HELP! Overclock Dell precision 390 (Core 2 Duo E6400 with i975x)

I've tried everything and found that this is pretty much hopeless since Dell doesn't allow for overclocking in the bios. So this is my last ditch effort, can someone here help me? I've tried program based overclockers but I can't figure out my PLL -_-

I did a quick Google search and i didn't see anything about it. My idea was to see if you can flash the BIOS with a new/different one (that allows OC). It looked like the idea behind it is possible but not probable. You would have to find the exact type/model of the MB and then go the manufactures website and hope they have a new one and it works. NOTE: messing with the BIOS is not always the best idea…and I am thinking Dell won’t support the computer after…good Luck!

Don't hold your breath.

trents said:

Don't hold your breath.

Click to expand...

so very true......

The Precision 390 (and 380, and T3400, and T3500) are all proprietary motherboards with proprietary form factors. Rest assured, you won't find a "stock" or manufacturer's BIOS for them anywhere, other than the factory revisions from Dell themselves. Writing one's own from the ground up is the only option, and hardly a realistic one...

I could never find the PLLs for any of these boards in the common software-OC applications, either. Unless someone updated, you may very well be SOL there, too...

Pad modding would work to an extent, but the C2D E6400 is already a 1066FSB CPU, and the 390 doesn't support 1333FSB speeds, so you're never likely to get anything to happen that way, either, unfortunately.

The Precision 390 is a solid workstation. I've had one motherboard with flaky USB ports out of about 25 Precision 390s, and that's the extent of the troubles I've had with them over the past few years. But an enthusiast's machine it is distinctly not. Neither is any other OEM workstation, for that matter. There are no provisions for overclocking them for a reason. They're "hopeless" by design.