Getting Alert Incompatible Processor Detected press F1 to continue

Question

I have a dimension 5150 (original spec 160gig HD 512mb Ram P4 3.0Ghz with HT) that I have modified by fitting a 320gig HD, another gig of Ram  and Media Centre OS with a Hauppage USB DVB Tv tuner.  It works great but being a typical PC head I wanted it to work even better.  So I just happened to have a Pentium D 805 2.66ghz kicking about.  (as you do)  Was going to build a new Pc using this as it's highly overclockable but could not be bothered with the cost or hassle so I put it in my Dimension instead.  I did of course flash the bios to the latest one before I started. (A05)  Now I get the error message at start up.  I then pressF1 it starts fine and runs fine.  Would not be that bothered about the error message but being my Media centre that I use for recording Tv when I am at work my biggest fear is that if there is a power cut or glitch (Get them frequently here) then although I have set it in the bios to restart after an outage or similar it will only get to press f1 stage as I will be at my work.  That of course means my programs will not record.  Should I clear the cmos and see if that does any good? or will I just leave it as is and pray there is not an outage when I am at work and it is recording lol.:smileyhappy:

Majestic · Answer

Clearing the CMOS can't hurt anything so give it a try.  If the problem continues after the clearing then you may have to live with the Alert message.  As long as the processor is performing like it should then the Alert message maybe nothing more than the BIOS not finding the processor in it's database of supported hardware.

charlysays · Answer

Funny you should say that, ran sisoft sandra benchmarks on the 3ghz CPU that was in it and it crashed my PC lol.  I did it again with the Pentium D and during the benchmarks the fan went from quiet to very fast and loud (so loud I thought it was taking off) as the CPU was stressed and  it finished the benchmarks that the 3ghz CPU crashed on, wierd that.  If it all goes pear shaped I guess I can always put the 3ghz back in as it's only a 5 min job.   Or possibly another Bios update from Dell may sort it.  As it stands I'm only using it to record tv and browse the internet so hopefully that will not be too taxing on it as I can't hear the fan running doing these tasks.

kmn96 · Answer

Earlier versions of the 5150 BIOS halted the system when an unsupported processor
is installed. Now, the messaging has been changed. Since you have an unsupported processor, eventually you run the correct combination of threads that will tax the processor enough to cause a thermal trip. The latest revision of motherboard supports the newer processors.

zodiac_star · Answer

I have the same problem and discussed this issue in different forum.   My assumption is that dell is using a different motherboard for newer version of Dual processors.   The older 5150 Motherboards recognize the processor (as it is given all details in description page) then my question is, why dell cannot provide with a new bios to eliminate this warning.   It is really a pain to press F1 everytime the computer boots...   'charlysays,please post your results,if something comes thru'   Thanks

charlysays · Answer

It's actually not that annoying to me as I leave my Pc on and set it to standby after 10 min to save power.  It comes out of standby to record my TV problems mind you.  My only fear is power loss when it will sit at press f1 instead of restarting.  Like you I find it strange that dell has not brought out a fix for this but fingers crossed.   Also if the Processor was not compatible the pc would just not start, simple as that.  Been building my own Pc's for years and the slightest wee problem with a build cuases major headaches especially CPU ones.  Glad to say though once started it runs like a dream and hope I can one day have a fix from Dell. (for us both)

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Getting Alert Incompatible Processor Detected press F1 to continue

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