CPU and RAM upgrade on Dell PowerEdge 860 server

Question

I have a Dell PowerEdge 860 server with 'Intel Celeron SL9XL'(2.0GHz, 800MHz FSB, 512KB L2 cache, socket LGA 775) and one 512MB 'hynix 1Rx8 PC2-5300E-555-12' ECC SDRAM module. Motherboard model is 0KM697, BIOS version is A04(7/24/2007). I would like to upgrade both the CPU and memory :) Does PE860 support Intel 'Core 2 Duo/Quad' CPU's? Or what is the highest performance socket LGA 775 CPU that PE860 supports? In addition, is it possible to install for example 4x 2GB non-ECC PC2-5300 RAM to PE860? According to hardware guide 8GB is the maximum amount of RAM and DDR2-667 is fastest one supported, but is non-ECC(much cheaper) memory supported as well? :emotion-18:

theflash1932 · Accepted Answer

Must be ECC. Otherwise, your 4x2GB DDR2-667 configuration will work.

Processors are a bit fuzzier:

According to the original system specs:
Processors Single Dual Core Intel® Xeon® 3000 Sequence processor at up to 2.66GHz;
Single Intel Pentium® D processor at 2.8GHz;
Single Intel Celeron® D processor at 2.8GHz

And, according to BIOS update release notes:
http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/PE860-BIOSA05.TXT

theflash1932 · Accepted Answer

Yes, unbuffered (non-registered) memory is also called for in the specs. Good luck.

m4rtin · Answer

theflash1932, thanks for reply! Memory options are rather limited and thus clear: 4x '2GB DDR2-667 ECC' memory modules or 2x '2GB DDR2-667 ECC'. Am I correct, that I can use non-registered ECC memory as well? According to BIOS release notes, the A04 version supports even 'Core 2 Duo E4400' and 'Xeon X3320' :emotion-1: According to specifications both are decent CPU's, but I think I'll go with 'Xeon X3320' because it has larger L2 cache, supports newer instruction sets and most important of all, it supports VT-x. Any other suggestions regarding processor/memory upgrade on PowerEdge 860? :emotion-43:

PowerEdge Hardware General

CPU and RAM upgrade on Dell PowerEdge 860 server

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