Processor update on OptiPlex GX520

Hi,

I have much the same question, with less information.  I have a GX520, with an Intel P4, 3Ghz processor, and 3.49Gb of RAM.  Is there any possible upgrades?  How do I find additional info sited by others?

Thanks Dell-Chris,

this is not what i hoped to get. I really doubt that the Presler will work, Presler requires 955x od 975x chipset and the good old GX520 has 945. Furthermore the TDP will increase from 95W to 130W.

So it seems that the Prescott (2M) 650 with 3,4GHz is the only solution. Hopefully i can get such an old thing.

Karsten

Update the Bios BEFORE trying to update the CPU.

NONE of the EXXXX Series will work.  NONE of the CORE2 DUO Series will work.

If you want core2 duo Get an Optiplex 745 or better.

Personal Experience tells me that the 520 is not worth upgrading for 3 reasons.

1.  The Video Slot is PCI-E X1 with the X16 slot removed.

2.  CPU support only goes to Pentium D 2.8Ghz,

3.   2 Ram Slots are removed making 2 Gigs Max Ram.

The list below is what works.

OptiPlex GX520 Desktop Product Details | Dell

Intel® Pentium®  D Processor with
Dual Core Technology Up to 820       faster CPU's will Halt with Unsupported Processor Message.
(2.8GHz,2X1M,800MHz FSB)
   
Intel® Pentium®  4 Processor with Up to 650  faster CPU's will Halt with Unsupported Processor Message.
Hyper-Threading Technology
(3.4GHz,2M,800MHz FSB)
   
Intel® Celeron®  D Processor Up to 351 faster CPU's will Halt with Unsupported Processor Message.
(3.2GHz,256K,533MHz FSB)

Just to add even more complexity...

I have a GX520 with mobo revision A00 and the latest bios version A11 and I have tried the following processors:

Pentium D 2.8GHz,2X1M,800MHz - SL88T

Pentium D 2.8GHz,2X1M,800MHz - SL8CP

Pentium 4 670 3.8GHz - SL8PY

All of which fail with the unsupported processor message during boot.

This is very odd as dell sold the 520 with the first two of these processors.

I guess it must be to do with the early bios revision?

Whatever the problem is, it's a disgrace that dell don't properly document which processors the board supports (like Intel do so well) - it's not like it's difficult!!!

Dell Documents which Processors work.

The 620 supports more processors than the 520

Intel® Pentium®  D Processor with

Dual Core Technology Up to 820       faster CPU's will Halt with Unsupported Processor Message.

(2.8GHz,2X1M,800MHz FSB)

Intel® Pentium®  4 Processor with Up to 650  faster CPU's will Halt with Unsupported Processor Message.

Hyper-Threading Technology

(3.4GHz,2M,800MHz FSB)

Intel® Celeron®  D Processor Up to 351 faster CPU's will Halt with Unsupported Processor Message.

(3.2GHz,256K,533MHz FSB)

The OptiPlex™ GX520 system supports the Intel® Pentium® 4 (Prescott) 5xx series and Pentium 4 Celeron® 3xx series processors.
Beginning March 17, 2006, the GX520 also supports the Intel Pentium D (Smithfield) 8xx series processors.

Updated Bios is required for newer processors. 

2.8ghz is max for the 520 dual core.

Hi SpeedStep,

This thread is about the GX520 not the GX620.

Dell do not adequately document supported processors for this machine, or I wouldn't be in this position.

As said in my previous message, I have tried both mainstream 2.8 Pentium D processors in my 520 (SL88T & SL8CP) and both result in the unsupported processor message at boot. As I have the latest bios version this is very weird, as I know others have got this to work in the 520 without problems.

Because of this I think it must be down to the early mobo revision in my machine (A00). Could you (or anyone) with a 520 and an 820 CPU check the mobo revision to confirm? It's located on a sticker inside the case.

Thanks

By the way It's worth pointing out that my GX520 is in 'Mini Tower Computer' form.

Just in case this can help someone, I am finally fully up and running with the following...

INTEL PENTIUM 4 ... 3.4GHz/2M/800/04A ... SL7Z7 ... 650

I want to add my experience to this.

My GX520:

MBoard Rev. A01

Bios: A11

Original Processor: 3.0 GHz Pentium 4-630

I bought a 2.8 GHz Pentium-D 820, as others have suggested it works.

I received the boot message "Unsupported Processor ~ F1 to continue"

* Note: It did boot up fine, and benchmarked fine with scores appropriate for this processor.  However - It wouldn't restart properly, and I had to unplug it and plug it back in.  Because of this the I chose not to keep the processor.

I exchanged it for a 3.2 Pentium 4-640 and that processor works fine (goodwill computer works didn't have a P4-650)

Regards,

Rem