghz HT processor, 512ram & 80GB hard drive

 

£40........its a good starting point isn't it??

 

How easy would it be to upgrade the hard drive and re-instal windows onto the new hard drive??

 

Thanks for all your advice so far, its much appreciated :)

[Jelly Bean]

That is excellent.

 

Ok once it comes run this scanner so we can see which RAM is compatable.:

 

RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, flash cards, SSD at Crucial.com

 

Then we can sort you out with some RAM.

 

To fit a new hard drive is usaly disconnect two internal cables undo a few screws or clips.Remove old hard drive and fit new one.

 

We can help you out with reinstalling windows it is not that hard.

 

You should give the tower internals a good clean while powered off.

 

We will get you to give it a service via instructions and get it up and running smooth for you.

 

I think £40-00 is an excellent price a lot cheaper than replacing a mainboard,CPU and possibly a power supply.

[hypnosis75]

Thats quite a handy test tool, just ran it on my laptop and apparently i have an empty slot and can add another 1Gb stick....but thats a another project...woohoo!!

 

The actual fitting of the hard drive i can do its just the installing of windows, whichever version is decided on. Are all pc internal hard drives the same i.e compatible as there some pretty cheap 250Gb + ones on ebay

[Jelly Bean]

You will need an IDE hard drive not a SATA one.

 

Why buy off eBay when Play.com sell them and free delivery and they cheap enough.

 

Amazon.co.uk sell them cheap enough.

 

Generic hard drives are under £30.

 

This link looks hard but we can break it down to easy instructions:

 

 

How to partition and format a hard disk by using Windows XP Setup program

[hypnosis75]

Just looked into the prices on Amazon, Ebay & Play.com, Amazon & Ebay seem to be the cheapest at around £34 delivered for 250GB IDE brand new with a 1 year warranty.

 

If thats suitable ill buy one of them once the new tower has arrived and been checked over.

[Jelly Bean]

That price is fine.

 

So computer is all running pritty good?

[hypnosis75]

Haven't got the new tower yet, going to collect Friday or saturday and obviously test as much as i can before parting with my pennies.

 

Current tower is very usable but mega slow when multi tasking.