OEM Desktop Upgrades?

[timw4mail]

I have some old Dell desktops (I think 1st and 2nd gen Core CPUs), and I'm wondering if there is a good resource for seeing possible upgrades for those machines.

The socket compatibility is the easy part, I think, more of the concern I have is with cooling and power ability, especially since Dell doesn't always use standard PSUs...

[Wasmachineman_NL]

Forget about it, upgrade the first one to 8GB RAM and call it a day.

[crazybubba64]

Both coolers should be capable of handling their respective i7 variants.

i7-860s are fairly cheap, so that may be worthwhile depending on what you hope to achieve.

The jump from the i5-2400 to the i7-2600 is less significant.

[wren4777]

i7-2600s and i7 860s etc can be had for cheap, so those might be worth upgrading on the price. Dell is very picky about CPU support though so maybe double check before you buy

[timw4mail]

[wren4777]

Generally a quick google of the model/motherboard model + "CPU compatibility" will show results of what supports what.

[timw4mail]

So, it looks like Optiplex supports the i7 870, so I found one of those.

From what I could find, it doesn't look like the Vostro supports i7s, so I guess that doesn't really have an upgrade.

[wren4777]

It might still be worth giving it a go, you can probably sell the chip here if it doesn't work out.

[mavroxur]

If they're desktops and came with an i5, it's likely they can take the i7 variant. The only exception to this was small form factor / zero form factor that used low power variants of the chips; they require low power variants. E.g. an Optiplex 9020 Micro with an i5-4590T must use a "T" series chip if you upgrade, such as an i7-4785T due to thermal and VRM constraints of the micro form factor. Installing a non-T chip will either give a BIOS error or it won't POST at all.

[timw4mail]

Well, the small-form-factor upgrade went well, despite this being the first time I've ever dealt with a LGA socket (I'm an AMD guy, okay?)

[wren4777]

Congratulations