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October 25th, 2018 08:00

Dell Precision T3500 CPU Upgrade, which one to get....

Hello,
I was able to get Dell Precision T3500 from my work for free, and I would like to make it a low budget gaming commuter.
The Current  Specs are:
24GB DDR3 RAM
EVO 850 – 500GB
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 4GB
Intel Xeon W3505 @ 2.53GHz.





I wanted to know what would be the best processor to install into this system, I came a cross of identical question here, please see the link below, however there was no clear answer as far as which processor will be the best for T3500.

https://www.dell.com/community/Desktops-General-Read-Only/T3500-CPU-upgrade-options/td-p/4563135

 

Also, please see  attached pic of my mother board.

From my research i think the best option would be Intel Xeon W3690 SLBW2 3.46GHz 12MB 6.4 GT/s LGA1366 Hex Core 

Could any confirm that Intel Xeon W3690 is the best option for max performance per this mother board.

 

Thank you 

mother board.JPG

 

56 Posts

October 25th, 2018 18:00

While a W3690 Hex will work in a T3500 I chose a X5670 Hex, feeling it was a good compromise in power consumption and other factors.  The X5670, 5680, 5690 all support dual processing, the W3690 does not.   In addition, the X56xx series have a higher max operating temperature and in the little T3500 box I felt that cooling and operating temps needed to be watched.  It's not always the fastest MHz that is the most important, there are other things to be aware of when building a gaming machine.

The X5670 6-core, Geforce GTX 1060/6GB, 24MB RAM in my T3500 easily ran modern games on Steam, like Fallout 4, COD, etc.

See this for comparisons: http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/858/Intel_Xeon_W3690_vs_Intel_Xeon_X5690.htm,

56 Posts

October 25th, 2018 21:00

I chose the X5670 because it used less power (95W) and would not heat up the 525W PSU along with all my other upgrades.  The 6-core X5670 @ 2.93GHz (Turbo@3.3GHz) with 12 Threads is enough to play most games, the lower heat, power needs and finally, the cheaper price put the X5670 in a sweet spot for gaming with the T3500.  Okay, you don't get bragging rights with the max speeds but so what, it works very well in this situation. It's your choice, none of these used CPU's are that expensive.

Don't forget to install a SSD hard drive in there, that will really help with data transfer and create less heat.

CPU GPU prices have come down so you may want to look into those after you've got everything else running.

http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/859/Intel_Xeon_X5670_vs_Intel_Xeon_X5690.html

19 Posts

October 25th, 2018 19:00

Thank you for your input, so i was wondering X5670 vs. X5690?

Intel Xeon X5670 6-Core CPU Server Processor, 2.93GHz    VS. Intel Xeon X5690 3.46GHz SLBVX 12MB 6-Core

I guess  half of GHz and $50 in price , is that correct ...? Should i just go for X5690 ?

Thank you 

 

19 Posts

October 26th, 2018 05:00

One again, thank you for your input:)

Yes, SSD, have Samsung Evo 850 with 500 GB in it:)

we are good there....

 

19 Posts

November 2nd, 2018 08:00

Little update after installing X5670 processor...

Ran some benchmarks:) see below

old processor.pngnew processor.pngold processor_cinemabench.pngnew processor_cinemabench.png

1 Message

May 8th, 2019 02:00

Hi, If you can help me. I wanted to know if there is a cpu powerful enough to support gtx 1070 graphics card. I have heard that the gtx 1070 works fine with dell precision t3500 but the cpu will have bottleneck kind of issues which will drag down performance. So, if there is a powerful xeon cpu which will easily run gtx 1070 then please tell me.

19 Posts

May 23rd, 2019 14:00

Sorry, just saw this post, did you get any answer?

I would post this question outside of my discussion, I am sure someone will know, 

Unfortunately i don't.

 

16 Posts

May 25th, 2019 01:00

I think the next gens(T3600,T3610,3620 s2011 s2011v2 s2011v3) better for GPUs with 8GB or more RAM.

May 4th, 2020 23:00

Hello Everyone,

It seems like I've fried my CPU (Not sure about it, still investigating it with the guys here : https://www.dell.com/community/Desktops-General-Read-Only/Dell-precision-T3500-Temperature-control-fan-speed-settings/td-p/4542999)

And i'm already planning an upgrade using a W5560 CPU salvaged from a dead system.

I'll keep you posted.

May 5th, 2020 11:00

Hello everyone,

I'm posting from the T3500 now, its back to life.

The CPU i used is a Xeon W5650 and it worked like a charm.

I 'll be glad to give details about the repair/upgrade if you need it.

1 Message

August 4th, 2020 08:00

Hi Guys.  

I dont know to much about PC's but would like upgrade a old PC thats been standing for awhile.  I need some advice on upgrading a T3500 Dell CPU.   

Does someone know if I can just change to AMD or i5 without changing the motherboard? or whats would be the best idea?

Thanks

 

2 Posts

May 15th, 2021 10:00

By the way you will not be able to upgrade to a AMD CPU because they are on different sockets you will only be able to upgrade to any of the w35xx, w36xx, x55xx, x56xx or any 1st gen i3 i5 i7 intel chip assuming you don't have ECC ram

2 Posts

May 15th, 2021 10:00

If you are reading this and you haven't upgraded yet I'd recommend the x5687 for gaming since it has the highest clockspeed, 8threads which is more than enough for most modern games, plus it is $20-30 on eBay from my find. But if you are doing something else than gaming  x5690/ w3690 would be a good option because it is a 6c/12t  chip with a 3.46Ghz base clockspeed and a 3.73Ghz single core boost , or the w3690 because it supports overclocking via throttle stop/intel xtu although you probably wont be able to get above 4.1Ghz. Both the x5690 or w3690 are around $80-100.

9 Legend

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47K Posts

May 15th, 2021 11:00

You can add fans to the rear and one to the copper heatsink U016F. Tye Wraps passed thru the fins hold the fan to the heatsink. Rubber bands hold the wraps in place and provide for noise reduction.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013J9ATMC

https://www.dell.com/community/Desktops-General-Read-Only/Dell-Precision-T3500-adding-rear-case-fans-possible/td-p/5109788

FAQ

https://www.dell.com/community/Desktops-General-Read-Only/Dell-T3500-Upgrading-FAQ/td-p/5151130

Also heard that w567F works but YMMV

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005Z39D28

U016F.jpgHEATSINKFAN.jpg

2 Intern

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202 Posts

May 17th, 2021 00:00

NEHALEM CPUs receive a fatal blow from the Spectre/Meltdown patches. There is no special need for upgrading them.

anyway, here's the list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Nehalem-based_Xeon_microprocessors

and

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westmere_(microarchitecture)

Xeon X5687 would probably be the best of them.

 

Then, you may just disable the Spectre/Meltdown patches with "inspectre" tool. On your own risk. But it gives a considerable boost back.

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