Re: Upgrade CPU on Dimension 4500

Hi!

Community Forum Members seem to think that the 3.06GHz is
the fastest Northwood that my 845E chipset can handle, and that
information in Dell documentation to the contrary is dated.

It's worth a try. You can't harm the system--it just won't work if not
supported.

Now that I know that Dell didn't make an OEM upgrade kit, my
remaining options are 1) use my current heat sink - Forum
members say it's still good enough for the 3.06

It certainly should work. Dell's arrangement of air flow with these is
really pretty good--hot air goes right out of the back of the machine,
instead of being pushed down at the motherboard. You should use Dell's
heat sink.

I don't have to worry about cleaning off the heat sink and learning
how to apply Arctic Silver.

I wouldn't worry about this. If you need heatsink compound, the cheap
no-frills stuff they sell in a plastic tube at Radio Shack stores
works fine. Arctic Silver is good stuff but it's unnecessarily
extravagant for most needs.

The basic idea behind applying any heatsink compound is to make sure
that what you apply either covers the heat spreader (the metal top of
the CPU in this case) with a thin layer of compound.

I presume the reason for removing the rear fan assembly is to
give me more room to work?

It does make things easier.

I got this tip about removing the heat sink from the CPU: Run
the computer for a while to make the CPU warm, That will soften
the thermal pad somewhat.

The heatsink compound will form a tight bond between CPU and heatsink.
Even if you do this, you may find that the heatsink is difficult to
remove. It sticks to the CPU really firmly, especially after years of
heating up and cooling down. Go slow and be careful.

William
.

Relevant Pages

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