Dimension E510 - CPU Upgrade Options

Thanks for the info.

It looks like the Pentium D 945 is the best I can get for it.

Does anyone know any reliable places to get one since NewEgg have htem listed as discontinued?

Also the Owner's Manual doesn't have the steps for taking this piece apart. Anyone have the step by steps. I have done custom rig before but the Dell seems to have this giant Black Thing on top of there the CPU is on the motherboard.

Thanks for the help

Just a thought... before you go to the trouble and expense of upgrading your CPU, you might want to do the Windows 7 installation and see how it runs.  I put Win7 (32-bit) on an old laptop with a CPU inferior to yours, and it runs very well.  I'd upgrade your memory to 2GB, however.

(This is assuming your current CPU supports 64-bit. I think it does, but I haven't checked.) 

mp1701

Sorry, but the instructions for removing the e510 heatsink HERE, are the only ones available.

As you will be reusing the heatsink, plan on cleaning it's base and reapplying thermal compound to the processor.

Directions for cleaning and applying thermal compound, are HERE.

You only need a small tube of thermal compound, this can be purchased from any computer store.

To find a Pentium D processor, you could try browsing eBay, or try HERE

Bev.

I have an E510 with Vista 32 bit on it.  Dell has 32 bit drivers but there are NO 64 bit drivers.  It will probably run Windows 7 32 bit, and the 32 bit Vista drivers should work OK.  The latest BIOS version on the Dell downloads is needed for Vista.  When I was considering upgrading from the original XP media center to Vista, I ran the Dell upgrade advisor and there was one item that was flagged as a problem (I don't remember what it was).  I upgraded the BIOS and ran the Dell upgrade advisor and everything passed (no errors).

I upgraded my E510 from the original D805 to a D925 and to be truthful, there really wasn't any performance difference that I could tell. These models are basically "old technology" and if newegg doesn't have them it will be hard to find.  I'll even go further and if I were contemplating upgrading today, I wouldn't do it - I would put the $$ toward a new, current technology, PC rather than pour $$ into an old PC and still have an "old technology" PC.

Thanks everyone for the info.

The CPU Upgrade would be the last thinkg I would do. I have ugpraded to 4 GB of Ram and will probably update the Video Card as well.

You said you update the CPU to a Pentium D 920, did you have to get a new fan or was the current one sufficient to prevent overheating?

Has anyone tried to ugprade to Windwos 7 64-Bit and experience any issues? Intel website does say 64-bit would be supported.

It's a D925 and I reused the Dell Heatsink and fan assembly, and no problems with overheating.  You have to use a Dell fan or you will always get a "Fan Failure" notice at boot up and will have to press F1 to continue with the boot.  Dell's fans are proprietary and contain internal electronics that standard fans do not have. 

Although the CPU will support 64 bit the issue is there are NO Dell 64 bit drivers for the hardware devices.  Some will work with non-Dell drivers but the SigmaTel integrated audio will ONLY work (correctly) with the Dell drivers.  I've seen posts from users that tried non-Dell drivers and either they would not install or the sound would not work correctly with the non-Dell drivers.   Although it's an Intel chipset, it's not an Intel motherboard - it's a Dell custom motherboard (most made by Foxconn) and Dell does not have the full Intel implementation.  e.g. Intel says that chipset will support up to a D960 but the Dell OEM will only acceupt  up to a D945.  We have posts on the old Dell users forum of users trying the D960 and it won't boot.

There is another issue with upgrading the CPU if the motherboard is not Part Number 0HJ054.  Other motherboards will accept upgraded CPU's but they will report "incompatible CPU" at boot up and F1 must be pressed to continue the boot up  We had a lot of documented cases of this on the old users forum.  The 0HJ054 motherboard (what my E510 has) will not do that.

Best option would be to get a NEWER dell like an Inspiron 530 that has PCI-E X16 video slot so that you can upgrade to

8 gigs of ram and a Radeon HD4670 video card.

Do you have the link to hte Audio Issues and was there any good work around for it? I was really hoping to upgrade to Windows 7 64-Bit but if not might have to go with 32-bit. Thanks for the info on the motherboard. I'll check with one I have.

If you want 64 bit, the best option is to install a PCI sound card that will support that, IF you can find 64 bit drivers for all the other hardware.  Do your homework and find all the needed drivers BEFORE taking the 64 bit plunge.  I'm even having problems with a retail Intel motherboard (a current model that is still being sold) getting all the needed Intel drivers for Win 7  as Intel has not issued Win 7 drivers for all the hardware (most of the devices use Vista drivers but the Intel management software is not Win 7 compatible).