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kirk_m2000

3 Posts

421629

September 2nd, 2014 19:00

T3500 CPU upgrade options?

I have a T3500 workstation I bought in 2009.  It works fine for what it is used for.  I would like a little more speed, however.  Which processors can be installed onto this board?  It currently has a 3503 @ 2.40GHz.  Is a BIOS upgrade required prior to switching the CPU?

Thanks!

DELL-Justin C

4 Operator

 • 

783 Posts

September 5th, 2014 15:00

Kirk_m2000,

Thanks for your question. I'm glad to hear the T3500 provides value for you.

I took the below directly from our parts replacement list for the T3500 so I know they will work with your system. Any BIOS version for T3500 should be compatible.

3.06/6.4GHz, X5675, 12MB, Xeon

2.93GHz, X5647, 12MB, Xeon

3.46/6. Ghz, X5677, 12MB

3.2Ghz, W3565 8MB

3.46/6.4GHz, X5690, 12MB

2.8/6.4Ghz, X5660, 12MB

2.53/5.86Ghz, E5630, 12MB

2.66/4.8GHz, W3530, 8MB

3.2/6.4GHz, X5672, 12MB

2.93/6.4Ghz, X5670, 12MB

3.06/6.4Ghz, X5667, 12MB

3.33Ghz, W3580, 8MB

3.46/6.4GHz, W3690, 12MB

2.53GHz, E5649, 12MB

2.53Ghz, W3505 4MB

3.33/6.4Ghz, X5680, 12MB

2.4Ghz, W3503 4MB

2.66/5.86Ghz, E5640, 12MB

2.66Ghz, W3520, 8MB

3.2/4.80 GHz, W3670, 12MB

2.93 Ghz, W3540, 8MB

2.26/4.8GHz, E5607, 8MB

2.66/6.4Ghz, X5650. 12M

1.86Ghz, E5502, 4MB

2.53Ghz, E5540, 8MM

2.66Ghz, X5550, 8MB

3.2Ghz, W3570, 8MB

2.4Ghz, E5530, 8MB

2.93Ghz, X5570, 8MB

3.33/6.4Ghz, W3680, 12MB

3.06GHz, W3550, 8MB

1.6/4.8GHz, E5603, 4MB

2.26/4.8Ghz, E5507, 4MB

2.26Ghz, E5520, 8MB

2.0/4.8Ghz, E5503, 4MB

3.6/6.4GHz, X5687, 12MB

2.13Ghz, E5506, 4MB

2.13/4.8GHz, E5606, 8MB

2.4/5.86 GHz, E5645, 12MB

2.4/5.86Ghz, E5620, 12MB

DELL-Justin C

4 Operator

 • 

783 Posts

October 2nd, 2014 10:00

Good day Kirk_m2000,

You're right, there are 3 part numbers for the motherboard:

K095G

XPDFK V2

9KPNV V3

Currently, I don't have any documentation on the differences between each board. I'll get with Dell engineering to see if they can explain.

I'll be in touch.

DELL-Justin C

4 Operator

 • 

783 Posts

October 2nd, 2014 14:00

Good afternoon Kirk_m2000,

Engineering responded back. It's looking like you need BIOS A07 or later to gain support for W3690. They also mentioned that the 3 motherboards don't respect certain processors and should work with all of the mentioned processors with relevant BIOS updates.

Here's A17

Would love to hear back from you on your results.

kirk_m2000

3 Posts

October 3rd, 2014 08:00

Justin,

Thanks for the prompt response.  It did indeed need a BIOS update.   My t3500 was using version A03, so, it was quite a bit behind.  I updated it and then put the 3690 back in.  It worked like a charm.

Thanks again!

kirk_m2000

3 Posts

October 2nd, 2014 07:00

Justin,


I just tried a Xeon W3690 as per your list, and, the computer will not post or otherwise boot.  If I put the old CPU back in, it works fine.  I believe I purchased the computer in 2010.  Is there more than one motherboard revision, with an older one not supporting this CPU?

DELL-Justin C

4 Operator

 • 

783 Posts

October 3rd, 2014 11:00

Hi Kirk_m2000,

Glad to hear that

Thanks again for bringing your question here. I hope to see you around the Community again.

PeterChris

1 Message

November 5th, 2014 08:00

Hi Justin,

I have a Dell Precision T7500 from the same series. It has motherboard p/n D881F.

Q: ? would you be so kind as to ask engineering if this list of cpu's will work in my t7500 as well?

~Thank You Very Much~

Omega_007

4 Posts

May 20th, 2015 15:00

I upgraded my T3500 with a Xeon x5690 successfully on the A17 Bios. It is nice getting performance pretty near to an i i7 4470k at a fraction of the cost. My motherboard is the 9KPNV model which is v3.

Thank you very much for the information.

pointvicente

1 Message

December 3rd, 2015 06:00

Will the T3500 motherboard for this machine accept a w3520 quad core processor if I remove the current W3690 processor? I believe the motherboard is a 9KPNV.  Will i have to downgrade the BIOS firmware is that possible or necessary?

avmattos

2 Posts

December 31st, 2015 18:00

This is a late post but may help others.  EDIT thank you Justin C for posting valuable information.

I successfully upgraded my T3500 (w/ MB 9KPNV) from a E5507 (45 nm, 4C/4T, 4M Cache, 2.26 GHz, 4.80 GT/s, TDP 80W, no TurboBoost) to a X5670 (32 nm 6C/12T, 12M Cache, 2.93 GHz, 6.40 GT/s, TDP 95W, w/3.33GHz max TurboBoost) without any issues. 

Still have the original Samsung 6Gb DDR3 1333MHz ECC ( PC3-10700)  M391B5773CH0-CH9 but waiting on additional 12Gb (on the way)

Here are key things to have on hand or to be done for the hardware changes:

  • update BIOS to the latest available A17
  • got an server pulled X5670 ($143.98 on Amazon Dec-2015)
  • replaced the original Low TDP plain aluminium heatsink P/N 0T021F pictured below 

by the a heatsink P/N U016F (w/ heatpipes) ($20.00 on Amazon Dec-2015) to support higher TDPU016F Heatsink 

Followed the Dell T3500 service manual Heatsink and Processor section.

Note the manual shows pictures of the P/N U016F installed and the correct orientation of the heatsink.

http://downloads.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_desktop/esuprt_dell_precision_workstation/precision-t3500_Service%20Manual_en-us.pdf

  • used real Arctic Silver 5 Thermal compound, watch out for fakes... follow the instructions for application based on the processor model http://www.arcticsilver.com/intel_application_method.html#
  • installed the new CPU and new heatsink
  • turned the system on to check for Diag Lights and POST, no issues...:emotion-2:
  • edited the BIOS settings to activate the TurboBoost, IntelSpeed Stepping and HyperThreading (not available originally due to the old CPU limitations)
  • Once it rebooted after BIOS settings changes, it took a couple minutes for Windows 7 to update the drivers for the new CPU and everything is working as expected, e.g. faster and flexible.

Dell Diagnostics and Tests, CPU-Z and CPUID HW Monitor reporting all as expected.

Got a new life of this old T3500...:emotion-2:

Hope this help others on DYI upgrades.

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