Dell Optiplex GX620 + Core 2

Post your system information. You need an LGA 775 socket in your motherboard to be able to install Core 2 Duo on your system. You need to search for memory that is compatible with your motherboard. So you will need to find out what kind of motherboard you have and if you need to buy a new one.

He said Dell Optiplex GX620 in title.

No it will nto work, since yuour MB only supports up to a 8000MHz FSB. If you bought a Core2 Duo, you would need a board that does 1066 or 1333 FSB.

he he, 620's, we have like 200 of those at work..., here's a neat trick, put a cell phone on top of one and call it..., chances are, the thing crashes,  

no the board will support up to 1066Mhz FSB according to to intel's PDF guide on the chipset..

here are the spec's:

<<< System Summary >>>

> Mainboard : Dell 0F8098

> Chipset : Intel i945G/GZ

> Processor : Intel Pentium D 830 @ 3000 MHz

> Physical Memory : 1024 MB (2 x 512 DDR2-SDRAM )

> Video Card : ATI Technologies Inc Radeon X800 Series

> Hard Disk : WDC (80 GB)

> DVD-Rom Drive : SONY CDRW/DVD CRX330E

> Monitor Type : Dell Computer DELL E770s - 16 inches

> Network Card : Broadcom Corp BCM5750A1 NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express

> Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.01.2600 Service Pack 2

<<< Processor >>>

> Processor : Intel Pentium D 830

>> General Information
Type : Intel Pentium D
Internal Specification : Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 3.00GHz
Model Number : 830 (estimated)
Codename : SmithField
Revision : A0
Technology : 0.09µ
CPU ID : F.4.4
CPU IDEx : F.4.4
Microcode : MU0F4406
Number of Logical Processors : 2
Number of Physical Processors : 2

>> Features
VME - Virtual Mode Ext. : Yes
DE - Debugging Extension : Yes
PSE - Page Size Extension : Yes
TSC - Time Stamp Counter : Yes
MSR - Model Specific Registers : Yes
PAE - Physical Address Extension : Yes
MCE - Machine Check Exception : Yes
APIC - Local APIC Built-in : Yes
SEP - Fast System Call : Yes
MTRR - Memory Type Range Reg. : Yes
PGE - Page Global Enable : Yes
MCA - Machine Check Architecture : Yes
PAT - Page Attribute Table : Yes
PSE36 - 36-bit Page Size Extension : Yes
PSN - Unique Serial Number : No
DS - Debug Trace & EMON Store : Yes
ACPI - Software Clock Control : Yes
SS - Self Snoop : Yes
TM - Thermal Monitor : Yes
HTT - Hyper-Threading : Yes
SBF - Signal Break on FERR : Yes
MON - Monitor/Mwait : Yes
DSCPL - CPL qualified Debug Store : Yes
TM2 - Thermal Monitor 2 : No
CID - Context ID : Yes
EST - Enhanced SpeedStep Technology : Yes
XD - No-execute Page : Yes
VT - Vanderpool Technology : No
LT - LaGrande Technology : No

>> Miscellaneous
FPU - Co-processor Built-in : Yes
CX8 - CMPXCHG8B : Yes
CX16 - CMPXCHG16B : Yes
CMOV - Conditionnal Move Inst. : Yes
CLF - Cache Line Flush : Yes
FXSR - Fast Float Save & Restore : Yes
xTPR - Send Task Priority : Yes
DCA - Direct Cache Access : No
DAZ - Denormals Are Zero : Yes
MMX Technology : Yes
SSE Technology : Yes
SSE2 Technology : Yes
SSE3 Technology : Yes
S-SSE3 : No
SSE4A : No
Intel64 (EM64T) : Yes
IA-64 Technology : No
PBE - Pend. Brk. EN. : Yes
LAHF - LAHF/SAHF Inst. : No

>> Features Hyper-Threading
Technology Enabled : No

>> Features Multi-Core
Physical Processor #1 (Core #1) : Apic ID 0
Physical Processor #1 (Core #2) : Apic ID 1

>> Addressing Information
Physical Addressing max. : 36-bit
Linear Addressing max. : 48-bit

>> Advanced Settings
In Order Queue Depth : 12
Fast-Strings : Yes
x87 FPU Opcode : No
Thermal Monitor : Yes
Split-Lock : Yes
Performance Monitoring : Yes
Prefetch Queue : Yes
Branch Trace Storage : Yes
C1E - Enhanced Halt State : Yes
Temperature Control : 98 °C
PRB - Performance Requirement Bit : Yes

>> Mainboard Upgradeability
Socket/Slot : Microprocessor
Upgrade interface : ZIF Socket
Supported Speed : 4000 MHz (or more)
Supported Voltage : 1.4V

> Frequency : 3000 MHz

>> General Information
Real Frequency : 2792.95 MHz
Multiplier : 14x
Low/High Multiplier : 14x / 15x
Multiplier Locked : Yes
Marketing Frequency : 3000 MHz

>> Front Side Bus Information
Bus Speed : 199.5 MHz
FSB Frequency : 798 MHz (QDR)

>> Initial Frequencies
Frequency : 3000 MHz
FSB Frequency : 200 MHz
Multiplier : 15x

>> Frequency Control
Core #1 : 2992.42 MHz
Core #2 : 2792.98 MHz

>> Control Clock Frequency
Type : Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)
C1E - Enhanced Halt Mode : Yes

>> Thermal Information
Thermal Design Power : 130 W
Core Power : 121.03 W (estimated)
Thermal control TM1 : Yes
Thermal control TM2 : No
Thermal Control Circuit : No
Digital Thermal Sensor : No
ODCM Enabled : No
Thermal Status : Normal

>> Processor Performance Information
Throttle Mode AC : None
Throttle Mode DC : Adaptive
Current Configuration : None
Throttle : 2992 MHz

> Number of Core : 2

> Support : LGA 775

> Data Cache L1 : 2 x 16 KB

>> General Information
Write Mode : Write-Through
Place : Internal

>> Cache Information
Data Cache : 2 x 16 KB (8-way, 64 bytes line size)
L1 Context Mode : Adaptive

> Trace Cache L1 : 2 x 12 Kµops

>> Cache Information
Trace Cache L1 : 12 Kµops (8-way)

> Cache L2 : 2 x 1024 KB

>> General Information
Write Mode : Varies
Place : Internal
Multiplier : 1/1x (2793.1 MHz)
Correct : Single-bit ECC

>> Cache Information
Associativity : 8-way
Line Size : 64 bytes
Bus : 256-bit
Prefetch Logic : Yes

> Voltage : 1.356 V

>> General Information
Voltage : 1.360 V
MaxVID : 1.360 V
MinVID : 1.120 V

> FPU Coprocessor : Present

>> General Information
Integrated : Yes
Model : Compatible Intel

also it's the tower version of the optiplex GX620

http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/dell-optiplex-gx620/45...

this is the system- http://i18.tinypic.com/5yakpoy.jpg

Hi rebelxhard core,

You will find a lot of informations about how upgrade DELL OptiPlex GX620 MT at:

http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=pw_upgrade&thread.id=7263

But unfortunately GX620's BIOS can't handle Intel Core 2 Duo.

Regards,  

Bummer. I have a GX620 sitting here and was hoping to pop a faster processor in it. Oh well, keep saving for that i7 system. Thanks for the info guys!

on dells website it tells me that it supports Up to 840
(3.2GHz,2X1M,800MHz) intel duo core processor so go for it i bet it will work if dell says it will

At least you have to upgrade the motherboard as well, try to find dell optiplex 750, 755, 760 motherboards, they can hande Core 2 Duo and they seem in similar size. It is most likely that you have to upgrade your memory too to PC2-5300 or PC2-6400.

At the end it may be best option to just sell yours and buy dell optiplex 750/755/760 unit. The price gap would be less.

The Optiplex GX620 does support dual core processor but its the pentium d dual core,not the intel duo core which is newer version of the dual core processors.all i had to do was a bios flash and i'm flying with a 3.2 gig pentium d dual core processor.

Only one way to find out. Im going to install my Core 2 Duo 2.8 in my GX620 tower right now. I have the same one you have, so lets see.

Let me know what you discover Zeino!!! I've got a 620 that's needing an upgrade as well!

I'm curious as well, I just received two GX620's that are in decent condition with socket 775, if I could throw in a core 2 i'd be pretty content with them.

Any luck? Can we istall core2duo 1.8 with 2mb cash & 800 bus socket775

Is there much of a difference from Pentium 4HT and Pentium D??

Zeino is GX620 support Core 2 Duo Processor ?? can u Please tell me why my 2GB Ram of speed 800mhz shows 533mhz in step up ?? when i placed same RAM In other Pc it will show 800mhz but when i placed in GX620 it will show 533mhz ??? why so ?? reply who know about it ....

I wouldn't try this unless you want to "fry" your Core 2 Duo. However, the GX620 DOES support the 9xx series of Pentium D processors. Just make sure you have the latest BIOS. I currently have a Pentium D 940 processor (SL95W) running W7 Professional (64-bit) on my Optiplex GX620. And, it runs W7 Pro (64-bit) VERY respectfully, considering that the Pentium D is "old" technology. My minimum W7 WEI score is 5.0 (the processor, of course). You can "goose" performance a little by using the Pentium D 950 processor (I recommend the SL95V, for economy and cooler temperatures...). Anyway, if you go this route, you might want to consider a beefed-up power supply, and a supplementary fan(s) blowing on your W7 compatible video card. Also, think about getting a supplementary case exhaust fan (at least 80mm) to help get rid of the heat. Even the recommended 95 watt versions of the Pentium D can run hot...

Of course, if you're just going to run XP, or Linux, it probably won't pay to upgrade your processor. Hope this info helps.

Jerry44

Dont know but for all those interested the intell board for the Dell 620 supports 1066fbs.Im running a pentium D second generation in mine right now.According to the specs though it should support Core 2 duo.The board has intel 945cg chipset and you must install the latest bios which is A11.its easy to install just download from Dell suport site save and run,its an exe file and it will do everything automaticaly.This bios update allows support for newer processor up to 1066fbs.
I however recomend the better heatsink with the 4 copper heatpipes for more effcient cooling.Also add an additional fan for cooling.Im also using pc 800 dual channel corsair ram.The machine nisnt to shabby for multitasking.

HT=hyper threading,Pentium D has speedstep inhancement no hyper threading.That being said its still faster but they run hot as stated up 120*f.The 9 series D doesnt run quite as hot though.

I've just "upgraded my son's GX620 based on this thread... I went from a Pentium 4 630 SL8Q7 to a Pentium D 945.

It worked first time but when I ran the W7 WEI the score for the CPU had actually gone down from 3.2 to 3.2 !!

Was this a smart move or havbe I taken a step backwards (at a cost of £40!!)

cheers,

Daran.

oops - should have said 3.4 to 3.2

Any chance of an answer to my previous post guys?

Also, since the upgrade, the CPU fan sounds like Harrier Jet about to take off! Can I replace this with something like the "Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 CPU Cooler"

Wow, old Dell's get new LEASE on LIFE, read about it here! I got one with bad caps, among several SX280s, so small there is no room for PCI cards of any type, the SFF GX620 is meant for HT single core Pentium Celeron, also specs list lower then 800 speed DDR2, which is what I just bought. I got a 3.2Gig PentiumD that did not work on the SX280s, or an IBM M51 tower, it worked on a 3rd party MSI board for 45nm tech Quad and Core2Duo chips, so it's a "fill in" on that board since I lack those fancy CPUs, they also sold out of the PentiumDs they did have for sale, bought the one and then they were gone! Strange. Anyway, I would like something GTA game capable, GTA4, which has problems with PCs due to what people call "porting from console"?? Not sure what to believe there though

I have a dell optiplex gx620 full tower....

i tryed running gta 4 on it and it didn't go well..! it keept freezing and was very slow


I have 2GB of ram and a Intel Pentium 4 3.4GHz HT (Hyper Threading) CPU
and a 512MB video card but its cheap but it plays a few games ok


I was not even close to playing gta 4  

Games i played so far after getting the gx620

F.E.A.R (on medium Graphics) with my Card
F.E.A.R 2 (Between low and medium Graphics had to overclock a little)
Dead space (works great when everything is on low but overclocked a little)
Fable Lost Chapters (everything on high works really good no problems)


This is my video card >> Geforce 8400 GS (theres 2 different kinds theres one with a see through white fan and a black one (I have the black one) but they have the same spec so i don't really see the difference

In the future i plan on switching the gx620 Mobo with a 755 so i can use core 2 cpu's (That would be nice   )

Yeah, the color of the fan makes a HUGE difference, lol. The 8400GS is NOT a gaming card, so it really doesn't matter which one you get. I suggest you do some research on video cards before you buy your next one.

hi i tried the core 2 due with no luck i have the latest bios a11! so im going to try the Pentium D 900 series processor like a 925 or 950 will any one work as long as its socket 775? there are laods!

i have a dell optiplex gx620 with chip set i945p and bios a11 this should run with a Pentium d 950 processor but it does not work all i get is the fan spinning full speed and nothing ells! anyone know what im doing wrong any info is much appreciated!

^ What are your specs? Is this the tower model or low profile? Has anyone here successfully upgraded to D 950? I keep finding posts of people that say they did, but the detailed links are always dead. I'm trying to figure out which CPU to upgrade my GX620 Tower to. So far the D 945 seems to work for most people (it's also what the OptiPlex 745 runs, so it makes sense), but D 950 is a little murky. Anyone have any insights or links on the matter?

TO be honest, the performance diff from the highest pentium D 9xx to the lowest Pentium D 9xx is not that much.
go with something you can get the cheapest, and stay in the middle of the road if you want the best result.
better yet, save the money and get a newer mainboard.
you will be much happier.

I just obtained (recycled) a GX620 desktop and will be upgrading to a Pentium D 930 chip to support VT-x and will use it for VMWare ESXi. Have installed 4GB of memory, 1.5TB & 2TB internal 5400 RPM Sata drives. Will report on how it goes.

I will run several linux images on for samba (for multimedia sharing, backup space), apache, dokuwiki, dhcpd and several other services at home. It will allow me to manage the services with one box, even when I upgrade or change Linux OS or make other major changes.

I figure with a minimal investment ($150) in hardware the payback in electrical savings (going from 2 systems to 1) will be about 9 months.

So far so good. I've got ESXi 4.1.0 running.

One tip, after installing the VT capable CPU and Upgrading the BIOS to A11, when trying to create a 64-bit VM, ESXi complained that the CPU was not VT enabled. So I powered off the machine. Unplugged the power supply from the motherboard, removed the BIOS battery, and set the reset jumper for 5 seconds. After I put everything back and powered on the machine, I was able to enter the BIOS and now under Performance there was a Virtualization option which I turned on. Then everything worked.

Another minor issue: I have 4GB of memory (4@1GB), however VMWare only reports 3,324.9mb of memory. This is not a problem for me as my VMs are not that resource intensive.

The Optiplex GX620 does abutment bifold amount processor but its the Pentium d bifold core,not the Intel duo amount which is newer adaptation of the bifold amount processors.all i had to do was a bios beam and i'm aerial with a 3.2 gig pentium d bifold amount processor.

FYI: The issue about 4GB of memory and only having 3,324.9mb of memory available was related to a 256mb video card. Replaced the card (with a Diablotek PCI 8mb Rage XL) and now have 256mb more memory 3,580.9mb.

I have the GX620 also and would like to know if it will handle a 3.46 ghz Pentium D dual core. I have an opportunity to get this processor and also understand it will run 1066 mhz ddr2 memory in lieu of the 800 mhz. Does anyone know if this combo will work ( I know the bios must be updated).... but does anyone see any other problems.....thanks rocknroller

I also have a GX620 mid-tower and want to upgrade. My idea is to change processors to a 950 (3.2 ghz or a 3.4 ghz...960 I think) and add 2 sticks x 2gb ddr2 ram giving (6400 or 800 mhz) dual channel, and of course, update the bios to handle the changes. Anyone know if this combo will support 1066 mhz ram? I realize this is a bit of trouble but I am planning on using the unit strictly for media such as streaming video and such. Also want to add a pci express card to provide HDMI output including audio on the HDMI cable (also need advice on the best card for this) . Would greatly appreciate any suggestions on these mods and whether or not I am better off to change out the MB and update from there, please advise....thanks...rocknroller....

I have several GX620 SFF and am planning to use one as an HTPC. Although I am not using it now. (Our company throws out old systems and I collect anything useful).

I am currently running a Win 7 Ultimate HTPC (using USB TV tuner card for over the air DVR functionality) on a GX280 with a 3.4Ghz Pentium 4 (single core) and it works decently for 720p.

I don't think you need ultra performance for this. A decent processor, Pentium D only (dual core 3.2 and above) and 4GB of decent memory is probably enough. I don't think you need 1066 memory. Even though the CPU may support the fast memory, I think the motherboard and supporting chips need to support it too.

As for the video card, the SFF case I am planning to use needs a low profile card and low power utilization. I was looking at the Sparkle GeForce 210 card from Newegg. It has VGA, DVI and HDMI.

I also want to connect it to a Home Theater receiver and was looking at a Xonar DG 5.1 or 7.1 to provide optical digital sound output.

Are you planning to have this streaming video machine anywhere where the sound might be a concern? If you do, try to pick low power components so it isn't too noisy. Intel has some great web pages on it's various CPUs and power requirements. I picked a 930 processor for a GX620 desktop which had lower power utilization than some other similar chips. If I remember correctly I have a 945 (3.4Ghz) sitting around for one of these machine. I haven't tried it yet, but if you want I can test if it works on the GX620. There are two differences between the 945 and 950. The 950 supports virtualization and uses more power. Otherwise they are the same.

Also I'd advise installing as little other software as possible. Less software to steal CPU cycles.

Yesterday I started setting up my GX620 SFF for HTPC. I upgraded the BIOS to A11. I installed the Intel 945 Pentium D (3.4Ghz), Zotac GeForce 210 card 1GB DDR3 (passively cooled - max 18watts) and the Xonar DG 5.1 (optical audio out - no HDMI on my old Home Theater receiver). Used 4GB (2x2) DDR2 667 memory (which clocked down to 533?), so I doubt faster memory would have any benefit. Using a WD Caviar Blue 500GB hard drive and Window 7 Enterprise 64 bit.

All is working fine. No problems yet with the power supply (only 275 watts). However it runs a bit warm. I will do further research to determine if it's too hot and/or too noisy for HTPC use. If I need to, I'll consider installing the Hard drive outside the case to give more room for cooling the video card.

I'm trying to upgrade my gx620 to a dual core as well. Did you replace the heat sink as well? If so, where did you get one?

I used the same heatsink that came with the SFF GX620. The system originally had a 2.8Ghz Pentium D. Note: You can't put a Core 2 CPU in the gx620. Just the Pentium D's or Pentium 4s. If you want I can take a picture of the heatsink.

What CPU (Intel model number ie. 820, 945 etc...) do you want to put in it? Is it a Small Form Factor case? There are 4 different cases for the GX620 USFF, SFF, Desktop, Mini-Tower. Each has a bit different cooling setup. See: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx620/e...

Unfortunately I have not found software that could monitor the system temperature, but my setup seems to be working with no problems. The CPU barely breaks a sweat no matter what I am doing. I do monitor the video card temperature which is quite hot but has not caused any problems (at 1080p) yet (peaks in the mid 70s C). It is clearly not a silent PC, but it's tolerable.

We watch a lot of Netflix, Hulu, record and watch recorded TV using Windows Media Center (off a Silicon Dust HD Homerun dual) and various other content.

Where do we find this bios flash that you used? was it A11?

A11 Bios is available on the Dell support site. Also the HTPC GX620 is working fine. I am preparing to build another one for use with Win 7 Ultimate, HD HomeRun Prime and Remote Potato. I may try to use the Pentium D 2.8ghz processor and 2GB of memory that I have available.

Just built another GX620 last night (so far running 4 in the house) and another one on the way. I am using Pentium 4 3.0Ghz, Pentium D 2.8Ghz (820), Pentium D 3.0Ghz (930), and Pentium D 3.4Ghz (945). All are working fine. The HTPC is working fine after 8 months of being constantly powered on (although it sleeps when it can). No heat problems yet.