Dell E510 CPU Upgrade Question

You have to stay with cpu's that were available when your computer was manufactured. You cannot expect a current  haswell i7 to work in the old E510. Check out the prices for used E510 before you overspend on upgrades. Spending more than 1/3 the current value is not cost efficient. You can buy a new computer now for less than $500.

Read: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/318077-28-dell-e510-upgrade#.

Here are the specs: http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/dell-dimension-e510-pentium/4507-3118_7-31555136.html

Well, the truth is that the Intel Core i5 is already in possession, but I'm not familiar with CPU upgrades but from what I gathered, there might be a CPU socket problem.

Thank you both, so I'm basically looking at the best CPU for an e510, here?

http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/CPUs/Intel/Pentium_Dual-Core/E2220.html

I've seen a lot of people repeatedly fall back on this CPU and openly state that this is the best possible one?

http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/CPUs/Intel/Pentium_D/945.html

T5309

The Dimension e510/550 was build with several different motherboards, the best motherboard for upgrading is the Dell P/N 0HJ054.

The 0HJ054 motherboard will support the Intel Pentium D945 CPU and not show the "incompatible CPU" error message on startup.

Also, prior to installing the processor, check that BIOS version A05, or higher is installed, when support for newer processors was added.

You can find more e510/5150 processor upgrade information, in the following posts:

  http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/p/19381234/19883443.aspx#19883443

 http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/p/19383039/19892823.aspx#19892823

Bev.

You should skip the cpu upgrade and just add memory (crucial.com) and a new video card. That price for cpu is too much to spend for very little return. See this for an idea of the value-- E510 sold on Ebay  

Then look at what you can get for $300-- http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-660s/pd?oc=fdcwsx387&model_id=inspiron-660s

You should skip the cpu upgrade and just add memory (crucial.com) and a new video card. That price for cpu is too much to spend for very little return. See this for an idea of the value-- E510 sold on Ebay

The most dramatic boost in performance is to be had with an SSD boot drive. I upgraded a 5150 (same as E510) so earlier this year and the owner was delighted, remarking that it was like having a new computer. The cost of the upgrade was $250-ish, but that included not just the 128gb SSD but an OEM copy of Windows 7 Professional x64.

Then look at what you can get for $300-- http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-660s/pd?oc=fdcwsx387&model_id=inspiron-660s

That's around $330 with tax, and admittedly is a good deal. However, an E510 booting from an SSD will still be more responsive than a low-end Celeron with a spindle drive.

Yea, I just threw a Seagate Barracuda ST250DM000 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s in my e510 last night after successfully and easily using Macrium to clone my current drive and I've already noticed a decent improvement just from that.

I think my next best bet is just to upgrade my 4x 512mb sticks of RAM to 4x 1gb sticks, possibly upgrade my video card and start looking for a new motherboard and case entirely as I now realize how outdated the factory e510's really are lol.

Does anyone here know if it's possible to swap a different model (HP, Acer, etc) motherboard into a Dell E510 case? If so, then my life just became a whole lot easier/better. I've read in a few places about Foxconn making the motherboards for E510's and they are a unique size/fitting to the case which correlates to a very tight restriction on motherboard replacement/upgrades?

Again, any help or information is appreciated.

Hi T5309,

Thanks for your reply and verifying the answer. I also believe the same like others here upgrading the CPU would not be the best idea as many newer and faster processors are not compatible with the motherboard.

So getting an SSD would be ideal for this as boot time would be faster. However, you should keep in mind that this is an old system and it has limitations on its own and it can be upgraded to an extent.

You can check the SSD available for your system at the link below:

SSD upgrade

Hope this information helps. If you have any further queries, please feel free to contact us. 

Yea, I just threw a Seagate Barracuda ST250DM000 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s in my e510 last night after successfully and easily using Macrium to clone my current drive and I've already noticed a decent improvement just from that. I think my next best bet is just to upgrade my 4x 512mb sticks of RAM to 4x 1gb sticks, possibly upgrade my video card and start looking for a new motherboard and case entirely as I now realize how outdated the factory e510's really are lol. Does anyone here know if it's possible to swap a different model (HP, Acer, etc) motherboard into a Dell E510 case? If so, then my life just became a whole lot easier/better. I've read in a few places about Foxconn making the motherboards for E510's and they are a unique size/fitting to the case which correlates to a very tight restriction on motherboard replacement/upgrades? Again, any help or information is appreciated.

Hi T5309,

As you have upgraded to the SDD now and planning to upgrade to new RAM,Video card and Motherboard. I believe it would be better if you go with a bigger case as well that should fit most of the the motherboards available these days.

Getting a new motherboard and processor would be like more 80 percent cost of any system. You should go ahead with a newer case if you upgrade parts available or go with a new system with already upgraded motherboards and processor.

Hope it helps. If you have any further queries, please feel free to contact us. 

Is it something to do with the mobo? Any examples would probably greatly help. I'm just trying to understand it all and I feel that this is one of my last hurdles lol.

T5309

Answered in your other post here:

http://en.community.dell.com/what-do-i-buy/for_enterprise/f/4516/p/18133916/20465621.aspx#20465621

Bev.

Alright guys, new adventure/question.

I have a Dell E510 with a 0HJ054 mobo and I'm not home at the moment, but I believe I have the Pentium D945 CPU.

Intel® Pentium® D Processor 945 (4M Cache, 3.40 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)
Cores: 2
Clock Speed: 3.4 GHz
L2 Cache: 4MB
FSB Speed: 800MHz
Max TDP: 95 W
VID Voltage Range: 1.200V-1.3375V
Instruction Set: 64 Bit

Now, I've been doing a ton of research and some good self taught lessons on CPU upgrades and requirements and I believe that I can upgrade my D945 to a Pentium E6700 or a C2D E6700

Intel® Pentium® Processor E6700 (2M Cache, 3.20 GHz, 1066 FSB)
Cores: 2
Clock Speed: 3.2 GHz
L2 Cache: 2MB
FSB Speed: 1066MHz
Max TDP: 65 W
VID Voltage Range: 0.8500V-1.3625V
Instruction Set: 64 Bit

Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6700 (4M Cache, 2.66 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB)
Cores: 2
Clock Speed: 2.66 GHz
L2 Cache: 4MB
FSB Speed: 1066MHz
Max TDP: 65 W
VID Voltage Range: 0.8500V-1.5V
Instruction Set: 64 Bit

The HJ054 E510 mobo supposedly has a FSB of 800/1066 MHz and the E6700/C2D E6700 has nearly identical power voltage ranges along with a lower TDP.

http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/518/Intel_Core_2_Duo_E6700_vs_Intel_Pentium_D_945.html

http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/313/Intel_Pentium_D_945_vs_Intel_Pentium_Dual-Core_E6700.html

Any thoughts?