Only the 2950 MARK (III) could accomodate a quad core processor. As long as the unit has the (III) designation in the top left corner, those processors will work within the unit. If the marking is a (I) or (II), it woulnt work. Below is a list of the supported processors for a 2950 (III) only.
Actually, per the Information update (available from Dell's 2950 documentation), " If the front of your system chassis is labeled with a “II”, your system is upgradeable to the 5100 series of dual-core Intel Xeon processors and the 5300 series of quad-core Xeon processors.".
And then it says "If the front of your system chassis is labeled with a “III”, your system is upgradeable to the 5100 and 5200 series of dual-core Intel Xeon processors and 5300 and 5400 series of quad-core Intel Xeon processors.".
So, the II can already accommodate quad core processors, but only the 5300-series (the 5100 is the dual cores). The III can also accommodate the 5400-series quad cores (the 5200 is the dual cores for that generation).
You'll want to check the front of your server or in OMSA for the revision.
Revision I supports the Xeon 5000-series only (as you have a 5300-series, you don't have this model)
Revision II supports the Xeon 5000-series, but also the 5100 and 5300 Xeons
Revision III supports the Xeon 5000, 5100, 5300 and the newer 5200 and 5400 series Xeons
Some processors also may require a bios update (but updating the bios on a Revision II system still won't allow it to use Xeon 5400 series processors even if the release notes say that it adds support for newer processors).
I have several Power Edge 2950 servers mostly Series III a few Series 2 I have a set of 5440 CPU's that will not work in either machine. They are from a HP server I parted out that should not make a issue would it?
Just trying to figure this out. upgrading a quad core 2.0Ghz to a quad core 2.83Ghz.
Dev Mgr
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9.3K Posts
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February 15th, 2011 06:00
Actually, per the Information update (available from Dell's 2950 documentation), " If the front of your system chassis is labeled with a “II”, your system is upgradeable to the 5100 series of dual-core Intel Xeon processors and the 5300 series of quad-core Xeon processors.".
And then it says "If the front of your system chassis is labeled with a “III”, your system is upgradeable to the 5100 and 5200 series of dual-core Intel Xeon processors and 5300 and 5400 series of quad-core Intel Xeon processors.".
So, the II can already accommodate quad core processors, but only the 5300-series (the 5100 is the dual cores). The III can also accommodate the 5400-series quad cores (the 5200 is the dual cores for that generation).
Dev Mgr
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9.3K Posts
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February 11th, 2011 10:00
You'll want to check the front of your server or in OMSA for the revision.
Revision I supports the Xeon 5000-series only (as you have a 5300-series, you don't have this model)
Revision II supports the Xeon 5000-series, but also the 5100 and 5300 Xeons
Revision III supports the Xeon 5000, 5100, 5300 and the newer 5200 and 5400 series Xeons
Some processors also may require a bios update (but updating the bios on a Revision II system still won't allow it to use Xeon 5400 series processors even if the release notes say that it adds support for newer processors).
2Psyko
3 Posts
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November 23rd, 2019 17:00
I have several Power Edge 2950 servers mostly Series III a few Series 2 I have a set of 5440 CPU's that will not work in either machine. They are from a HP server I parted out that should not make a issue would it?
Just trying to figure this out. upgrading a quad core 2.0Ghz to a quad core 2.83Ghz.
LargeBajaBlast
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12 Posts
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October 27th, 2021 13:00
I have a Dell Poweredge 2950 with dual E5420's and they have been working perfectly, i'm going to upgrade to the X5470 and see how that goes