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DELL!! CURSE YOU TO HELL!!

RoachycaL

RoachycaL

RoachycaL

Soldato
Joined
2 Jan 2006
Posts
3,152
Location
Newcastle Upon Tyne
Hey guys,

A few of you might know I own a Dell Dimension 9100 barebone which I bought off ebay for a very silly price :) It included the chassis, Power supply and motherboard - it only needed a CPU, HDD and Ram to complete the system and to run a very nice silent pc. I learnt that it only takes Smithfield and Prescott CPU's which I was ok with aswell.

Now I have learnt that the CPU the machine is origionally shipped with is the only one the motherboard looks for. IE if I want to put a smithfield in there - the motherboard wont look for it. Now I have been told that if I flash the BIOS, it basically resets the BIOS and detects all of the hardware again *bingo*. Only problem is how do I get the BIOS flashed since there is no CPU or Ram in there? :P

My mum has a Dimension 5000 which houses a 3ghz pentium 4 HT which I belive is what this dell was shipped with. Have any of you guys had this kind of experience before? I have yet to convince my mum to take her CPU out and put it in my Dell just to get the BIOS flashed :).

Am I correct in thinking I would flash the BIOS in windows - turn the PC off and then swap the CPU's?

Could I just buy the CPU from here the place it in there or would it need to be Dell's own CPU?

Sorry I need to get my facts right before I buy a Smithfield CPU for this Dell :)

Thanks guys,

RoachycaL
 
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have you tried to boot up without anything? dunno if it'll work but its possible that dell has removed the option to flash the BIOS lol
 
It wont boot no, you can update the BIOS which the dell rep I talked to said it resets the information and detects the hardware again
 
The dell support site states that 9100 supports Prescott and Smithfield processors. Usually, the BIOS is set up to recognise CPUs of approved speeds only, so if a model supports CPUs 'up to 3.2GHz' then a 3.4 CPU will give an 'unrecognized or unsupported CPU installed' message and refuse to POST. I would have thought that the system will work with any CPU available as a configuration option for that model, so try configuring a 9100 on dell's website and see what processors are offered as original equipment. Those speeds should be recognised by the BIOS.

I think I have only seen the wrong CPU message on Optiplex models, as they are designed for corporate use and dell don't want corporates upgrading hundreds of machines with non-Dell supplied (ie cheap!) CPUs.

Can you get a CPU from a supplier who will take it back if it doesn't work?

Good Luck...

PS - if you get a dual core or hyperthreading processor, make sure it is enabled in the BIOS under the 'performance' heading - a lot of dell PCs ship with hyperthreading disabled.....
 
Dunno about that pc in particular but i've switched cpus on many Dells without an issue, for instance Celeron to Pentium IV etc..
 
GeezerButler,

Thanks for the help - I really appreciate it. Basically Im getting told so many stories its untrue but all of the dell rep's ive spoken to say it supports only "Prescott" and "smithfield CPU's" up to 820. That includes from OcUk:

Intel Pentium 4 820 Dual Core

The reason I havent put 805 is becuase it says "Only compatible with Intel based 945/955/975 series mainboards". I think the motherboard in this model is a 945i so I cant imagine it would work - can anyone tell me?

I dont know anywhere that would sell one to me and let me return it if It didnt work - would OcUk let me do you think?

I understand the thing about corperate computers with the Optiplex series so I suppose it makes sense. I just know that dell dont like people upgrading their computers especially the CPU's.
 
ALso I need to ask - will the Intel Pentium 4 820 Dual Core from OcuK sit nicely in the Dell? They dont use their own CPU's do they? Ive never installed an LGA775 CPU before so I wouldnt have a clue how to
 
Same cpus, nothings different. Er, the 945i is the same as the 945. The pentium D 805 is a Smithfield btw.
 
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Forget it. Sell the barebone on ebay. Those Dell mainboards are rubbish.

BIOS is locked - no overclocking, no cpu or system temps
No fan headers
Dell PSUs are rubbish too - don't expect to put a decent gfx card in that needs extra power

The chipsets are probably crap for gaming too.

Basically the person stripped out anything of worth and sold you the rubbish (Power supply and motherboard ).

Theyv'e obvious put all those components into a decent MB and assembled it all in a nice new case.
 
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I appreciate your advice but its not going to be used for gaming. Dell sell their pc's all over the world to all kinds of people so I wouldnt say motherboards made by foxconn are rubbish tbh. Its going to be used as my main pc for surfing the web/downloading things/playing music etc. Its got an X300 in it and Im putting a spare Audigy 4 in it.

As for my main pc - thats going to be used for gaming
 
I refuse to believe that it will only work with the cpu it was built with. AFAIK, that is not even possible and I've been building computers professonally for twenty years. Have you any proof of this?
 
Yea i doubt they'd take the time out to inconvenience everyone like that lol, anyhow like i said i've replaced cpus in Dells with ones of differing speeds and models for years without problems. Also like i said to the OP, hes got a 945 chipset and the 805 is a Smithfield, guess he did'nt read that.
 
It's just not worth it.

You could buy £30 case with PSU included - will be better than the Dell case for sure

and an AMD motherboard for around £40.

Then you can buy a cheap AMD cpu and you'll be able to overclock it.

This will be a MUCH better computer.
 
The guy stripped out the cpu from the Dell computer to put it in a new motherboard. It's obvious. He was annoyed he couldn't overclock his Dell (I was). He sold the junk parts (case , psu , MB) to you.

If you're lucky, some other mug will buy them off of you. :)
 
This is just to illustrate what can be purchased for £110

AMD (Venice) Athlon 64Bit 3000+ Socket 939pin 512k L2cache 90nm Retail Boxed Processor £40.98

ASUS A8V-XE SKT 939 PCI-E 6 channel audio LAN ATX £31.11

Antler PC-194 ATX Middle Tower Case in Black/Silver with USB2.0/Audio/1394 + Rear Case Fan and P4 350w PSU (No Power Cord) £17.01

VAT: £16.61
Total: £111.40

Cheapest Smithfield is the Pentium D 805 (£70) and you won't be overclocking it, in that nice Dell (stroke stroke ) MB.

As you can probably tell, I don't like Dell :mad:
 
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Like a previous poster, I'd put money on your DELL motherboard accepting other 'compatible' processors without a hitch.

However, going by my experience of the proprietary (non-standard) rubbish that usually comes installed in a DELL system, your choice will probably be very limited and hard to discern. I must apologise for the negative nature of my post, but this is why DELL systems are so cheap in the first place. They aren't designed to be fully upgradeable.
 
Some might go as far as to say they're not designed either. They're bodged. Dells are designed to be as cheap as possible to maximise profit margins, they always buy older technology.
Thats one reason why you never see a proper dell gaming machine, because all the demanded gaming components still hold some premium!
 
Im quite surprised nobody has said this already but, if you want to reset or flash your bios, then just take the battery off the main board for 10 mins and then replace it - that will reset everything! i did that when i was fiddling about with a new gpu i got a year ago - was on an AMD board.

Correct me if im wrong but that seems like the best option to me.....
 
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