j5689

This was the last bit I was really going to spend on this I already knew about the x64 part and not supporting more than 4GB, I just forgot to mention it. And I have to admit, a lot of the features you described do sound tempting. I'm thinking about just using my next paycheck to build a whole new rig. I've never had my own custom rig before and I've wanted one for years now

Time for an update I was looking through this thread recently: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/247863-2...pgrade-question And found this post: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/247863-2...estion#t1913444 And I bought this: http://www.starmicro.net/detail.aspx?ID=599 Which has the following advantages over my 3.2GHz 540: 200MHz faster obviously EM64T so it can finally use a x64 OS A whole nother MB of cache, making 2MB, which I've read is mostly negated by the increased latency of having a larger space to search for data but it's an improvement nontheless. XD Bit, which I had to enable manually in the BIOS after I saw in that security thing in general info that it still didn't see the processor as able to support this on hardware during the first time that I booted. EIST to reduce power usage/temperature but I didn't see any such option in the GX280 A08 BIOS to enable this feature and it doesn't seem to do it by itself ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So overall the 650 is the best processor you can possibly put in a GX280.

Have you gotten your 570 yet?

I think the the 661 will work in the gx520/gx620 Dells. Here's a site that specifies the accessories for the dell gx280 and the dell Part Number. http://www.ambry.com/dell/dell_models.asp?...ptiPlex%20GX280 On this site look for M8965 dell part number which shows it is a processor service kit intel 570. I don't know if they came out with a service kit for the 570J models or what the part number is. Moreover, I've already bought my Xmas present too and have installed the following dell part numbers and they work POWER SUPPLIES: Upgraded from 250Watt W4827 which can be used in dimension 4700, 8400 and the gx280 that has PFC. Whether Power Factor Correction is active or not I don't know for mine. PFC improves the power efficiency of the power supply. Searched various power supply websites and I upgraded to, 350 watt G4265 which works in Dimension 8400, workstation 370 and has PFC. All the cables and total count match my old 250 watt one. It fits my gx280 desktop tower and is currently working. There is one extra power cable which I don't use on connector P4. The dell list above suggests 305 watt Y2663 which goes in Dimension 4700 and has PFC which should work too. I'm looking into the 375 watt K8956 that is used in Dimension 9100, gx270, precision 380 to see whether it has PFC and will fit the box and the number of cable types match for the future. Supplies in the 400 watt range I haven't found yet for the gx280 series computer! Any ideas while I look around? HEATSINK: W4254 six tube one vs my G8113 four tube heatsink. AUDIO ANALOG CABLE: This cable is between the CD/DVD player and the analog audio connector on the gx280 motherboard. The dell list above, the manual nor any google reference will tell me the dell part number for it although the GX270 does give a part number on the internet which is 67JDG. If one looks at the user manuals on the gx270 for the motherboard, it looks exactly like the GX280. I've installed it and it fits. PROCESSOR: Due to the service kit M8965 for the gx280 it looks like the intel 570 will work. I'm still wondering why the 570J doesn't at present per your post. I don't have a GX520 though or I would've done that. The school gets computers donated to them from the Annapolis Naval Academy and I got to keep a tower GX280 that the tech guy brought back since I work for him. Maybe they'll give him GX520s before I graduate. XD You really don't need an analog audio cable btw unless you're using Windows 98 or older. You really shouldn't put one in unless you're actually going to use it or it's just going to add unnecessary wire clutter. Windows XP won't even utilize it unless you enable the option to do so. But if you must do it, any analog cable will do, they're pretty much universal; it works with any sound card/mobo connected to any optical drive that has the port, all of that inside of any case. Is the PSU of a proprietary design for the tower model or will it take any standard ATX PSU? And tell me what processor will work when you actually try it out. And btw, I put in another 2GB of RAM last month for 4GB.

Is there anything I can do in the way of BIOS then? And the place I got it from doesn't carry regular 570s, only 570Js. This is the 2nd processor I've gotten that hasn't worked. I couldn't even sell the 661 because there was nobody interested on eBay. Maybe I'll get an P35 mobo and a case in the future and slap it in there till I can get a C2D or C2Q.

Hmmm, I wonder if you have the latest BIOS for your computer flashed? Is your computer a dell gx280 computer? The A04 and A07 BIOS updates updated for newer processors. I have the A08 which was just a fix release. Here's what I read on the net. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/218957-2...lder-dell-gx280 heatsink too. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/219099-2...el-570j-cooling which points to this article although they mention the intel 570 P4 and not the intel 570J P4. http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardwarecen...cle.php/3486711 So it could be that the BIOS doesn't support the no-execute bit???? There are references on the net that the 570J is used in Dimensions and XPS dell computers. I have the A08 BIOS. Do you know of any that are later than that? Do I have to apply A04 and/or A07 first and then apply A08?

Sorry to revive, but I got the 570J for Christmas and it didn't work. But at least it gave me a message: Incompatible processor found. Processing halted or something like that. So what can I possibly upgrade this thing with, if anything?

I just looked more into what would be required for the 570J btw. Based on the information you posted on heatsinks, I already have the right kind to support a 570J The 6-pipe W4254 I'm wondering just out of curiosity if it was supposed to come in mine because my processor is a 540. Everything processor-wise right now was on the computer when I got it. Perhaps the Navy is responsible for this or something as this computer was a Navy computer before it was given to me. Btw, this is where I would get it from unless I or someone else can find it cheaper: http://www.starmicro.net/detail.aspx?ID=567

I don't use onboard, I use an 8600GT w/ 512MB DDR3 instead. Would I still see a difference in anything with 533MHz RAM? And you are correct about the GMA900, it has options for 1 or 8 MB in the BIOS.

Would this stop it entirely from working? I bought a 3.6GHz Cedar Mill thinking it would work in this GX280(tower version) and now when it's in, the power button light turns orange and nothing happens on the screen. If this ends up being the case, the best anyone can possibly put in a GX280 would be a Prescott 570J Alot of people on websites say it just won't boot which apparently is the case for you. I presume if you put the old processor back in it will work. Moreover, the GX520,GX620 are the same BiOS' and the BIOS has been updated to the newer processors which includes 64 bit EM64T. Thus the Cedarmill will work in this (or it should since both the dell tower and processor type came out around the same timeframe). The other difference is the chipset. Mine is a 915G which is limited to 533mhz to RAM whereas the Gx520,620 have the 945G (if I recall) which can go higher to 800mhz/1066mhz. If you should upgrade to the 570J (mine is 530) it should run since I'm planning on doing this in the near future. The 'J' for no-execute bit shouldn't matter to the BIOS since the BIOS was written in the time period the "J" and "non-J" processors came out. If DELL's BIOS for these different processors was important then DELL would have a BIOS for the "J" and another for the "non-J" processors types. Also since the 530 is 84W and the 570J is around 115W (see wiki) you'll probably have to upgrade to a bigger heatsink. The original heatsink for 84W is G8113 which has four heat pipes and the new one is W4254 which is for performance per DELLS part list for the GX280 boxes , and from what I see on the net it has 6 heat pipes. I guess because there was a 50% increase in power, this means each set of heat pipes can get rid of 40-50 watts of heat. The original power supply is 250Watt, I presume one must upgrade to 305 Watts which is the biggest DELL makes for workstations. Why do I say this? Well the heat for the faster processor increased 35-40 watts, thus take the old power supply and add this on as 250+ 40 = 290 watts, plus a few extra 15 watts for extra measure. I presume because 95% of 305 is 290 watts. One doesn't want to run the PC at the full load of the supply but to have some reserve left over just in case. Here's the part numbers for the mini tower and tower - not the slimline ones, W4827 Mainstream Power Supply, 250 Watt, PFC, Dual Serial ATA, TMST Y2663 Performance Power Supply, 305 Watt, PFC, Dual Serial ATA, SMT If the BIOS doesn't support overclocking (or the ability to change the voltage), then you are stuck at the 1.8v DDR2 Ram chips. To get improved CAS one needs to increase the voltage typically around 1.9-2.45 V from what I've been seeing from RAM manufacturers. Some start at 1.8-2.x volts and the DDR3's start round 1.5v although DDR3 won't go in a GX280. What I bought, was crucial DDR2 CAS=7 1.8v 1066mhz 1 GIG chips in a two pack since the Gx280 can go to 4gigs , I bought two of these packs (cheap). They work, but they'll slow down to 533mhz due to the 915G chipset ram speed ,and the BIOS will tell you so too. Dell put in the cheapest they could find at the time, and since the GX280 is dual channel they put in two 400mhz which 2*400mhz equals 800mhz when interleaved to match the processor FSB. That is my thoughts on why they chose 400mhz. Why did I buy these 1066mhz ram chips? well, because they are the fastest for DDR2 in terms of mhz and in the future when I buy another used PC which should be faster, I can move these ram chips over to the new PC and put the old ones back in before selling the old computer. I haven't seen DDR2 memory for sale that goes faster than 1066mhz, at least crucial doesn't sell it at 1333mhz+. People are telling me it's more worth it just to save up for a new rig completely rather than keep bothering with P4s that are ridiculously overprices to the point where it would get me a low end Core 2 that would smoke a 570. I like to have all my machines running at their maximum hardware potential though, like the HP Pavilion 750n that I had before this. This is the RAM I bought for it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820134181 Kingston(how fortunate) is the only one that sells that sells this variant of 400MHz sticks, which is the same kind that the GX280 comes with. But I am wondering if I should've bought a 533MHz set instead of this one, would I see that much difference in my apps(games) with 533MHz over 400MHz, or even a little bit of difference? I know that this also would offset the 1:1 FSB ratio in favor of the RAM but I'm not sure if that matters much. It seems strange in the first place to be running top-end DDR speed on DDR2, which is the minimum speed for DDR2 so I'm essentially running much cooler and more efficient DDR with no speed increase. :/ If 533MHz isn't much better, then I might just get another set of these for 4GB (3.5 really with the OS) since they are about 10 or 15$ cheaper than when I bought the first set.

Would this stop it entirely from working? I bought a 3.6GHz Cedar Mill thinking it would work in this GX280(tower version) and now when it's in, the power button light turns orange and nothing happens on the screen. If this ends up being the case, the best anyone can possibly put in a GX280 would be a Prescott 570J