Dimension 2350 CPU Upgrade - Celeron to Pentium4?

boze · Post by **boze** » Wed May 28, 2008 4:00 pm

I have a Dell 2350 running XP Pro that I've reformatted with the intention of giving it to some friends who are still getting by on pretty ancient hardware.

I wouldn't mind throwing a P4 in there to replace the Celeron 1.8ghz cpu it came with. How can I tell what cpu to get that will be compatible?

I've searched and read someplace that I can get up to a 2.6ghz P4 with 400FSB and no hyperthreading. But that's too old to be found on newegg and I wanted confirmation that I was shopping for the right thing.

Sorry this isn't a HTPC-specific question, and thanks...
boze

tehfire · Post by **tehfire** » Wed May 28, 2008 7:52 pm

According to this from Dell's website, the Dimension 2350 can support Pentium 4 processors that have a 400MHz system bus up to 2.5GHz, so it should work. It would cause a good performance gain, but I wouldn't spend too much money on it.

Just to give you an idea of the processors that could be floating around the internet, Intel has a list of every processor they ever manufactured at http://processorfinder.intel.com. It's a great resource if you're looking for a specific chip.

boze · Post by **boze** » Wed May 28, 2008 8:38 pm

thanks tehfire,
yeah, i think it's worthwhile if i can find something affordable.

any recommendations on where to shop for a cpu that fits the bill?

would something like this work?
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid ... 78&cat=CPU

it has a 533 fsb. i wonder if that means it just wouldn't clock all the way. i'm having trouble finding a P4 with just a 400mhz fsb - they're all 533.

thanks for the advice and the useful links.

Plekto · Post by **Plekto** » Thu May 29, 2008 11:04 am

You'll have to look for a 400mhz model on Ebay or Craigslist.

Expect to pay maybe $30-$40 for a 2.4Ghz model. It will easily double your speed over the old Celeron.

boze · Post by **boze** » Thu May 29, 2008 11:38 am

thanks plekto.
bummer that i can't just find an online store that sells them but at least thanks to you guys I know just what I need now.

=)

bitpoh · Post by **bitpoh** » Sat May 31, 2008 8:52 pm

Seems like 2.2 Ghz is the better deal
http://www.starmicro.net/SearchResult.a ... egoryID=28

SebRad · Post by **SebRad** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 11:02 am

Hi, I've work with a few Dells of similar age (Optiplex GX240 and GX260) and I can confirm that a 2.2GHz 400MHz FSB P4 works in them.
Celerons are available up to 2.8GHz in 400FSB (with 128KB cache) but don't be tempted, they are horrid performers. The few tests I've run suggest the 2.8GHz Celeron is aprox equal to 1.8GHz P4 with 256KB cache. And in turn the faster P4s with 512KB cache ("Northwood") are significantly better still. (The Celeron D "Prescott" with 256Kb and 533FSB is much better but not compatible in your system)
2.2 and 2.4GHz CPU for your system should be findable on eBay with a little patience and I'm fairly sure that P4 2.8GHz, 512KB, 400FSB exists but finding such a beast...
Regards, Seb

Plekto · Post by **Plekto** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 1:13 pm

Just for reference, my old system, a 2.4Ghz 533FSB P4 ran every game that I threw at it fine short of Fear and more modern ones just fine. Even HalfLife 2.

The 400 FSB isn't terribly slower, actually. What matters is the 512K cache versus the puny 128K cache in the Celeron, then the memory(1-2GB is vastly faster than 512MB) and of course, the video(not much that you can do here).

Given that it's going to a friend and it's not really upgradeable, I'd stick 512MB in it and the cheaper 2.2Ghz and be done with it. It'll run videos, download torrents, do web and email, and also older games like Counterstrike and so on. Not bad for cheap

Dimension 2350 CPU Upgrade - Celeron to Pentium4?

Dimension 2350 CPU Upgrade - Celeron to Pentium4?

Check out Star Micro