Can the GX520 be upgraded to a Pentium D 930 CPU?

I know for a fact that up to 960 works fine on a 620.  However up to 2.8ghz Pentium D will work on the 520 and after that it will post and halt with unsupported processor.  The unsupported parts may be Associated with 130W TDP.

What this means is there is a 930 that will work and there is one that WILL NOT work.

I do not know if the 930, 945, 950 work.  My personal experience is that cpus higher than 2.8ghz dual core do not which is a NON issue when you switch to a GX620.

Per Chris the validated list is below with BIOS A11

Optiplex GX520 validated CPUs with 5 digit part number
UY272 Smithfield P4 805, 2.66G, 2X1MB, 533FSB, B0
FG941 Smithfield P4 820, 2.8G, 800FSB, 2MB, Socket-T, Mainstream, B0
KC794 Smithfield Pentium D 820, 2.8G, 800FSB, 2MB, Socket-T, Mainstream
UY273 Presler P4 915, 2.8G, 2X2MB, 800FSB, C1
XJ848 Presler P4 930, 3.0G, 2X2MB, 800FSB, C1 
DK050 Presler P4 940, 3.2G, 2X2MB, 800FSB, C1 
JT962 Presler P4 945, 3.4, 2X2MB, 800FSB, D0
RT922 Presler P4 945, 3.4, 2X2MB, 800FSB, C1
UJ776 Presler P4 950, 3.4G, 2X2MB, 800FSB, C1
YG105 Prescott Celeron 326, 2.53G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, G1
RP354 Prescott Celeron 326, 2.53G, 533FSB, 256K, ALT, G1 
FD873 Prescott Celeron 326, 2.53G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, E0
FD874 Prescott Celeron 331, 2.66G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, E0
RG431 Prescott Celeron 331, 2.66G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, G1
RP355 Prescott Celeron 331, 2.66G, 533FSB, 256K, ALT, G1
FD875 Prescott Celeron 336, 2.80G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, E0
RP356 Prescott Celeron 336, 2.8G, 533FSB, 256K, ALT, G1 
RP357 Prescott Celeron 341, 2.93G, 533FSB, 256K, ALT, G1
RP358 Prescott Celeron 346, 3.06G, 533FSB, 256K, ALT, G1
RP359 Prescott Celeron 351, 3.2G, 533FSB, 256K, ALT, G1
DH715 Prescott Celeron 336, 2.80G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, G1 
DH716 Prescott Celeron 341, 2.93G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, G1
FD876 Prescott Celeron 341, 2.93G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, E0
DH717 Prescott Celeron 346, 3.06G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, G1 
FD877 Prescott Celeron 346, 3.06G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, E0 
FD878 Prescott Celeron 351, 3.20G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, E0
HH261 Prescott Celeron 351, 3.2G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, G1
DD517 Prescott P4 64bit 521, 2.8G, 800FSB, 1MB, Socket-T, E0
UT710 Prescott P4 521, 2.8G, 800FSB, 1MB, ALT, G1
RG427 Prescott P4 64bit 521, 2.8G, 800FSB, 1MB, Socket-T, G1
UY274 Prescott P4 524, 3.06G, 1MB, 533FSB, G1
DD518 Prescott P4 64bit 531, 3.0G, 800FSB, 1MB, Socket-T, E0
UT713 Prescott P4 531, 3.0G, 800FSB, 1MB, ALT, G1
DD519 Prescott P4 64bit 541, 3.2G, 800FSB, 1MB, Socket-T, E0
UT714 Prescott P4 541, 3.2G, 800FSB, 1MB, ALT, G1
GD037 Prescott P4 64bit 551, 3.4G, 800FSB, 1MB, Socket-T, E0
UT715 Prescott P4 551, 3.4G, 800FSB, 1MB, ALT, G1 
FK192 Prescott P4 630, 3.0G, 800FSB, 2MB, R0 
W9854 Prescott P4 630, 3.0G, 800FSB, 2MB, Socket-T, Mainstream, N0
W9855 Prescott P4 640, 3.2G, 800FSB, 2MB, Socket-T, Mainstream, N0 
GR271 Prescott P4 640, 3.2G, 800FSB, 2MB, R0
GR272 Prescott P4 650, 3.4G, 800FSB, 2MB, R0 
W9856 Prescott P4 650, 3.4G, 800FSB, 2MB, Socket-T, Mainstream, N0

The Items in GREEN have been Tested By Speedstep in the 320 and 520.

The Items in Orange have been Tested By speedstep in the 320 and 520.

The Entire List Has been Tested in a GX 620 Mini Tower with 305W power supply, Bios A11 and the

DELL Performance Heatsink J9761 (Copper Heatpipe Version)

Orange Unsupported Processor

Black Unknown

Green Good Tested Working.

Specifically for the Optiplex 320 and Optiplex 520.  

The Optiplex 620 TOWER works with all of the processors Listed.

Intel® Pentium® D Processor 960
(4M Cache, 3.60 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)     130 W 
Intel® Pentium® D Processor 950
(4M Cache, 3.40 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)     130 W
Intel® Pentium® D Processor 945
(4M Cache, 3.40 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)     095 W
Intel® Pentium® D Processor 940
(4M Cache, 3.20 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)     130 W
Intel® Pentium® D Processor 935
(4M Cache, 3.20 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)     095 W
Intel® Pentium® D Processor 930
(4M Cache, 3.00 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)     095 W
Intel® Pentium® D Processor 925
(4M Cache, 3.00 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)     095 W
Intel® Pentium® D Processor 920
(4M Cache, 2.80 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)     095 W
Intel® Pentium® D Processor 915
(4M Cache, 2.80 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)     095 W

****************************************************

Select     Intel® Pentium® D Processor 840
(2M Cache, 3.20 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)    130 W
Select     Intel® Pentium® D Processor 830
(2M Cache, 3.00 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)    130 W
Select     Intel® Pentium® D Processor 820
(2M Cache, 2.80 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)    095 W
Select     Intel® Pentium® D Processor 805
(2M Cache, 2.66 GHz, 533 MHz FSB)    095 W

What about the 920? Its a 2.8 like the 820 but I've seen some people saying only the 8xx works and somewhere that all of the 9xx series works with A11 and also somewhere else that only up to 2.8ghz works. The 820 is 90nm and doesnt have vt-x but might be my only option

I want to add my experience to this.

My GX520:

MBoard Rev. A01

Bios: A11

Original Processor: 3.0 GHz Pentium 4-630

I bought a 2.8 GHz Pentium-D 820, as others have suggested it works.

I received the boot message "Unsupported Processor ~ F1 to continue"

* Note: It did boot up fine, and benchmarked fine with scores appropriate for this processor.  However - It wouldn't restart properly, and I had to unplug it and plug it back in.  Because of this I chose not to keep the processor.

I exchanged it for a 3.2 Pentium 4-640 and that processor works fine (goodwill computer works didn't have a P4-650)

Regards,

Rem

The 820 is listed in the specifications sheet as working.  Perhaps there is a board revision that doesnt support Pentium D.   With the 620 and Bios A11 the D up to 960 works but requires a copper heatpipe heatsink.

This is covered in the OPTIPLEX 620 FAQ.

The Pentium-D logo appeared on the startup screen with the 820 on my GX520. 

I find it strange that the Smithfield 820 Pentium-D wouldn't work, as it's one of the first Pentium-Ds released.  Unless only Presler Pentium-Ds are supported?

On the marketing specification sheet Dell published detailed the specs for both the GX520 and GX620, it looked like the GX620 was only offered with dual-core CPUs.

I wonder if Dell deliberatley dissabled supported for dual-core processors in at least some GX520 motherboards.  Again mine is revision A01, so it's not the first revision motherboard.

I am running a D930 presler (SL9QR) in my GX520 SFF without any real issues.

I have the A011 bios, get the infamous 2 beep message 'unsupported processer" F1 through it OK.

Runs the benchmarks real well using the HWINFO32 tool. I'm happy.

Optiplex GX520 validated CPUs with 5 digit part number
UY272 Smithfield P4 805, 2.66G, 2X1MB, 533FSB, B0
FG941 Smithfield P4 820, 2.8G, 800FSB, 2MB, Socket-T, Mainstream, B0
KC794 Smithfield Pentium D 820, 2.8G, 800FSB, 2MB, Socket-T, Mainstream
UY273 Presler P4 915, 2.8G, 2X2MB, 800FSB, C1
XJ848 Presler P4 930, 3.0G, 2X2MB, 800FSB, C1
DK050 Presler P4 940, 3.2G, 2X2MB, 800FSB, C1
JT962 Presler P4 945, 3.4, 2X2MB, 800FSB, D0
RT922 Presler P4 945, 3.4, 2X2MB, 800FSB, C1
UJ776 Presler P4 950, 3.4G, 2X2MB, 800FSB, C1
YG105 Prescott Celeron 326, 2.53G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, G1
RP354 Prescott Celeron 326, 2.53G, 533FSB, 256K, ALT, G1
FD873 Prescott Celeron 326, 2.53G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, E0
FD874 Prescott Celeron 331, 2.66G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, E0
RG431 Prescott Celeron 331, 2.66G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, G1
RP355 Prescott Celeron 331, 2.66G, 533FSB, 256K, ALT, G1
FD875 Prescott Celeron 336, 2.80G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, E0
RP356 Prescott Celeron 336, 2.8G, 533FSB, 256K, ALT, G1
RP357 Prescott Celeron 341, 2.93G, 533FSB, 256K, ALT, G1
RP358 Prescott Celeron 346, 3.06G, 533FSB, 256K, ALT, G1
RP359 Prescott Celeron 351, 3.2G, 533FSB, 256K, ALT, G1
DH715 Prescott Celeron 336, 2.80G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, G1
DH716 Prescott Celeron 341, 2.93G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, G1
FD876 Prescott Celeron 341, 2.93G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, E0
DH717 Prescott Celeron 346, 3.06G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, G1
FD877 Prescott Celeron 346, 3.06G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, E0
FD878 Prescott Celeron 351, 3.20G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, E0
HH261 Prescott Celeron 351, 3.2G, 533FSB, 256K, Socket-T, G1
DD517 Prescott P4 64bit 521, 2.8G, 800FSB, 1MB, Socket-T, E0
UT710 Prescott P4 521, 2.8G, 800FSB, 1MB, ALT, G1
RG427 Prescott P4 64bit 521, 2.8G, 800FSB, 1MB, Socket-T, G1
UY274 Prescott P4 524, 3.06G, 1MB, 533FSB, G1
DD518 Prescott P4 64bit 531, 3.0G, 800FSB, 1MB, Socket-T, E0
UT713 Prescott P4 531, 3.0G, 800FSB, 1MB, ALT, G1
DD519 Prescott P4 64bit 541, 3.2G, 800FSB, 1MB, Socket-T, E0
UT714 Prescott P4 541, 3.2G, 800FSB, 1MB, ALT, G1
GD037 Prescott P4 64bit 551, 3.4G, 800FSB, 1MB, Socket-T, E0
UT715 Prescott P4 551, 3.4G, 800FSB, 1MB, ALT, G1
FK192 Prescott P4 630, 3.0G, 800FSB, 2MB, R0
W9854 Prescott P4 630, 3.0G, 800FSB, 2MB, Socket-T, Mainstream, N0
W9855 Prescott P4 640, 3.2G, 800FSB, 2MB, Socket-T, Mainstream, N0
GR271 Prescott P4 640, 3.2G, 800FSB, 2MB, R0
GR272 Prescott P4 650, 3.4G, 800FSB, 2MB, R0
W9856 Prescott P4 650, 3.4G, 800FSB, 2MB, Socket-T, Mainstream, N0

I just ordered a pentium D 805 from ebay for $11.99 shipped I will post my results.  It seems that it was already tested but does it post that it is unsupported in your tests?  Will the stock heatsink in a SSF be sufficient.

I tested a Pentium Celeron D 351 ( grabbed from a junk computer thinking it was a actual dual core) and it posted unsupported but ran ( much slower BTW).  

I use this computer for my sons room to play shows for him I currently have Pentium 4 GX520, 4 GB ram, running Ubuntu, and Geforce 9500 video card.  With geforce 9500 I can watch 720p and 1080p movies with no problems, VDPAU works great. However when playing flash video it slows the computer to a crawl, I can not even exit out of it.  Full screen flash is horrendous.  Im hoping that its a CPU problem and that this upgrade makes it full screen flash watchable.

I chose the 805 because I wanted low power and 533 bus (as that is the bus I already have with the P4 and I know this board is picky).  Also I am a CS college student and have learned that on-board cache on the processor is useless (it never gets used, its only there to separate components and help cool the chip), so paying double the amount of money for a 9xx with larger cache was not a plausible.  Then I read this and was impressed.  -

"In March 2006, Intel launched the last Smithfield processor, the entry-level Pentium D 805, clocked at 2.66 GHz with a 533 MT/s bus. The relatively cheap 805 was found to be highly overclockable; 3.5 GHz was often possible with good air cooling. Running it at over 4 GHz was possible with water cooling, and at this speed the 805 outperformed the top-of-the-line processors (May 2006) from both major CPU manufacturers (the AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 and Intel Pentium Extreme Edition 965) in many benchmarks including power consumption.:emotion-29:"

your flash isn't accelerated im ubuntu by default.  you need to create a config file.  /etc/adobe/mms.cfg and add EnableLinuxHWVideoDecode=1

Hi there,

I have 2 equal GX520 Desktop model, one at home and one in my office. Same Motherboard revision and same Bios (A11). The one in the office is working from origin with a Pentium D 945 (SL9QQ), so knowing this one was working fine from origin with D945, o bought another D945 for my GX520 at home ... surprise, the D945 i bought for home, works fine, but everytime i swithc on the computer it says "CPU Incompatible - Press F1 to continue or F2 to enter Setup"; if i press F1 it continues booting and everthing it's fine.

I only found difference between the 2 systems on the CPU core inscriptions, both of the D945 are SL9QQ model, but the one working normal (received mounted from origin), says on the core "Pentium D 945 SL9QQ Costa Rica - 3640A099", while the one fails and must press f1, says "Pentium D 945 SL9QQ Costa Rica - 3641A369".

Is it possible that these different numbers, although both of them are SL9QQ and supposedly equal, are the stepping codes, and only the older one works on GX520 desktop??

thx in advance,

Enyel

Hi enyel,

I was wondering if you have tried these two things:

1. Have you tried the 945 (3641A369) that you bought in your office computer? Does it also give you an unsupported processor message?

2. What are the mainboard revisions of each of the GX520s you have? Are they the same?

Both processors you bought appear to have the same steppings (D0).

Thanks

From your post you are saying that, for the Pentium-D 930, there are two models and only one of the models will potentially work even though both models have the same multiplier and TDP values?

In your list, you have the Presler CPUs listed as P4s and not Pentium-Ds, is this correct? I cant find information about P4 Preslers, only Pentium-D Preslers.

The two models listed for the Pentium-D 930 on wikipedia are the SL94R (B2) and SL95X (C1). The SL95X (C1) is listed in the validated CPU list (with 5 digit part number XJ848), while the SL94R is not. However, in your experience you have found neither CPU to work as the frequency is greater than 2.8 GHz. This may also be a multiplier issue as both CPUs require a 15x multiplier.

I think the easiest option is to just use an old 915 CPU instead given they are very cheap and have been tested as working.

Hi, I have an Optiplex GX520 as well running a Pentium-D 820, however I don't get the unsupported CPU error message (which you may be able to turn off in BIOS?).

My mainboard is revision A02 (unlike the A01 that remingtonh has) with BIOS A11.

130w CPU's  are the issue.  BIOS A11 is required. Copper heatpipe heatsink is required for smithfield and pressler.  If you want to be absolutely sure dont get any Pentium D faster than 2.80 Ghz.