CPU Upgrade

Hi everyone,
I am a newbie who is doing his first upgrade. I want to go from a Core 2 Duo to a Core 2 Quad. I have a stock Dell that from my research has a mobo/chipset that can be upgraded from a Core 2 Duo to a Core 2 Quad. I would like to put at least a Q8300 or a Q9400 in it. I was also thinking about moving my memory up to it’s max using some G.SKILL 4GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Quad Channel Kit Desktop Memory. Thanks for all of your help!
Here is my Vostro:
Dell Vostro (#1)
Manufacturer: Dell Inc. (Dell) Product: 0CU409
Intel Core 2 Duo Internal Specification:
Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo CPU E6550 @ 2.33GHz
Model Number: E6550 Conroe
Revision: G0
Technology: 0.065µ
CPU ID: 6.F.B
CPU ID Ex: 6.F.B
Socket: 775 Supported Speed: 4000 MHz (or more)
Supported Voltage: 1.3V
DDR2-SDRAM PC2-5300 (333 MHz) - [DDR2-666]
DIMM1 (RAS 0, RAS 1): 1024 (Double Bank)
DIMM2 (RAS 2, RAS 3): 1024 (Double Bank)
DIMM3 (RAS 4, RAS 5): 1024 (Double Bank)
DIMM4 (RAS 6, RAS 7): 1024 (Double Bank)
Manufacturer : ATI Technologies Model : ATI Radeon HD 3400 Series Bus Type : PCI-Express Texture Memory : 1012 MB Processor : ATI Radeon Graphics Processor (0x95C5) Converter : Internal DAC(400MHz) Refresh Rate (min/max) : 56/75 Hz GPU Information : Number of GPU : 1 Processor : RV620 HD Support : Yes Bus : 0-bit Memory Type : 512 MB DDR GPU Frequency : 600 MHz - [initial : 600 MHz] Memory Frequency GPU : 400 MHz - [initial : 400 MHz] DirectX Support : 10.0 Pixel Shader Version : 3.0

if youre gonna get a brand new cpu id get none less than a q9400 (personally)
if you do some more research and get the gist of the levels of how good cpus are
like really general lol, u can look for a and older cpu but of better performance (similar in price)
if u can
if not then just get the q9400
a nice all rounding cpu

Will either of them wrok with my current mobo?

OC_Nubie said:

Will either of them wrok with my current mobo?

Click to expand...

well check your mobo box or manual
if it says supports core 2 quad then yea i guess

You need to find the "CPU Support List" on either Dell's site or the motherboard manufacturer's site to know for sure whether your mobo will support a specific CPU. You might need a BIOS update for some newer CPUs.

Hey, thanks for the input. Will it matter that the old CPU is a 65W and the new CPU is a 95W?
Thanks again.

OC_Nubie said:

Hey, thanks for the input. Will it matter that the old CPU is a 65W and the new CPU is a 95W?
Thanks again.

Click to expand...

Nope, that doesn't matter when at stock. LGA775 can take CPUs up to at least 136W (QX9770). The amount of power phases that the mobo has can effect the stability of a quad. If you had that QX9770 136W on a 4 phase board might give you some problems.

You should be fine though.

Awesome! I looked on the Dell site and found out the mobo is a Foxxcon and I have the model that can be upgraded to a core 2 quad, and the mobo will support up to 8GB of ram. Thanks to everyone. I am starting this next week the parts are on the way. Now the next question, how do I overclock this baby. What tools do I need. I have all of the information tools (CPUID, CPUZ,Fan Speed). What do I use to modify the settings to begin OC.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you probably won't be able to OC at all. This is b/c Dell usually locks all overclocking BIOS settings (FSB, vcore, etc.) on the motherboards bundled with their computers.

If you really want to OC, you'll most likely have to buy a new motherboard. If you'll be buying a new CPU and motherboard for OCing, you might as well get RAM too and get an i5/i7 system.

You need to check what BIOS settings are available on your current mobo to see if you are allowed OC.

Really! Wow I will look into that today and see what I can find. But from what you are saying most of the OC is done through the BIOS? Huh Ok. Thanks for your help.
Update i found an app clockgen i have found a PLL that is close to mine. It allows me to clock everything except ram. How do I either find or calcualte my correct PLL?