Dell Dimension 9150 Processor Upgrade

Question

Hi! I own a Dell Dimension 9150 and it has a Pentium D processor, 2.8Ghz. Dell.com support lists: Processor, 80547, PENTIUM D SMITHFIELD FOR DESKTOPS..., 820 SKT-T, Male What is the highest and/or best upgrade remaining for the Pentium D processors? Where are some of the best places to shop at a relatively afforded price besides eBay?? I've read so many messages but still confused. Found out that it may be Pentium D 840, 3.2GGhz but noticed that some people state that there are higher processors available such as Pentium D 930, 945 or 950. Intel's website is Very confusing as it doesn't necessarily list the most meaningful info and there's variations within each processor class. I plan to keep (hopefully!) the computer for another 1-3 yrs (?), have upgraded storage to 2 1TB HDDs, maxed out memory to 4G (though WinXp will only recognize 3..5G) and still has 370W PSU with Graphics card, 256, Radeon, X600 MRMGA+. Would like to upgrade processor for video work that I perform. Did not notice a sink fan on top of processor but will verify! Will I need one? Any particular thermal glue to help?? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

shesagordie · Accepted Answer

MrMojo1

You should be able to upgrade to a Pentium D 960 3.6GHz

It's a passive heatsink and uses the case fan inside the shroud.

As you intend to reuse the heatsink, you should plan on cleaning it's base and reapplying thermal compound to the processor.

Directions for cleaning and applying thermal compound, are HERE.

You only need a small tube of thermal compound, this can be purchased from any computer store.

Check out the Pentium D procesors HERE

Bev.

shesagordie · Accepted Answer

PhotonSzym

Yes.

Prior to installing the processor, check that you have BIOS Version A04, or higher installed, because with this version, support for newer processors was added.

The Pentium D 945 3.4GHz should work, as will the Pentium D 930, 940, 3.2ghz and 950 3.40GHz.

Bev.

shesagordie · Answer

nissse Pentium D 960 3.6GHz. Bev.

nissse · Answer

I'm about to upgrade as well. Have an Dimension 9150 (st: 6HJ7W1J) it has an Pentium D 820 with upgraded bios to A07.

According to the manual it support both Pentium 4 and Pentium D with 800 MHz or 1066 MHz FSB. It also supports (1 &) 2 MB in cache.

I've bought a Pentium EE 965 it has 4 MB cache and 1066 MHz FSB.

When I try to install the processor the lights 3,4 lights up (memory error) and it stops booting.

I suspect that either it can't handle the clock speed or the cache.

So I want to be sure before I go and buy another processor in the 900 series

Intel Pentium Desktop processor family chart

Intel Pentium 4 processor family chart

Comparison between Pentium D 820,840,960,965

PhotonSzym · Answer

Both of these have 4MB of Cache...

PhotonSzym · Answer

So does this mean that a Pentium D 960 3.6GHz 800MHz FSB processor will work? will a Pentium D 945 3.4GHz ? Thanks,

username314 · Answer

A very old thread, but others may still be looking for this information. I can confirm that a Pentium D 945 works with a Dell 9150 (bios A07) as I just performed this upgrade with the wife's Dell and am posting this message from it. The windows experience index for the cpu was 4.6 with the initial Pentium D 820 (SL88T). The windows experience index for the CPU is now 5.1 with the new Pentium D 945 (SL9QQ). A decent enough bump for a $10 cpu off of craigslist.

shesagordie · Answer

username314 Appreciate the heads up on the Pentium D 945. Bev.

Anonymous User · Answer

I know this question is a year old but i found a lot of info out there saying a Pentium D 960 would work, but found no one who could provide first-person post-upgrade confirmation. So ...

CONFIRMING: i just upgraded an a old XPS 400 (aka Dimension 9150) to a Pentium D 960 [SL9AP]. Also added a $75 SSD (Adata SP900) and got rid of the original GPU w/Hypermemory in favor of a $30 NVIDIA w/1GB DDR3 RAM. It's obviously not a gaming rig but it runs very well for everyday use.

Well worth it.

shesagordie · Answer

rpupkin   Appreciate the info,. Bev.

shesagordie · Answer

This 2009 thread has been locked due to it's age, if you have a similar issue, please use the 'New Post' feature at the top of this page and start a new thread.Bev.

Locked Topics – Desktops General

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