dell optiplex intel processor upgrade

[j5689]

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?

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?

Edited December 30, 2008 by j5689

[mikesw]

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?

No, if you have A08, then you have all the other fixes.

There is no newer version of the BIOS.

DELL customer support can't tell me what processors that A04 and A07 upgraded for

nor the list of processors supported. They keep pointing to the user manual which

generically states Intel P4 processors - but doesn't specify which ones.

Perhaps you can return the 570J for a 570 processor?

I did a quick search on Dells site and came up with the Dimension 4700 which uses the 570 processor

and the power supply is 305 watts. It doesn't mention 570J though... It also uses the 915G chipset.

Now to find one bottom of the line Dell computer which used the 570J!

Upon review of the BIOS updates for this machine 1/26/2006 A10 is the latest BIOS allowed newer

processors.

BIOS A07 4/7/2005 added NX enable/disable capability. I presume this allowed the win XP to control the no-execute

bit along with recognizing the processors i.e. 570J which allowed for this.

Note: Dimension 5000 says it supports P4 with hyperthreading, it has 305 watt power supply and BIOS A03 4/7/2005

updated for the NX enable/disable capability. Latest BIOS is 12/7/2005 A07 for newer processors etc.

Dimension 5100 says it supports P4 with hyperthreading for both 5xxx and 6xxx (see 3rd x, maybe related

to 'J' or no 'J' processor type), it has 305 watt power supply and BIOS A02 12/19/2005 upgraded for newer

processors. BIOS A03 8/6/2006 is latest, just fixes. chipset 945G

Dimension 5150 essentially the same as the Dimension 5100, and BIOS revs cover newer processors too.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/syst...00/sm/specs.htm

Edited December 30, 2008 by mikesw

[j5689]

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.

[puntoMX]

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.

Welcome to Dell, but you already knew you were screwed. Now you have hit another problem; the case can´t be used for a standard ATX motherboard so you have to buy a new case as well plus add a fan on top of the stock cooler (or did you get the other CPUs with fan?).

[mikesw]

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.

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.

Edited December 30, 2008 by mikesw

[j5689]

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.

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.

Edited December 31, 2008 by j5689

[puntoMX]

Is the PSU of a proprietary design for the tower model or will it take any standard ATX PSU?

If it´s the tower model than it´s just the standard PSU, if it´s the slim version than as far as I know it´s not a standard sized PSU.

[mikesw]

Is the PSU of a proprietary design for the tower model or will it take any standard ATX PSU?

If it´s the tower model than it´s just the standard PSU, if it´s the slim version than as far as I know it´s not a standard sized PSU.

The reason I chose to use old Dell power supplies is because the outside metal case on one side has the

two tabs that allow one to lock the power supply in place in addition to the two rear screws. I couldn't tell

from the after market ones if they have the tabs. If they don't then there are only two screws holding the

thingy in.

Also, I searched for PFC power supplies since they utilize the power more efficiently thus reducing the

power supply heat.

2ndly, I also searched for the number of cable types to match i.e. molex, SATA, floppy, along

with the motherboard 20pin vs 24 or 20+4 pin power connector , etc and to have a similar

count of each although one could get adaptor cables for the various molex vs. SATA and even to convert

a 24pin power to 20 pin. I believe the gx280 supplies I used are 20pin if I remember.

I've already upgraded to 4gb of crucial memory which has a max speed rating of 1066mhz for DDR2. It does slow

down to th 915G chipset speed of 533mhz. The memory was cheap at $42 for each pair of 1GB and if I should

get rid of the gx280, I could put the old memory back in and reuse this faster memory in a newer PC i.e.

the GX520,GX620's. I can't use ballistic memory since the motherboard and BIOS don't allow me to adjust the

voltages. Thus, I assume the mother board uses the standard 1.7v which most standard memory chips use.

Here's the crucial kit I installed (times two) CT2KIT12864AA1067 2GB kit (1GBx2), 240-pin DIMM

As for getting a GX520/620, the company has these, but I have to wait till the warranty (3 years) runs out before

they will get rid of them - about another year or two.

It looks so far that the 375 watt K8956 has two extra SATA power cables to make four instead of two.

Thus, this one should work to, but will keeping googling for more info.

Edited December 31, 2008 by mikesw

[mikesw]

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.

Here's some important information for you that I came across accidentally on Dells site. It's not always easy to find

things one is looking for there. It will explain what others have discovered with the Intel 570/570J processor on GX280

computers. It seems to be BIOS version related. See the link below. I'll copy the important stuff from the 21+ replies

so if DELLs link disappears, it will be here on MSFN. It took some time to find this tidbit!

http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/1885...p;cs=&s=gen

Here's a list from Ascendtech for other motherboards that are compatible PN's for the GX280 motherboards (SMT),

http://www.ascendtech.us/itemdesc.asp?ic=M...&eq=&Tp

Note: other gx280 motherboards and their compatible PN's are for the various case styles i.e. SFF (small form factor) etc.

Intel made motherboards for DELL.

G5611 Y5638 K5146 U4100 H7276 FC928 FG114 X6554 C7195 0G5611 0Y5638 0K5146 0U4100 0H7276 0FC928 0FG114 0X6554 0C7195

Dell Compatible Part#: G5611 K5146 U4100 H7276 FC928 FG114 X6554 C7195 0G5611 0K5146 0U4100 0H7276 0FC928 0FG114 0X6554 0C7195 DG476 CG816 XF954 X7967 U7915 KC361 XF961

Supported CPUs: Intel Pentium 4, Celeron, Prescott

Here's my current DELL factory numbers. I've posted the power supply numbers earlier.

Dell motherboard OG5611

FAN N1DECBETAV TA350 DC

Model: M35291-35

Heat sink CN-OG8113-72204-4BP-01Q9 4 tubes

As you can see my motherboard is on the list.

You can use BelArc Advisor to give you the motherboard, service tag and model number to check against the list above and at ascendtech.us

However, on this same dell forum btc64 mentioned he tested the intel 670 and intel 570J. He didn't test the Intel 570

though. See his comment below related to the BIOS version A08 vs. A0.

I then flashed the board to A8 BIOS and "Incompatible processor" warning returned. I then tried just about every version of the BIOS and same error. Flashed back to A0 and back to 2.4 Ghz. (for the 670 processor) Not an acceptable solution as I'm currently using a 3.2 Ghz processor. I then tried to use a 570J processor in the same scenario. I read somewhere that this processor is 100% compatible with the GX280. I now know that is is NOT. Same issues as with the 670 except that it runs at 2.8 Ghz on version A0 and not at all on the other BIOS versions.

So you could flash to A0 BIOS to use the 570J processor at 2.8GHZ vs. 3.8GHZ and put up with all the BIOS bugs.

Or maybe do: I checked all the BIOS versions for the gx280 and there was no mention that a BIOS fix was done to

give it NX enable/disable capability for no-execute which the 570J processor has and which was done for the Dimension

desktop BIOS' (I previously posted) in one of the various BIOS update fixes they did. Moreover, all the 5x1,6x1 have

EM64T also the 6x0 and the others had 2meg of processor cache. Thus, Dell could have updated the BIOS for the

gx280 line of computers to recognize all these processors that only have the FSB of 800mhz to be compatible

with the chipset 915[G] if they wanted to, but they differentiated their computer line to the Dimension series to make

them different and incompatible with the GX computer series although both use the LGA775 processor (at least those

that have the 800mhz FSB). So essentially the GX280 could be compatible with the EM64T and 2meg cache if DELL

would update the BIOS, but they won't for computer selling purposes. Now the computers are considered obsolete thus

it won't be done. So the list of fixes for each BIOS they mention "updated with newer processors" doesn't mean much

since it isn't specific, nor are some of the specs for the processor for a given computer line since it generically says P4

whereas other DELL computer spec documentation like the dimension 4700 lists the specific processors although this

list may be out-of-date vs. the updated BIOS version.

Thus, per the website posted earlier they do mention the M8965 processor upgrade kit for the GX280 which uses the

570 processor -only. And because the 570 processor doesn't have the NX enable/disable feature it should work with

the A08 BIOS; otherwise DELL wouldn't have sold it back then. But, Intel's website doesn't even mention that the 570

processor ever existed (except for one webpage with microcode bugs listed), in their table that cross references it with

their family of processors and what features and chipsets they have for a given family of processors. Not even the

english Wikipedia intel processor table mentions the 570 processor. This could be due to the wiki writers relying on

Intel info in which their family table might just be missing this piece of information.

As an added note: Magazine articles came out in November of 2004 stating the new intel processor 570J. Assuming full

manufacturing of computers for sale in the Summer of 2005, this should be enough time for Dell to update the BIOS for

the gx280 line since DELL was already patching the Dimension computers BIOS around April of 2005 to handle the NX

enable/disable bit.(see earlier post).

Note2: The dimension 4600 series used the old 845 chipset and the BIOS was last updated in fall of 2004 before the

LGA775 570J processor was announced. Thus, the NX enable/disable BIOS fix to handle these newer processors was

never implemented. Thus, Dimension 4700 and above should be used for the 570J processor with the lastest BIOS

fixes for them. The dimension 4600 and below seem to use the old P4 Northwood processor which is 478 pins.

Conclusion:

Try going back to A0 version of BIOS and tell us what happens and what motherboard PN you have via Belarc.

Or, find the M8965 service kit or just the 570 processor and see if that works.

I did see this in the DELLS spreadsheet for Dimension line of computers for the 4700 series that the heatsink

W4254 is for 3.4Ghz (intel 550) and faster cpus.

Edited January 2, 2009 by mikesw

[j5689]

Have you gotten your 570 yet?

[mikesw]

Have you gotten your 570 yet?

I couldn't find one on the net for sale. For those places that seemed to sell it, the site

said they didn't have any. One site that had the M8965 part which was suppposed to be

the 570 turned out to be some type of ancient Compaq logic or memory card which

I RMA'd back. So there are multiple vendors using the M8965 PN for various part numbers.

The site I bought this from sold DELL, HP and Compaq, and didn't have a textual explanation

as to what it was, so I assumed it was the one to get - it was not.

I'm expecting a 560J next week. Although the BIOS fixes said nothing was updated for

the No execute BIT (like the P4 series with J), there is a place in the BIOS which

currently lists the ability to turn on and off the no execute bit - so I think it should work.

Well see....

If I come across a 570, I try it out.....

Edited January 16, 2009 by mikesw

[j5689]

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.

Edited July 20, 2009 by j5689

[CoffeeFiend]

200MHz faster obviously

Which no one could ever even notice (5% difference in benchmarks -- nothing I'd upgrade for!)

EM64T so it can finally use a x64 OS

Which is pointless.

EM64T was slapped onto the old 32 bit [crappy] Netburst design as a quick catch-up measure to AMD64 back then (not a new core completely redesigned for 64 bit, no 64 bit data bus or anything like that either). And as such, it performs pretty poorly (basically negating the speed gain you'd expect from the extra registers).

So the only reason one could think of which would motivate someone to run a x64 OS at that point is being able to use more than 4GB of RAM, which the 915G chipset in your GX280 can't do anyways.

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.

An improvement, that yields no performance improvement, yeah.

Honestly, I don't see how the 5% performance gain over a a fairly dated netburst CPU was worth it. Especially when there are FAR better dual core CPUs with modern designs that are cheaper than that, yet that are nearly 3x faster than your new CPU. Yes, you'd need to buy a new basic motherboard to use that, but you'd get a LOT out of it too.

$58 -> 5% speed increase, same old basic 915G based board that's well known to have bad caps (bad enough that they have a out of warranty support program because of it!) Roughly $12 for each 1% of speed gained (more when the board finally dies)

*or*

$50 on a Athlon64 X2 5200+ and another $75 for an amazing motherboard (e.g. GA-MA78GM-US2H) -> 250% performance increase, dual core, good at running x64 OS'es, supports >4GB of faster RAM, more SATA ports, 7.1 channel HD audio with digital outs, great onboard video that can decode 1080p H.264 in hardware (~1% CPU usage) with DVI and HDMI outputs, eSATA, Firefire, upgradable later to a fancy quad core and so on. And the board won't be plagued with bad caps. $0.50 for each 1% of speed gained (arguably 24x "cheaper"), plus tons of extras, room for upgrade, and reliability.

At some point, it's just not worth it spending any money on an old rig.

[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