best processor upgrade for Dell Optiplex GX620

A11

This is BIOS version correct? I need to find the date it was posted on Dell site, once I have it I can provide educated guess about extra processor possible support, nothing is guaranteed.

A11 date 12/5/2006, you will have answer tomorrow, going to work soon

Upgrading a GX620 SFF to a Pentium D 945 (hopefully), currently has Pentium 4 - 511, do I need to upgrade the heatsink/fan to the copper version, or is that only for the 950+?

Pentium D processors require the copper heatpipe heatsink and bios A11.:emotion-3:

@SpeedStep: you mean cooler upgrade?

Thank you, was hoping it wasn't necessary with the 945.  Already upgraded BIOS to A11 in preparation.  Making HTPC, Single core was/is causing jerkiness/lagging.  Oh well, I don't always get what I want.

Do you know if the P9104 heatsink is the same as the J9761?  I need to order the upgrade/copper fan-heatsink combo for a GX620 SFF that I've ordered a D945 for, haven't found a definitive list on which fans fit in the SFF version.

Just got a partial answer to my own question, the P9104 heatsink has a copper baseplate and pipes, and fits in the SFF GX620, it's already in mine :>). It uses a normal (?  80mm) chassis fan to cool the cpu heatsink.  I found the PS is only rated at 280W, may have to upgrade it for the Pentium D 945 I have on order.

Does not use a normal fan. If you use a generic fan it will fail with cooling fan message at post.

The operative word is that you must use 95W processors.  The 130W versions will not be happy in desktop units.

It uses a normal (?  80mm) chassis fan to cool the cpu heatsink.

They are 4 wire fans not 3. There is an rpm sensor and a thermal sensor.

That looks like a custom fan, so OEM is almost certainly the best route. I've never seen a third party fan of that depth.

  Here's the rollup on my GX620 SFF CPU upgrade.  Rx and installed Pentium D 945, failed initial boot, had to select "use old windows installation" since I didn't want to rerun setup.  Booted up and ran fine... But the Front fan (which also directly blows through the fins on the P9104 heatsink on the GX620 SFF version) goes to high speed, and cycles between mid and high speed dependent upon load.  I'm not doing much processing with it, strictly XP and Hauppage WinTV7 with an External HVR-1950 (which is a hardware decoder card).  The sound level makes it unacceptable at this point.  The computer runs noticeably faster, and no more skips or lag in live tv, but the fan noise won't work for an HTPC.  I do have a small PCIe video card and a 2Gb memory upgrade on the way, these may both help offload the CPU some, but I doubt enough to keep the CPU temp, and thus fan speeds down. :>(  

  Sooo.... the D945 CPU went into my "dead" Shuttle SG31G2 to prove whether the problem was CPU or Mobo... looks like my E8500 is toast, working fine.  So the shuttle may go back to being the HTPC, or a test rig :>)  Glad it wasn't the mobo, though I do note the temp of the North and South bridges and memory are quite high (due to the Shuttles poor ventilation) when I checked it (CPU temp was fine).

  Thank you for all your help here.  If anyone knows of a better heatsink/fan combo than the P9104 that will fit in an SFF GX620, let me know, it looks better than my Shuttle IMO.

At least on my SFF (Small Form Factor) GX620 with the P9104 Heatsink (copper plate and pipes), the 80mm front fan IS the CPU cooling fan also.  It is a 4-wire with RPM sensing also.  It's not as "deep" as the one pictured below, looks like a normal chassis fan I put in my tower PC's, but with a mobo connector.

I also have a GX620 and upgraded the CPU to a Pentium D 945. I had the same problem with the fan cycling between mid and high speed. This is just a second computer so I didn't want to have to put more money into it than I had too. I actually cut a hole in the removable panel and installed a 120mm fan pulling air out of the case. It's been 3 months now and my my fan no longer cycles between mid to high speed. I hope this helps.