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Hi all
I know there have been variations of this question, so please forgive the redundancy: I have a Dell Dimension L500cx computer with an Intel Celeron 500 Mhz processor, 320 Mb Ram (I upgraded it).
Is it possible, and is it an easy thing to do, to switch from Celeron to a Pentium 3 or 4. Do I need a whole new motherboard, or is it a matter of a chip switch? How straightforward is it? Has anyone come across a step by step how-to site?
Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.
You'll need a new mobo...the P4 uses a different socket. You'll also need new RAM...you probably have PC100/133 & the P4 uses DDR RAM. You'll need a new power supply as well. At any rate, it won't be cheap....
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Hello,
If it was cheap to changeover, what exactly would be the advantage of the switch. A little faster possibly, is the expense worthwhile?
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Have you tried looking on the DELL web site for your specific system and see what processor upgrades are available for it? Might give you a clue as to which ones you can use.
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jam, don't you think he could get a Pentium III for that system?
John S, I would say that, assuming Dell hasn't somehow screwed it up by not allowing upgrades on that model, that you could upgrade it, but what socket type does it have? 370? Slot 1? What does your computer's manual say about CPU upgrades?
Good luck.
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Well, assuming you havn't already upgraded the CPU, I would assume that you have a PGA370 socket, now lets assume that you can change the FSB to 100. Now, if both of theses assumtions are right, the next thing you do is try and get your hands on a Coppermine Celeron 1000 (rare, but there are some out there). Because the multipliers on the Celeron are locked, there is a good chance that you can run this thing at 1GHz, you won't get double the speed as such, but you will notice the difference, plus you can take advantage of SSE.
Jam, FYI, they did release P4 mobos , both skt 478 and skt 423, that supported 168pin SDR SDRAM, so there is another possibility, if you can get your hands on a refurbished P4 CPU and mobo thats supports SDR RAM, you could upgrade that way.
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Adam,
I realize that there were some P4-PC100/133 mobos, but they were quickly overshadowed by the DDR versions...& the 423 socket wasn't around for very long either. There are some really cheap 423 mobos on the site below...the cheapest is less than $15...but they use either RDRAM or DDR Ram.
http://www.compgeeks.com/products.asp?cat=MBB
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Something to look out for before swapping out a motherboard is to see if your Dell case will accept an ATX motherboard. Since Dell uses proprietary designs, it might not be possible to put in an ATX motherboard. You might need to get a new case and transfer all of your components from the old to the new.
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Your looking at a really big jump there, new mobo, cpu, case, and most likely power supply and memory as well. Your best bet would most likely be to get another one of the low budget nothin in it dimensions that dell has and then move your old stuff into the new computer.
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