Change a CPU to a faster one?

railroy19

New member
I have looked at videos showing how to change your cpu, and it looks like it's not much of a project. My question is if after you change the cpu will your computer function ok or do you have to reinstall windows and all your other programs? They don't mention any of those options. I have an Intel i7 model 920@ 2.67 ghz now in a dell computer XPS435 WITH 16 Gigs of ram. I also want to get a better video card but they need at least a 4 to 500 watt cpu.
I don't know how much power mine has because it does not have any description on the psu that I can find. It may be on the top side and that is covered by the top of the tower case.
I'm sure someone on this forum can give me some advice.

Thanks,
Bob
 
Might want to go to the local computer store and find a guru. When I found my local guru, found some truths and myths about Dell. Got a pair of XPS400 systems with a 375 watt power supply and a Pentium D 2.8ghz back in 2005.
MYTH: Dell needs a proprietary power supply, industry standard won't work.
TRUTH: Industry standard 550 watt PS fits just fine with a slight gap in the back, you just have to make sure the power cables for the disk drives are long enough to reach all the way down to the bottom front corner where Dell put their hard drive mounts.
TRUTH: Can't replace a Dell motherboard with industry standard, the mounting holes don't line up, so a Dell tower case needs a Dell motherboard.
As for CPU replacement it's been many many years since I built my own computers, but as I recall you have to make sure the motherboard socket is compatible for the new CPU you're installing. For example I got a Pentium D 2.8ghz, after a little research I found the Pentium D 3.4ghz plugs right in and works fine with no adjustments other than going into the ROM BIOS to tell it yes, the CPU frequency has changed, thank you for noticing, save and exit.
 
Thanks for the quick advice and comments. Looks like maybe I better leave well enough alone.
I'm going to find out what the power is on psu and if it's got enough I'll just upgrade my video card.
Time to shop for a new puter.
 
Well, my point is if you have an i7 already you could probably replace it with a faster i7, wouldn't need to reinstall windows or anything. Years ago I had an AMD K6-2 450, an AMD Thunderbird 800, and an AMD Palomino 1.4ghz all about the same time. The mobo and sockets for the Thunderbird and Palimino were the same, but you couldn't plug one of those CPUs into the K6-2 socket, the pins wouldn't even line up. Big thing to consider is how much bang for your buck, if it costs 100 to go up to a 4.2ghz and it is compatible, might be worth it. If it's 500 bucks to go from 2.67 to 2.9 or something, it's probably not money well spent.
 
your pc comes with 475 watts psu so it can run mid range card easilyand regarding cpu change its very easy and wont require any software change after installation
 
Wasn't easy for me, at my age I can't sit or kneel on the floor, so I had to unplug everything and hoist it up onto a table to work on it. Then there's a big honking shroud, fan, and heat sink in the way of everything, clean my greasy bifocals and get a flashlight, ah there's the mounting screws all the way in the back. GENTLY, don't wanna break the motherboard, damn these screws are tight. Unscrew the 375 watt PS and maneuver it out of there, unplug all the power leads GENTLY, don't wanna break the motherboard, cut all the cable ties and whatnot. Install new 550 watt PS, might as well clean all the dust out and replace the CPU as long as I got it apart already, route the cables here there and everywhere and put it all back together why did the put these screws so far back behind everything for this cooling fan and duct? Took me twice as long as it would have 20 years ago, I can tell you that.
 
installing cpu:just unplug ur cpu and open ur case un hook the heat sink and ur cpu is infront of ur eyes.now u have to open the clip of ur cpu socket pick the processor already there but remember not to tch the thermal paste on it.now place the new processor in the socket but make sure u are placing in right direction and cloase the cpu clip.if u put it in wrong direction n try to close the clip it will damage both ur processor and socket.and place the heat sink and u are done.it wont require any screw .though it go difficult if ur case is difficult in its built
 
Thanks Sniper and Kamran that's good news. Sniper I hear you about doing projects that used to take minutes, and now sometimes I forget just what I wanted to do in the first place:) I think the first upgrade I will try is the new Gtx 650 Ti video card then if I have to I'll install a new PSU. Then if that works maybe a new Cpu.
I like hitting myself in the head! It feels so good when I stop.
Kamran do you know where the specs on the power supply are printed ? It would be nice if they were on the front of the psu so you could read them.

Thanks again guys
Bob
 
Make sure the CPU will work with your motherboard. Check some of the hardware sites for advice and or check the motherboard mfg.
 
Thanks Sniper and Kamran that's good news. Sniper I hear you about doing projects that used to take minutes, and now sometimes I forget just what I wanted to do in the first place:) I think the first upgrade I will try is the new Gtx 650 Ti video card then if I have to I'll install a new PSU. Then if that works maybe a new Cpu.
I like hitting myself in the head! It feels so good when I stop.
Kamran do you know where the specs on the power supply are printed ? It would be nice if they were on the front of the psu so you could read them.

Thanks again guys
Bob

Hi Bob,

The power supply specs are usually printed on a lable on the side somewhere, and sometimes (rarely) on the back. On most PCs the wattage/specs lable is usually visible, but don't count on it if for some reason the case design requires the PS be mounted up side down or other way! The other issue too is the lable with have micro-text on it about the size of an ant's footprint, so get yourself a magnifying glass.

I hear you guys too on taking a lot longer to do things than before. My new motherboard is black, the inside of my case is black. I can be a genius sometimes! Even with a bright LED flashlight, I could barely see the screw holes! Eventually I got the lighting right and was able to get the screws in after dropping each one at least 25 times. I spent more time picking the screws up off the floor than it did to stick them in the motheboard.

John
 
Helps if you got a really big tower case with lots of room inside.

31346_108420229202266_4568255_n.jpg


That's from a 386, the desktop style underneath is an old 286 which I stole the power supply from. Had to cut and splice all the wires because of something that didn't match up - ATX form factor? Anyway my brother gave me a Pentium 200 CPU and mobo he picked up at a swap meet, so I built my youngest son a P 200 using parts from a bunch of old computers I had floating around the house. Note I'm kneeling there, and altho there's some gray in my beard my hair is still dark brown. I was in my late 40s at the time, I can't even bend my legs like that now. :'(
 
If you have a i7-920, it is a socket 1366. There are very few CPU upgrades that are cheap. The 1366 was obsoleted by the 1155 socket for upgrading.

I know because my old cpu was an i7-920. I upgraded to a 17-2600k which required a new motherboard.

Harold
 
Have just checked prices for a better i7, at £240 for an i7 950 quad @3.06 ghz your not going to get any significant improvement.
For any sort of leap forward you will have to go Harolds route.
 
Looking this over, I didn't see the video card mentioned?

A gtx 650 ti is the one mentioned, reading about it it's a watered down gtx 660. Whichever's chosen I hope it fits in the case as there seems to be a large fan exhaust/intake midway out of the side of the case.
 
Helps if you got a really big tower case with lots of room inside.

[picture removed from quote]


That's from a 386, the desktop style underneath is an old 286 which I stole the power supply from. Had to cut and splice all the wires because of something that didn't match up - ATX form factor? Anyway my brother gave me a Pentium 200 CPU and mobo he picked up at a swap meet, so I built my youngest son a P 200 using parts from a bunch of old computers I had floating around the house. Note I'm kneeling there, and altho there's some gray in my beard my hair is still dark brown. I was in my late 40s at the time, I can't even bend my legs like that now. :'(

At least you had everything on the floor already so you didn't have to spend all your time looking for the parts that managed to drop. :)

You are correct. The 'Pentiums were definitely ATX form factor compared to the AT which was used in the '286 through the '486. The placement of the connectors were finally standardized with the Pentium machines. This helped the machine builders and helped spur the home-building computer industry because now there were parts available from any company that made them instead of the parts being proprietary for a particular manufacturer. From the picture, it appears you were salvaging parts from a Compaq or HP? They were famous for the riser card technology instead of putting all the cards right no the motherboard. Up until recently HP, Compaq (same company), Gateway, Dell, IBM. and some others still used proprietary cases and even custom designed motherboards, interface cards, and power supply cabling.

John
 
I honestly don't remember what they were, back in the pre-pentium era I had assorted desktops and tower cases starting with a Tandy1000 286 and ending with a Dell 486. I think one of the actual desktops was an actual IBM rather than the usual IBM clone. Tower case was a big honker that I'm pretty sure started as a KLH 386 DX40, got upgraded to a 486, then shoved in a closet when I got a smaller tower case from someplace and built an AMD K6-2 450.

30796_113876245323331_2998332_n.jpg


That's the same Pentium 200 a couple years later, Midtown Madness would make that pic about 99-2000 or thereabouts. My youngest son is about Zec's age, 23 this month, and in the pic looks to be about 10-12 years old, so I'm probably close on the history. Not bad for an old geezer who can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning. Anyway with all the missing covers you can see how much room there is for expansion, along with plenty of working space. I just don't see the point of compact computer cases if they're not intended to be portable, if you're building your own and they have one the size of a refrigerator, buy that and set it next to the desk, why should it need to fit underneath?
 
Kamran do you know where the specs on the power supply are printed ? It would be nice if they were on the front of the psu so you could read them.
Bob

in branded sysytem the rating label is on the front side where we can see it easily but there might be a chance that your psu label might be on other side .
and as your processor is 1366 socket so there is very very narrow choice for ur upgrade and even that upgrade wont do much for u just increase in speed of 500 to 600 mhz.
my advice is to sell ur current processor and mother board and get lga 1155 motherboard and ivy bridge processor or atleast sandy bridge this will gave u a wide choice for upgrade and also future proof as both 2nd genearation and 3rd generation cpu works on 1155 socket
 
I honestly don't remember what they were, back in the pre-pentium era I had assorted desktops and tower cases starting with a Tandy1000 286 and ending with a Dell 486. I think one of the actual desktops was an actual IBM rather than the usual IBM clone. Tower case was a big honker that I'm pretty sure started as a KLH 386 DX40, got upgraded to a 486, then shoved in a closet when I got a smaller tower case from someplace and built an AMD K6-2 450.


That's the same Pentium 200 a couple years later, Midtown Madness would make that pic about 99-2000 or thereabouts. My youngest son is about Zec's age, 23 this month, and in the pic looks to be about 10-12 years old, so I'm probably close on the history. Not bad for an old geezer who can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning. Anyway with all the missing covers you can see how much room there is for expansion, along with plenty of working space. I just don't see the point of compact computer cases if they're not intended to be portable, if you're building your own and they have one the size of a refrigerator, buy that and set it next to the desk, why should it need to fit underneath?

This is what I do too, Jim. I have a basement shelf full of older computer cases and motherboards that get repurposed and reused over and over. Your big tower looks like the franken-machine we rebuilt for the ECRM VR-30 RIP. The RIP PC was an old EISA-Bus machine with a DX50 (Not a DX250 that was a turbo-25MHZ). The machine was purchased with the imagesetter in 1992 and everything is still operational today. The original hard drive died about 3 years a go and was replaced with a 1.2GB drive. The drive mounted without issues in the BIOS! The power supply died and we ended up rewiring one from another PC donatee. The case used for the RIP is tall like that one and the wires from the PS were too short, so we ended up splicing wires to make them reach the motherboard. We would have had to do this anyway because the connector for this motherboard was the old style no longer used on motherboards today. We had tried replacing the motherboard with a more updated Pentium or Pentium 2, but that didn't work because the motherboard was too fast.

Your 1999-2000 date is about right. I purchased that program for my nephews about that time and they loved it as much as your son appears to in this picture. I have to admit that the program was fun to play and used to play it myself too. :)

I too prefer large cases for PCs. I find that the air cooling is far better for the components and with the space, adding in internal hard drives is a no-brainer because there's no reason to hack anything to make the drive fit. :)

John
 
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