Hey guys, I came over this post after searching for how to upgrade my Dell Inspiron 531. I know it's a year old but if anyone could help me I would be very grateful. I have what the OP had except I Upgraded to Nvidea 9600 GT and a 450 watt power supply plus I have windows vista 32 basic. I was wondering if I could update the processor to 6000+ Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core and add 2GB of memory to my already existing 2GB DDR2 RAM. And if needed upgrade to windows 7/Vista 64 for the new processor. Thanks in advance.
Hey guys, I came over this post after searching for how to upgrade my Dell Inspiron 531. I know it's a year old but if anyone could help me I would be very grateful. I have what the OP had except I Upgraded to Nvidea 9600 GT and a 450 watt power supply plus I have windows vista 32 basic. I was wondering if I could update the processor to 6000+ Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core and add 2GB of memory to my already existing 2GB DDR2 RAM. And if needed upgrade to windows 7/Vista 64 for the new processor. Thanks in advance.
this thread is quite old, however yes, you can use that processor without doing anything else. I'm throwing in an Athlon II X4 (brand new, no official support) to test a BIOS mod to extend the lifespan of the 531. However 4GB ram is always nice to have (and likely you wont need more for another year or two). The processor unfortunately isn't a very big step up from a 5000+, however if you go from a 4000+ (or around there), then it should be a decent boost. If you can cool the PC well enough, you can even just overclock to 6000+ speeds if you have something close to it (5400+ for example) However, if you're feeling daring, I can send you the BIOS mod, and you can just buy an Athlon II or Phenom II and give it a try, but there's no guarantee it will work (it will unlock overclocking options though), and of course there's always the chance it will kill your motherboard. But if it works, you'd have the worlds fastest Inspiron 531 CPU on a stock motherboard.
PS: Make sure the RAM is 1.8v, the 531 wont work with anything higher (newegg shows voltages), I'm running 4GB (thats 2x2GB sticks, not 4x1GB), Crucial value brand. This leaves me 2 slots open in case I need more memory.
this thread is quite old, however yes, you can use that processor without doing anything else. I'm throwing in an Athlon II X4 (brand new, no official support) to test a BIOS mod to extend the lifespan of the 531. However 4GB ram is always nice to have (and likely you wont need more for another year or two). The processor unfortunately isn't a very big step up from a 5000+, however if you go from a 4000+ (or around there), then it should be a decent boost. If you can cool the PC well enough, you can even just overclock to 6000+ speeds if you have something close to it (5400+ for example) However, if you're feeling daring, I can send you the BIOS mod, and you can just buy an Athlon II or Phenom II and give it a try, but there's no guarantee it will work (it will unlock overclocking options though), and of course there's always the chance it will kill your motherboard. But if it works, you'd have the worlds fastest Inspiron 531 CPU on a stock motherboard.
PS: Make sure the RAM is 1.8v, the 531 wont work with anything higher (newegg shows voltages), I'm running 4GB (thats 2x2GB sticks, not 4x1GB), Crucial value brand. This leaves me 2 slots open in case I need more memory.
Thanks for the quick reply, The proccesor I have is the Althlon 64 dual core 4400+ 2.3Ghz So I assume upgrading to 3Ghz would be a nice step up? I was looking into overclocking my 2.3 too 2.6Ghz a while ago but I'm really not confident enough to pull it off, I hardly know anything technical about a PC.
It's the same RAM as the OP bought so it should work but I will look into the 1.8v.
Thanks for the quick reply, The proccesor I have is the Althlon 64 dual core 4400+ 2.3Ghz So I assume upgrading to 3Ghz would be a nice step up? I was looking into overclocking my 2.3 too 2.6Ghz a while ago but I'm really not confident enough to pull it off, I hardly know anything technical about a PC.
It's the same RAM as the OP bought so it should work but I will look into the 1.8v.
Thanks.
As I said the step would be noticable, however whether that justifies the price is up to you, but there are faster processors out there for $80 to $120 CAD, the problem with them though is you need to mod the BIOS (not too difficult) in order to get them to work, if it works, great, if it doesnt, you're out a computer. Thats too risky for alot of people so a 6000+ or even 6400+ would be a good step forward.
PS: Make sure the RAM is 1.8v, the 531 wont work with anything higher (newegg shows voltages), I'm running 4GB (thats 2x2GB sticks, not 4x1GB), Crucial value brand. This leaves me 2 slots open in case I need more memory.
*bump*
So 2GB sticks will actually fit on my Dell mobo? This week I hope to install 2x2GB Kingston ValueRam, hope it will work. Another question: You leave 2 slots open, but I thought the maximum memory for this mobo is 4 GB(?)
When the memory fits into my machine, I want to upgrade my psu to 520W and add an ati hd5770:) Can someone tell me if this is possible? I'm a little worried about the lengths off this vga.
I ran with 6GB for a while but decided running PC-5300 wasnt as good as running 4GB of PC-6400. And yes, that's a good choice, I run a GTX 260, I'm pretty sure it's got the 5770 beat in length by a long margin.
Oke, thanks for your advice. I'm now running the 4GB PC-6400 and it looks stable. Do you also have an advise for a psu. I was thinking of a Cooler Master Real Power M520, but it's 150mm long. And the standard psu is around 140mm.
you can get away with probably a good 20 to 30mm longer than normal as long as its not modular. If it is modular, maybe 10mm longer (depending on the connectors). My Odin GT 550w was a tight as hell fit (its a modular PSU). Cooler Master as far as I know is a decent company for PSU's. Though I highly recommend PC Power & Cooling (they're the best in the biz from what I've heard), Corsair, BFG, and Gigabyte are other excellent brands. NEVER skimp on the PSU
Oh, and if you want, overclocking is always an option. nVidia Performance Tools 6.05 will overclock the bastard, as seen in my sig.
Overclocking hmm....I tried ones with my 8600GT, but when I saw 90°C I stopped directly:P Today I removed my PSU (wasn't that simple for the first time), it fits between a few 'things', when I buy a longer PSU it can't fit perfectly in my pc. What did you do about that?
Things: 2 pieces of metal block a larger psu, or can you install a psu above it?
they just hold it in, almost any ATX PSU will do. The metal piece at the back will likely get bent a bit when installing a new power supply though, and probably the top rail of the case (where the top of the side panel locks in to the case). It wont bend much, its just to get the new PSU to fit, Dell's PSU is like 2mm shorter (in height). As long as the PSU is standard measurements you'll be fine (pretty much any PSU up to 1200 watts)
And I meant overclocking the CPU, not the graphics card.
Ok little update, I installed a AMD athlon 6000+ 3.0 Ghz processor and 2 GB additional memory. I unwittingly thought that my cooling fan would be up to the job of cooling the new processor but today after my PC being on for a few hours I seen the temp go to 61oC will being idle and 70oC will playing games and I read the critical temperature for a AMD athlon 64 is 70oC. Plus there's no chance of me being able to overclock it now.
Can anyone link some good fans? I have 1 fan on the back, 1 on the possessor, 1 on the 450 watt power supply I installed (It looks like a fan but not sure if it does anything to cool my PC) and what looks like a little one on my nvidea 9600 GT.
Is there anyway to add additional fans with the inspiron 531 tower? Since I heard the best way to cool your PC is have at least 1 fan sucking in and another blowing out.
Sure, you can add fans. I think (it's been awhile since I've had my 531) there's a place to attach a case fan in the front, in front of the hard drive cages. You can always add an exhaust fan on the outside of the rear of the case, just cut a like-size hole in the case and put a metal grille on the back of the fan so you don't lose any fingertips.
Modding is all about creativity, get creative and you can really improve the cooling efficiency of that little case.
How do you get such high temps. I'm running @40oC (idle) and I use the standard coolers. Maybe there's a lot of dust in your pc, cleaning is an easier option then make holes in your pc or something like that;) Btw are you happy with your power supply? Maybe I'm buying the 550 version in a few days.
Yea I'm happy with the 450W runs fine with my PC and not had any troubles though it might be a reason why my PC is heating up since all the spare cable are all over the place so it may be causing bad airflow. Yea I have cleaned out my PC with a can of compressed air and cleaned the fans. Do I need to buy a 120mm fan? I've seen cooling fans like this but I have no idea how I would go about attaching that to my PC.
Hope that's not the reason. If it really is, buying a modular psu isn't a bad idea. There is a manual how to remove and add hardware to your pc. About the cpu cooler, turn the black clamp/pin (don't know the exact english word, but there's just 1 thing that can turn 180oC) 180oC so you can remove it. I don't have experience with removing the fan, but maybe the others can help or you can have a look into the manual.
Hope that's not the reason. If it really is, buying a modular psu isn't a bad idea. There is a manual how to remove and add hardware to your pc. About the cpu cooler, turn the black clamp/pin (don't know the exact english word, but there's just 1 thing that can turn 180oC) 180oC so you can remove it. I don't have experience with removing the fan, but maybe the others can help or you can have a look into the manual.
Well after opening up my PC to see if I could move around the cables I figured out that I could remove the front cage part lol There was a lot of dust in there (2 years without being cleaned) and it has reduced my temp to 55oC idle (Gone down to 54 in the time taken to write this so might go down more) and my fan RPM is a lot lower, I can hardly hear it now.
Turn the black clamp/pin on the cooler I linked? I can remove my cooler/heatsink without any problems it's just for the cooler I linked do I need holes in my motherboard to screw it in the processor? Or is there a stand like the socket AM2 mine has for the heatsink/cooler atm?
That cooler, being AM2 compatible, should connect to the black 'stand' you describe with your current cooler. If not, the attachment device for the Zalman would replace that stand, through four holes that the motherboard already has for the connection of a heatsink.
That cooler, being AM2 compatible, should connect to the black 'stand' you describe with your current cooler. If not, the attachment device for the Zalman would replace that stand, through four holes that the motherboard already has for the connection of a heatsink.
Thanks for you help. One last thing, in the front of my inspirion there is grates, but the holes are too big for the screws to be able to add an additional fan. If I made my own holes that would be ok? And what if I cut a circle in the side of my PC and attached a fan there instead. Would that be better for circulation?
Oh and I don't see any additional pins in my motherboard for another fan, is there some sort of attachment so I can plug it into one of the PSU plugs?
It's perfectly alright to drill your own fan screw holes, just make sure you don't get any metal filings near your components, as you run the risk of shorting out a component or even the motherboard. Best bet is to take the whole computer out of the case before performing any mod that involves cutting or drilling metal, then clean it up thoroughly before putting your PC back in the case.
There are two types of fan power connectors, 3 pin small and 4 pin large. The 4 pin large connector hooks up to the molex connector from the power supply, the 3 pin connects to motherboard headers. You've probably run out of fan headers on your motherboard. If you already have fans with 3 pin connectors, there is an adapter you can get to hook it up to the power supply leads, but if you don't have fans yet you can buy them with the four pin connector already.
I'd recommend against cutting a hole in the side unless you're in dire need of air in the case. If you put an intake fan on the front bottom and an exhaust fan near the bottom rear, you create the best air movement profile for optimum case cooling, as the air is moving in one unbroken stream through the case, taking in cool air and venting your hot air. Putting a side fan on will break that stream of air.
an 80mm fan will fit in the front on the inside without any drilling, but it's quite a reach (if you do this, remove your harddrives and video card for ease) You can hang it just below the power light/button using just one screw. The head of the screws that come with any case fan is just big enough to anchor the fan, but small enough it'll almost sit flush. The fan will hang on an angle though. Unless you've got a fan controller, you need a molex fan as all the fan ports are taken (there's only 2, one 4-pin for the CPU, one 3 pin for the rear fan).
The back fan is 92mm by the way. I did this because my 8800GT kept reaching higher and higher with temps (up to 108C before crashing). Kept my video card cooler, at around 80C (yeah, that's idle), but it didnt compare to a better heatsink, which kept it at max 55 (load), and 32C min (idle). The same can be said for CPU coolers. You can add a front fan and drop temps maybe 5-10C (since the front fan isnt blowing on the CPU, like it will be on the video card), but a good CPU cooler will keep it in the 30's and 40's.
Since I plan on buying This fan and it sits with it's side on the processor, I suppose I should face it towards the back? So it immediately takes in the air sucked in from the rear fan and the hot air blown from the back will get sucked out from the front fan.
Since a few days I'm running an upgraded Dell. Wasn't that easy for the first time but the pc is still working:p
My new components are:
4 GB Kingston ValueRam 800MHz
CoolerMaster Silent Pro 600W
Sapphire vapor-x hd5770
Creative X-treme Gamer Fatality Pro Soundcard
Everything works fine till now, but I hate the position of the hard disks. I need an extra cable because of the distance between the hdds and the dvdplayers.
Is it possible to put the hdd's under the dvdplayers? And does it influence the airflow?
Since a few days I'm running an upgraded Dell. Wasn't that easy for the first time but the pc is still working:p
My new components are:
4 GB Kingston ValueRam 800MHz
CoolerMaster Silent Pro 600W
Sapphire vapor-x hd5770
Creative X-treme Gamer Fatality Pro Soundcard
Everything works fine till now, but I hate the position of the hard disks. I need an extra cable because of the distance between the hdds and the dvdplayers.
Is it possible to put the hdd's under the dvdplayers? And does it influence the airflow?
the way the case is designed, you wont lose any airflow for harddrives mounted in the normal area nor the DVD areas. You will need a 5-1/2" to 3-1/4" adapter. They're easy to find online.
Comments
this thread is quite old, however yes, you can use that processor without doing anything else. I'm throwing in an Athlon II X4 (brand new, no official support) to test a BIOS mod to extend the lifespan of the 531. However 4GB ram is always nice to have (and likely you wont need more for another year or two). The processor unfortunately isn't a very big step up from a 5000+, however if you go from a 4000+ (or around there), then it should be a decent boost. If you can cool the PC well enough, you can even just overclock to 6000+ speeds if you have something close to it (5400+ for example) However, if you're feeling daring, I can send you the BIOS mod, and you can just buy an Athlon II or Phenom II and give it a try, but there's no guarantee it will work (it will unlock overclocking options though), and of course there's always the chance it will kill your motherboard. But if it works, you'd have the worlds fastest Inspiron 531 CPU on a stock motherboard.
PS: Make sure the RAM is 1.8v, the 531 wont work with anything higher (newegg shows voltages), I'm running 4GB (thats 2x2GB sticks, not 4x1GB), Crucial value brand. This leaves me 2 slots open in case I need more memory.
Thanks for the quick reply, The proccesor I have is the Althlon 64 dual core 4400+ 2.3Ghz So I assume upgrading to 3Ghz would be a nice step up? I was looking into overclocking my 2.3 too 2.6Ghz a while ago but I'm really not confident enough to pull it off, I hardly know anything technical about a PC.
It's the same RAM as the OP bought so it should work but I will look into the 1.8v.
Thanks.
As I said the step would be noticable, however whether that justifies the price is up to you, but there are faster processors out there for $80 to $120 CAD, the problem with them though is you need to mod the BIOS (not too difficult) in order to get them to work, if it works, great, if it doesnt, you're out a computer. Thats too risky for alot of people so a 6000+ or even 6400+ would be a good step forward.
So 2GB sticks will actually fit on my Dell mobo? This week I hope to install 2x2GB Kingston ValueRam, hope it will work. Another question: You leave 2 slots open, but I thought the maximum memory for this mobo is 4 GB(?)
When the memory fits into my machine, I want to upgrade my psu to 520W and add an ati hd5770:) Can someone tell me if this is possible? I'm a little worried about the lengths off this vga.
Oh, and if you want, overclocking is always an option. nVidia Performance Tools 6.05 will overclock the bastard, as seen in my sig.
Things: 2 pieces of metal block a larger psu, or can you install a psu above it?
And I meant overclocking the CPU, not the graphics card.
Can anyone link some good fans? I have 1 fan on the back, 1 on the possessor, 1 on the 450 watt power supply I installed (It looks like a fan but not sure if it does anything to cool my PC) and what looks like a little one on my nvidea 9600 GT.
Is there anyway to add additional fans with the inspiron 531 tower? Since I heard the best way to cool your PC is have at least 1 fan sucking in and another blowing out.
Thanks
Modding is all about creativity, get creative and you can really improve the cooling efficiency of that little case.
Well after opening up my PC to see if I could move around the cables I figured out that I could remove the front cage part lol There was a lot of dust in there (2 years without being cleaned) and it has reduced my temp to 55oC idle (Gone down to 54 in the time taken to write this so might go down more) and my fan RPM is a lot lower, I can hardly hear it now.
Turn the black clamp/pin on the cooler I linked? I can remove my cooler/heatsink without any problems it's just for the cooler I linked do I need holes in my motherboard to screw it in the processor? Or is there a stand like the socket AM2 mine has for the heatsink/cooler atm?
Thanks for you help. One last thing, in the front of my inspirion there is grates, but the holes are too big for the screws to be able to add an additional fan. If I made my own holes that would be ok? And what if I cut a circle in the side of my PC and attached a fan there instead. Would that be better for circulation?
Oh and I don't see any additional pins in my motherboard for another fan, is there some sort of attachment so I can plug it into one of the PSU plugs?
There are two types of fan power connectors, 3 pin small and 4 pin large. The 4 pin large connector hooks up to the molex connector from the power supply, the 3 pin connects to motherboard headers. You've probably run out of fan headers on your motherboard. If you already have fans with 3 pin connectors, there is an adapter you can get to hook it up to the power supply leads, but if you don't have fans yet you can buy them with the four pin connector already.
I'd recommend against cutting a hole in the side unless you're in dire need of air in the case. If you put an intake fan on the front bottom and an exhaust fan near the bottom rear, you create the best air movement profile for optimum case cooling, as the air is moving in one unbroken stream through the case, taking in cool air and venting your hot air. Putting a side fan on will break that stream of air.
The back fan is 92mm by the way. I did this because my 8800GT kept reaching higher and higher with temps (up to 108C before crashing). Kept my video card cooler, at around 80C (yeah, that's idle), but it didnt compare to a better heatsink, which kept it at max 55 (load), and 32C min (idle). The same can be said for CPU coolers. You can add a front fan and drop temps maybe 5-10C (since the front fan isnt blowing on the CPU, like it will be on the video card), but a good CPU cooler will keep it in the 30's and 40's.
My new components are:
4 GB Kingston ValueRam 800MHz
CoolerMaster Silent Pro 600W
Sapphire vapor-x hd5770
Creative X-treme Gamer Fatality Pro Soundcard
Everything works fine till now, but I hate the position of the hard disks. I need an extra cable because of the distance between the hdds and the dvdplayers.
Is it possible to put the hdd's under the dvdplayers? And does it influence the airflow?
the way the case is designed, you wont lose any airflow for harddrives mounted in the normal area nor the DVD areas. You will need a 5-1/2" to 3-1/4" adapter. They're easy to find online.