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17062
Upgrading my Dell 570
Hi, I made an account so i could get some information on upgrading my inspiron 570 that i have. I am currently running a dell inspiron 570 with an AMD dual core CPU rated at 2.7 Ghz, an ATI Radeon "HD" 4200 (integrated), 4 GB's of ram, a 500GB hard drive, a 300W power supply, and Windows 7 x64. As of right now i get maybe 20 or 30 frames a second playing Battlefield 2 with the lowest settings and everything disabled. Because i am a semi casual / semi hardcore gamer, i have seen no need to upgrade until recently.... This has been an ongoing research project for me because i hate to lose money on buying something i cant even use in my computer. So far i have decided i want to do a complete overhaul on my computer and either replace or add almost everything. I would like to add a new CPU, new video card, a new cpu cooler, maybe some more RAM if needed, and obviously i would need a new power supply to power everything. i have pretty much decided on getting this as my GPU: Newegg.com - HIS H685FN1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity and something like this for my PSU: http://www.ebay.com/itm/775W-Modular-ATX-Power-Supply-Silent-12CM-Fan-700W-750W-/300577777020?pt=PCA_UPS&hash=item45fbd4e57c#ht_1994wt_1139
This is what i would be getting within a week if possible. After that i would probably end up buying a new CPU, cooler, and RAM later near the end of the month. For my CPU i was thinking about getting an AMD Phenom II X4 975 and a $30-$40 CPU cooler. What should i take into account? I assume everything is compatible with my computer but i would like some advice from and expert or someone with more knowledge than me about this. Is heat going to be a problem? i just want to know what i might have overlooked. Some said that the graphics card i was looking at might not fit as it is very long and i would definitely lose at least 2 SATA ports by doing this. I am aware of this problem and somebody confirmed that this card does in fact fit into a 570 but barely. should i just pay someone to install all of this for me or should i research how to install everything? I am currently taking an A+ certification class so im not completely incompetent but i just and sort of afraid i might break something. Thanks for any help in advance and i really hope i can get an answer.
kisianik
893 Posts
1
May 4th, 2012 11:00
This is not as easy as you think. First of all stop at ebay PSU, there is no name, so you can buy complete garbage. The good ones may cost you 10 USD more (Amazon Newegg), but will last forever, second, maximum CPU is Phenom II x4 965 BE, confirmed by me first and another person did it as well, possibly 970 will work, but not confirmed, Phenoms designed after December 2010 are not compatible, including all X6!
Slow down, you can do all the work, I did it, it was first for me, however I did not redo anything serious.
P.S. Phenom II x4 965 BE is 125 watt CPU and requires much stronger cooling solution. The problem is that Dell motherboard processor mounts NOT STANDARD, and as so is big headache.
P.S. Poor you, I can play BF2 on my old Pentium 4 3.4 HT (single core) at much faster FPS. Now with my Inspiron 570 current setup I am playing BF3 on medium settings at 62 FPS, I probably can increase to high settings, but most likely will suffer decrease in performance.
kisianik
893 Posts
1
May 4th, 2012 15:00
Regarding PSU, look at these recommendations by MSI, your choice is good, but it is a bit tight on power, possibly need a bit more overhead like 600 watt - you still will most likely add more fans and who knows what. PSU running close to its limits might decrease in performance faster.
Processor situation, unless you planning to buy and return things often, I strongly advice you to stop at 970, Deneb family only, scroll down the list and look at Release Date. Dell Inspiron BIOS was last upgraded November 2010 (placed on Dell downlod section a bit later) so all processors released after this date would not be recognized by BIOS! If you still want to proceed after this - you do this on your own!
This is our motherboard. Pay attention to the processor mounting screws - this is not standard solution, I believe Dell used Intel 775 or 1155 socket mounting scheme to cut costs.
So, standard AMD mounting is not applicable here - you have to look for one of the 2 solutions here. First, cooler with screws attached like Dynatron P985 92mm Ball CPU Cooler (not the best choice, provided as example only)
Or, if you are willing to improvise and endure some pain upon yourself, like I did, you can take any Intel 92MM cooler, remove pins, and use your own screws, washers etc to have something like mine shown below:
Remember, Inspiron 570 is a low end budget PC, which was not designed for gamer or something good - just for the light processing and email use. It is possible to squeeze more performance from this box, but it will take a bit of your (and all of us here) time.
I would recommend first to see which processor you decide to put in, next decide on graphic card, trust me. I seen some huge cards in 570, 6850 been a middle size and power. I did video card first and CPU next - I payed dearly - I see now that I can put stronger VIdeo card in, however I can not return my present card already, too late.
And last one thing for today (I am going to work soon, so I would be bac sometime tomorrow or later, it depends). Inspiron 570 is very air tight case, so ventilation is very important here and takes a lot of time to improve. With my setup, I am beating all others so far, but it was not easy.
blabla524
3 Posts
0
May 4th, 2012 12:00
Thanks for the reply. :) I have been doing some more searching on the PSU I would be using as that one was just something i found in half an hour. I have found a new PSU on Newegg HERE: www.newegg.com/.../Product.aspx and am most likely buying it tonight.
As for the processor, I have a good feeling it will be compatible but what do you mean by the motherboard processor mounts? I sort of just assumed i could fit the processor i buy and a new aftermarket fan / heatsink in there and it would work.
And I believe that the problem with BF2 is that my current graphics card (4200 HD) is that it is an integrated card. My old Studio 17 laptop graphics card has a higher benchmark than it!
So thanks for your response and I will definatly take your advice into consideration
blabla524
3 Posts
0
May 14th, 2012 06:00
Thanks for the help you have given and sorry for the super late reply but i felt i should at least give my results so far. I bought a sapphire 6850 and a 600 Watt modular power supply from newegg. I installed them both (Power supply first) in about 15 minutes, the whole time sweating bullets and praying i didn't fry anything but it started up nicely and i installed the drivers and everything. I was running some high caliber games over the weekend (BFBC2 at a nice frame rate and BF2 on ultra) and everything ran great with no problems. Everythig is all good but i am still looking at upgrading my CPU but with something that isn't as hardcore as the 975 or 980. So i definatly thank you for your help as you have been the most helpful, mostly with my anxiety problems but also with my hardware choosing problems because you have probably saved me a bunch of money. I am going to say you answered my question and will definatly be refering back to this thread when the time comes to upgrade my cpu. So thanks again for all of your help as i can't say it enough. :)
kisianik
893 Posts
0
May 18th, 2012 15:00
You are very welcome. The best way to get my attention is to send me a message through your inbox, this way I would see it faster. Also, if you will see that you need more help, please start new topic - you can not bump up this, old one, if you post something, not on this forum.