Changing my Dell 4600 CPU for an AMD

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Kevin

Hi,

I have an older Dell Inspireon 4600 midi-tower system that I would
like to upgrade. All I want to do is replace the CPU for a more up to
date model and also increase the RAM to 1Gb. I've reviewed the Dell
technical support information but cannot find any technical
information regarding the motherboard and especially the socket
requirements. I need to understand if the mobo would support an AMD
Athlon CPU. I understand that there may be specific issues such as
power consumption and heat which may mean that I need to upgrade the
motherboard but that would be plan B. Plan A is to replace the CPU.

Any help or information pertaining to the Dell Motherboard would be
appreciated.

Kevin.
 
Kevin said:
Hi,

I have an older Dell Inspireon 4600 midi-tower system that I would
like to upgrade. All I want to do is replace the CPU for a more up to
date model and also increase the RAM to 1Gb. I've reviewed the Dell
technical support information but cannot find any technical
information regarding the motherboard and especially the socket
requirements. I need to understand if the mobo would support an AMD
Athlon CPU. I understand that there may be specific issues such as
power consumption and heat which may mean that I need to upgrade the
motherboard but that would be plan B. Plan A is to replace the CPU.

Any help or information pertaining to the Dell Motherboard would be
appreciated.
Click to expand...
Your mobo socket has to match wth the CPU. My understanding is that Dell
systems are proprietary and you likely can't switch mobos and may not be
able to add more RAM. Don't buy brand names anymore and you won't get stuck
at upgrade time.
 
Kevin said:
Hi,

I have an older Dell Inspireon 4600 midi-tower system that I would
like to upgrade. All I want to do is replace the CPU for a more up to
date model and also increase the RAM to 1Gb. I've reviewed the Dell
technical support information but cannot find any technical
information regarding the motherboard and especially the socket
requirements. I need to understand if the mobo would support an AMD
Athlon CPU. I understand that there may be specific issues such as
power consumption and heat which may mean that I need to upgrade the
motherboard but that would be plan B. Plan A is to replace the CPU.

Any help or information pertaining to the Dell Motherboard would be
appreciated.

Kevin.
Click to expand...

The only information I can find about a Dell Inspiron 4600 indicates
that it is a notebook computer with an Intel CPU.

Please double check the series and model number of your mid-tower
system.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
 
Dell Dimension 4600 instead of Inspiron 4600? In all cases, your computer
is three years old; so the mobo is incompatible with modern CPUs; either
Intel or AMD.

For a computer of this age, forget about upgrading the CPU, as it's not only
the CPU and the mobo that you will have to upgrade but also the power
supply, the memory and probably the video card too. Maybe you could keep
the old hard drives but it will be a shame (in a bad ideal in term of
performance) to run a modern mobo/cpu/memory with an old and slow hard
drive.

Excerpt in the case of the memory, which is something that's always usefull
to augment, replacing the CPU/mobo is of no real use when performed after an
interval of three years.

For the memory, the URL
http://reviews.cnet.com/Dell_Dimension_4600/4505-3118_7-30529709.html
indicate that this model uses 256MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM modules; however, it
also indicates that the last two slots might be obstructed with cabling.
 
Long gone are the days where you can just drop in a new CPU and get a much
faster computer. Now, depending on which MB and which CPU you have, you may
be able to put in a slightly faster CPU. A significantly faster CPU will
most likely have a new architechture and require a new MB. There have been
so many MB changes in the past few years, if you think your CPU is slow, you
might as well get a whole new PC. As you mentioned, there is a fair chance
you will need a new power supply too, and a much newer MB would have some
different slots that most likely require you to get a different kind of RAM
and video card.

It is usually a good upgrade idea to just add more RAM. You can still get
by on 128MB of RAM if you don't do anything intense like play any recent
games. However, the bare minimum recommended is now 512MB. If you're
getting a new system, get at least 2GB of RAM if you want it to last awhile.
I have 512MB of RAM in my home PC.

Check the specs on the hard drive, but most likely it is "not slow". Really
old PCs have 5400RPM drives, but 7200RPM drives have been around for quite
some time, and new PCs generally still come with them. I haven't seen any
place online that builds systems with hard drives faster than that, you may
have to build your own to get one. I haven't finished researching yet which
current drive is the fastest (and still affordable?), Raptor, or SATA?

Upgrading the video card may also be a good option, but you have to check
the slot type and power requirements. I forget what power supply I have in
my home system, but I'm considering upgrading my 64MB AGP video card to a
256MB AGP. I searched for 256 cards and most came up with a new kind of
PCI, which would require a MB upgrade. The MB changes put limitations on
upgrades. I can switch from GeForce3 to GeForce5, but not GeForce7.
 
Kevin said:
Hi,

I have an older Dell Inspireon 4600 midi-tower system that I would
like to upgrade. All I want to do is replace the CPU for a more up to
date model and also increase the RAM to 1Gb. I've reviewed the Dell
technical support information but cannot find any technical
information regarding the motherboard and especially the socket
requirements. I need to understand if the mobo would support an AMD
Athlon CPU. I understand that there may be specific issues such as
power consumption and heat which may mean that I need to upgrade the
motherboard but that would be plan B. Plan A is to replace the CPU.

Any help or information pertaining to the Dell Motherboard would be
appreciated.

Kevin.
Click to expand...

Is it a Dimension 4600 perhaps ?

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4600/en/4600/sm/specs.htm

The processors listed, almost look like Intel Northwood processors in S478,
but that is just a guess. Actually, the 512KB cache tells you that.
More modern processors are Prescott with 1MB cache, and the info on
that page doesn't say a Prescott would work.

There is a 3GHz Northwood (0.13u 512KB) here for $72, but it isn't going to be
that much faster than whatever you've got now.

http://www.starmicro.net/detail.aspx?ID=120
http://www.pricewatch.com/cpu/

An Athlon doesn't fit in that socket...

Paul
 
The only information I can find about a Dell Inspiron 4600 indicates
that it is a notebook computer with an Intel CPU.

Please double check the series and model number of your mid-tower
system.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Servicehttp://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
Click to expand...

Ooops, sorry yes it is a Dimension. My laptop at work is an Inspiron.
Sorry.

Kevin.
 
Is it a Dimension 4600 perhaps ?

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4600/en/4600/sm/spec...

The processors listed, almost look like Intel Northwood processors in S478,
but that is just a guess. Actually, the 512KB cache tells you that.
More modern processors are Prescott with 1MB cache, and the info on
that page doesn't say a Prescott would work.

There is a 3GHz Northwood (0.13u 512KB) here for $72, but it isn't going to be
that much faster than whatever you've got now.

http://www.starmicro.net/detail.aspx?ID=120http://www.pricewatch.com/cpu/

An Athlon doesn't fit in that socket...

Paul- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
Click to expand...

Thanks to all who have helped so far. It seems as I may as well go
down the route of building a new system, using the HDD's and Casing.

Regards to you all,

Kevin.
 
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