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Question

What is a good lga 775 mobo for overclocking

Aug 8, 2016 7:52PM PDT

I have an old dell 540 and i want to overclock my core 2 quad 8200. i know i should just upgrade but im out of cash from my last build and i want to do this for my brother.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Small world.
Aug 9, 2016 8:15AM PDT

I have this older HP d5000t with the Core2Quad and there are two areas that really give it a boost to what folk expect today.

For 30 bucks I installed the 120 GB SSD as the boot drive. I would have installed the 240 but we are trying to go cheap.

Boot time is now under 30 seconds from power on to when I can see a google firefox result.

The next area is gaming. The Nvidia 750 is your go to card if your power supply is not upgraded. This old beast has a Nvidia 240 so it's dated for gaming. A Nvidia 750 would help a lot.

Post was last edited on August 10, 2016 1:48 PM PDT

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Answer
Mobo
Aug 9, 2016 12:45PM PDT

If you change the mobo it is doubtful your dell supplied OS will function.
Which means you get to buy a new OS.

If you want a zero buck option start with.
Uninstall unneeded progs.
Make your startup group skinny.
Run a pass of defrag.

Be malware free.

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Answer
Why Overclock?
Aug 10, 2016 1:45PM PDT

As Bob_B already mentioned , Dell PCs come with a Dell-centric version of Windows. Changing the motherboard will invalidate the Windows product key so then you're stuck with paying for a regular copy of Windows and installing it from scratch on a reformatted drive.
If by some chance you have a spare copy of Windows available that's not in use elsewhere, then you'll need to do a little homework to choose a motherboard. This is because some LGA 775 boards support DDR3 RAM while others are restricted to DDR2. So, you need to confirm exactly which type and speed of RAM your brother has, assuming you don't want to pay for new RAM. Next, you must go to the board maker's website, click on the support page for the desired board, and read the user manual's BIOS section to see if the cpu multiplier and/or base clock is adjustable for overclocking. Usually, a Dell PC does NOT offer these adjustments in the BIOS. My GF's Intel DG33FB is a very stable, reliable motherboard but, again, i don't recall seeing any BIOS option to adjust B-clock frequency or Multiplier. Don't forget you may also need to slightly increase the cpu vcore voltage and, probably, replace the stock intel heatsink/fan with a superior aftermarket cooler. So, check out some available boards and their user guides which usually include a page-by-page description of available BIOS settings. Here's a link to dozen boards available online:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007627%20600007879&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=RATING&PageSize=30