old system cpu upgrade question

[Jeffreyd]

hello

 

i have a dell inspiron 530(yep that old) and am currently running it a core 2 duo 2.20ghz cpu with 3gb ram, nvidia gt 610 synergy edition(got it when original died and is a big mistake), i belive the power supply is 350w. 

 

i know the max processor it can take is a core 2 duo e8600 3.33ghz cpu. my question is will i really see a big improvement with the system and if it is a 350w power supply id that enough for it to work properly?

 

all i do on it is play diablo 3 and Heroes of the storm so not really taxing games as what i have now does work ok but i do get lag the more there is on screen.

 

Thank you 

[SeanAngelo]

5 minutes ago, Jeffreyd said:

hello

 

i have a dell inspiron 530(yep that old) and am currently running it a core 2 duo 2.20ghz cpu with 3gb ram, nvidia gt 610 synergy edition(got it when original died and is a big mistake), i belive the power supply is 350w. 

 

i know the max processor it can take is a core 2 duo e8600 3.33ghz cpu. my question is will i really see a big improvement with the system and if it is a 350w power supply id that enough for it to work properly?

 

all i do on it is play diablo 3 and Heroes of the storm so not really taxing games as what i have now does work ok but i do get lag the more there is on screen.

 

Thank you 

i'd rather build a new computer tbh... and get a quad core and a gtx card.

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, Jeffreyd said:

hello

 

i have a dell inspiron 530(yep that old) and am currently running it a core 2 duo 2.20ghz cpu with 3gb ram, nvidia gt 610 synergy edition(got it when original died and is a big mistake), i belive the power supply is 350w.

 

i know the max processor it can take is a core 2 duo e8600 3.33ghz cpu. my question is will i really see a big improvement with the system and if it is a 350w power supply id that enough for it to work properly?

 

all i do on it is play diablo 3 and Heroes of the storm so not really taxing games as what i have now does work ok but i do get lag the more there is on screen.

 

Thank you

Whether it's worth it depends on the cost. There is a performance difference in 1 GHz faster clock speed, but monitor your CPU usage and make sure your CPU is being utilized at 100% first. If it's being bottlenecked for everything you do, it'll be completely pointless to upgrade your CPU.

[Jeffreyd]

i can get one for like $20-$30 bucks Canadian used so its not a huge cost. whats the best way to see where the bottlenecks are on the computer to see if it is a useful thing to do? as for building new it would be great but as a father of 3 all 5 or under there is no extra money to put away so i can do that. 

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, Jeffreyd said:

i can get one for like $20-$30 bucks Canadian used so its not a huge cost. whats the best way to see where the bottlenecks are on the computer to see if it is a useful thing to do? as for building new it would be great but as a father of 3 all 5 or under there is no extra money to put away so i can do that. 

A free program like cpu-z or hwmonitor. Just leave it open and watch your cpu usage % while doing your normal activity / gaming. If the CPU is usually working between 90-100% then an upgrade will make things faster. It's possible a faster CPU will allow you to turn up settings on games, but normally settings are GPU bound so you should be looking at CPU usage for you right now.

[iHardware Shelden]

If you have the full tower model (not the 530c) it supports the Q6600, have worked on quite a few and although the Q6600 has slower single thread it is an amazing chip. Ill take a look more at the spec sheet and see what else you can do

[iHardware Shelden]

Ok @Jeffreyd it looks like with the latest BIOS the board should support the following;

Yorkfield Quad Core, Q8200, 2.33GHz, 4MB, 1333FSB, M1
Yorkfield Quad Core, Q8300, 2.50GHz, 4MB, 95W,R0
Yorkfield Quad Core, QX9300, 2.50GHz, 6MB, 1333FSB, M1
Yorkfield Quad Core, Q9400, 2.66GHz, 6MB, 1333FSB, R0
Yorkfield Quad Core, Q9450, 2.66GHz, 12MB, 1333FSB, C1
Yorkfield Quad Core, Q9550, 2.83GHz, 12MB, 1333FSB, C1
Yorkfield Quad Core, Q9550, 2.83GHz, 12MB, 1333FSB, E0
Yorkfield Quad Core, Q9650, 3.00GHz, 12MB, 1333FSB, E0
Kentsfield Quad Core, Q6600, 2.4GHz, 8MB, 1066FSB, G0

 

If you do the BIOS update an get a good deal on one of those chips your looking at a rather decent system for your needs, upgrade the power supply later on also and pick up a new GPU and you should be set. Doing a full system overhaul in your case would really not be worth it. Good luck!

[Jeffreyd]

thanks for the help everyone

[tuffjuff]

2 hours ago, Jeffreyd said:

hello

 

i have a dell inspiron 530(yep that old) and am currently running it a core 2 duo 2.20ghz cpu with 3gb ram, nvidia gt 610 synergy edition(got it when original died and is a big mistake), i belive the power supply is 350w. 

 

i know the max processor it can take is a core 2 duo e8600 3.33ghz cpu. my question is will i really see a big improvement with the system and if it is a 350w power supply id that enough for it to work properly?

 

all i do on it is play diablo 3 and Heroes of the storm so not really taxing games as what i have now does work ok but i do get lag the more there is on screen.

 

Thank you 

 

I'd run CPU-Z and check what chipset that thing is running - I'd be surprised if you couldn't run a Q6600 on that thing with a BIOS update or something.

[Jeffreyd]

so i loaded up cpu-z and it shows my chipset as intel P35/g33/g31 and motherboard model from dell is ory007.

 

had it open while i was loading chrome and this page cpu tab under core speed jumped to 2193.76 which i am guess is it maxing out the processor. and the multiplier went from x6.0 to x11.0. so i am guessing this means a faster cpu can help.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Jeffreyd said:

so i loaded up cpu-z and it shows my chipset as intel P35/g33/g31 and motherboard model from dell is ory007.

 

had it open while i was loading chrome and this page cpu tab under core speed jumped to 2193.76 which i am guess is it maxing out the processor. and the multiplier went from x6.0 to x11.0. so i am guessing this means a faster cpu can help.

No not really, you need to use the most demanding program / game you use and look at the % usage

[Jeffreyd]

according to windows task manager it's at 100% usage in games.

 

also saw its a 300w psu, if i do make the cpu change will a 3ghz+ cpu need a bigger psu?

[Guest]

No your PSU should be fine. Windows task manager isn't a very accurate monitor, but it's still a decent indication that your CPU is maxing out and would benefit from and upgrade,

[8uhbbhu8]

23 hours ago, Jeffreyd said:

hello

 

i have a dell inspiron 530(yep that old) and am currently running it a core 2 duo 2.20ghz cpu with 3gb ram, nvidia gt 610 synergy edition(got it when original died and is a big mistake), i belive the power supply is 350w. 

 

i know the max processor it can take is a core 2 duo e8600 3.33ghz cpu. my question is will i really see a big improvement with the system and if it is a 350w power supply id that enough for it to work properly?

 

all i do on it is play diablo 3 and Heroes of the storm so not really taxing games as what i have now does work ok but i do get lag the more there is on screen.

 

Thank you 

Upgrade to a core 2 Quad, get more ram, and THEN get a batter GPU IF you need it. I have an e8600 and yeah its good but a Q grade processor would definitely be better. It will last quite a bit longer then the dual core

[Spencer1559]

I would build a new budget PC if I was in your shoes.