Precision T5400 CPU Upgrade

Hello!

Sorry for intruding on a old and Dead thread (hate necro threads!) but as this is the ONLY thing I've found on the actual hardware/xeon processors for the T5400 I was hoping one of you most excellent gentlemen would help a poor guy out.

We are intending to use a T5400 as a test/Lab machine and want to buff this older badboy up.

We have one processor already installed but i would like to just put a pair of matching Xeons instead.  Price is not an issue, I just need the actual names of the Processors and heatsinks needed so i can get them purchased.

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Thanks!

Colin Gray

ABC Financial Services

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Hey Colin,

I've been researching this to an exhausting degree myself. I have a T5400 that I got off eBay. It came with a pair of Xeon X5150 processors. It interestingly worked fine without alarms triggering during boot.

I later got a pair of X5160 processors for cheap but started seeing "Processor not supported" alarms during boot. You can still press F1 to continue.

Now, as far as I know all the 5100-series processors would work fine, but note that the 5100/5300 series processors are of the 65nm process and the 5200/5400 series processors are of the 45nm process, being a little more efficient. Dell doesn't seem to even sell the T5400 with anything but the 5200/5400 series Xeons, so I probably got a sketchy build.

There are a lot of them on eBay with these "odd" 65nm processors, in fact. I just can't find any official statements that it's OK.

Anyway you should be able to go with the 5200 and 5400 series processors, "officially." The 5100 and 5300 I think should work as well, but I would avoid them so the BIOS won't beep at you during boot ("unsupported processor" messages).

I might be able to update later on this when I finally receive my new E5450 processors from the post later.

Oh that reminds me. I opted for the E-series Xeons instead of the X. The difference is the TDP which basically is the heat rating of the unit. Keep in mind that your heatsink is rated for heat dissipation of up to a certain TDP. If you get a really hot processor, you may have issues cooling it. Generally speaking the performance is the same between E and X processors of the same speed, despite the E using less power. They can cost more, and may "idle" with higher load, but that's anecdotal evidence as far as I know.

Hey again Colin, see this thread: en.community.dell.com/.../20223955.aspx

Long story short, the T5400 is usually sold with Xeon 5200 or 5400-series processors. You're supposed to be using the 45nm processors, but the 65nm 5100 and 5300 series CPUs do work. They are out of spec for the system though and you might get alerts (not showstoppers) during boot.

Only other note is you should pay some attention to the TDP of the processors you opt to install (the CPU coolers have to be able to handle the new heat output)

John,

I was reading this post and I also have a dell T5400 Precision Dual Quad Core and I am also looking to upgrade the processors to the E5460's.

I found some like you stated that have the S-Spec code SLANP.  Based on what you stated I will be able to upgrade to these processors

http://www.cpu-world.com/sspec/SL/SLANP.html

Correct? 

Hi EMDO,

That's correct, as long as the Intel Xeon X5460 that you're planning to purchase has the S-Spec code SLANP, this should function correctly in your Precision T5400. Hope that helps!

Hi Emdo,

Yeah, you'll need 2 of those as you can't mismatch processors - they need to be the exact same in order for the system to function.

Also, as long as you have two heatsinks (one for each processor) currently, these will be okay - according to the parts list, there is only one type of heatsink for this system, part number JD210.  Hope that clear this up for you. 

Hi John,

I purchased DELL PRECISION T5400 WORKSTATION 2x 2.50GHz QC 32GB 2x 750GB

with NO OPERATING SYSTEM INSTALLED

with RAID 1.

please help me with steps to install the OS (i have licensed copy of win 7 and win 7 pro, but no disc to install)

also let me know what is the best open ware unbuntu or suse linux that i can install on this machine.

after reading this form, i planned to install a ssd 120 gb for OS, please help in my next steps.

appreciate your help in advance.

- nash

I was wondering at this point 2 years later, what the absolute maximum supported cpu for the t5400 is. Or more specifically what the bios will recognize, as well I can deal with thermal issues better then i can deal with not supported at all.

Hi 

Regarding your conversation Im about to upgrade my T5400 wih 2 new processors but y question is witch I can but I mean maximum option for this pc?

Regards 

Wojtek