Help Buying Correct CPU!!!

So, I was going to upgrade my parents cpu but, I wanted to make sure I have everything correct. They have a dell dimension e521 and have an am2 socket. From what dell had told me the motherboard only supports 65w processors and can only be maxed out to a 2.2ghz dual core. Is there a way to verify this? I would like to get them the fastest processor possible which from reading some other forums it seems to be the 6000+. My question to who can help me is can I go with any wattage above or below 65w or does it have to be 65w? And if it has to be 65w can I just go with the fastest processor at 65w? Thanks for your help.

 

You won't really notice much improvement going from 2.2 to 2.8 unless they are heavy users like multitasking etc. or huge Excel files and such. You didn't mention how much RAM they have as that's usually the best and cheapest upgrade. What do they use this PC for?

 

sorry their running 4gb of ram. the computer is mostly used for school work with a combination of games and internet. their running a single core 2.0ghz with vista which is pretty slow. thats why i figure i upgrade it for them just want to make sure i dont grab a 125w or 45w processor when I was told it can only use 65w processors. but, if it can use a 65w shouldnt it be able to use a 45w? just a guess. I never have to worry about this since i usually run 125w amd processors.

 

Oh, they are on a single core then! I thought they were already on a dual core, apologies man. Ya, the change from single to dual is almost miraculous!

I had a Venice 3000+ and went to dual 3800+ and never looked back! I can't tell you the max that your Dell can take, but I would go with Dell's suggestion. You might have to flash your BIOS too but that's not a given either.

Wait for some more opinions though as I'm just going with general principles here. Good luck.

 

thanks man. ya they have had the comp for a bit and i dont know how they get around with a single core. I just upgrade to a quad myself so i can understand how frustrating a single core can be. getting info from dell was like pulling teeth I have an idea what to buy just wanted to get other people opinions. To be safe I may just go with the fastest processor available at 65w and be done with it. Dell I'm sure is very picky with how far you can take things with their systems. thanks for the help.