Thread: Upgrade E5200 CPU Dimension 5100 (800Mhz FSB)

A quick question regarding a Dell Dimension 5100. It has a standard ATX 800Mhz FSB Motherboard (with DDR2 and PCI-e) I was just wondering, seen as it supports 800 MHz FSB, can it support the newer E5200 Pentium Dual-Core? Currently it's running on an older Pentium 'D' 820 - 2.8 G Hz 2x1MB cache 800 MHz FSB.

Depends on the motherboard chip set. I would post your question in one of the dell forums. There are Intel 965 chipset atx boards available that might run the e5200 if they will fit in your case. atx format is dead. Best to get an atx case and move all your components over. Then you can run whatever you want.

It's crossed my mind several times; I'm just trying my luck without having that many upgrades to make. If it supports the E5200, then I'm good for at least another year.

Thanks to the invention from Intel and the failure attempt of all OEM's STILL installing ATX motherboards in the systems.

Doubtful, most per built systems have their BIOS' locked to a few specific CPU.
Even if the chipset supports it, you are probably still locked out from upgrading.
I doubt this will be an issue, though. No motherboards with an earlier chipset than the P965 have support for the 45nm Core 2 CPUs. Cheap pre built systems never use the latest tech and as the P965 chipset came out a while after the Core 2 arch was released, it is a safe bet even your chipset will not have support for the e5200. It is simply good for their business if you are forced to buy a new machine instead of upgrading. Profits from your upgrading and keeping the machine for quite a while longer are pretty low Just another reason you should build your next machine yourself!