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General discussion

Dell 530

Dec 22, 2011 1:26AM PST

Is it possible to replace a Q6600 with a i5 cpu or similar AMD cpu. I know i need to change the mobo. Or what would be the best cpu to put in a 530. It already has a Sapphire Radeon HD5450 gpu and a better psu. Thanks

Discussion is locked

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In short.
Dec 22, 2011 1:44AM PST

Change the CPU, change the motherboard.

And if you change that, you also get to replace the OS 99% of the time so budget for that.

My advice is to do nothing to this box.
Bob

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Dell 530
Dec 22, 2011 6:03AM PST

Why do you say that Bob ? Is it not going to be quicker ?

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I find we need to find the bottleneck first.
Dec 22, 2011 7:41AM PST

I have a q6600 based machine and for games I get more bang for the buck with a better GPU (video card.)

If I need it to boot faster, I can change to a faster HDD.

I can't tell what the goals are but if I were to change the CPU like above I would have to get a new Windows License and OS. At that point I've crossed the line to where it's cheaper to get a new PC.
Bob