changing from Pent. 3 to Pent. 4?????

Question

I have a Dell Inspiron 5000e lap top. I would like to up-grade my processor from a Pentium 3 to a Pentium 4. Is there more to it than just getting the chip & putting it in? Does my machine have limitations which makes this up-grade a "no-go"?
Thanks.....

Answer 1

Changing a processor in a notebook will be a tremendous pain, and there is an extremely high risk of ruining the machine. Notebooks aren't made for those types of upgrades. You will need to figure out the manufacturer and model of the notebook's motherboard, determine which processors it can support and the socket type.

I would HIGHLY recommend you do NOT attempt this. Try upgrading system memory instead. Upgrading memory is cheap, easy and usually brings significant speed improvements to any system.

Answer 2

The processors both use different types of sockets and BIOS. The only way to upgrade is to replace the entire system board and processor. This will also mean changing the memory. Then the new board may not be engineered to work in your case.

And for what? The Pentium 4 is now an old chip as it was replaced by the Core 2 Duo.

If you want to go to a Pentium 4, sell your old laptop and buy a used Pentium 4. You can find one for under $400. Way less than a system board will cost.

Answer 3

I used to own 4 Notebook PCs and my slowest was a Pentium IV. I totally agree DELL Pentium III are obsolete and it would be next to impossible to make any changes bec of maufacturing & technology that any $$ spent or time twiddling around would only lead to frustration.

Pricewise you should be able to find a good one at the DELL OUTLET site between $500 and $1000 plus taxes and S&H.

Lessons Learned: (1) MEMORY at a minimum you want is 512MB and 1GB is better and 2GB even nicer. I paid over $1000 for my 1st Gateway Pentium IV Notebook and for the longest time was unhappy bec I never realized 256MB was reason why so slow on internet. Luckily I found the compatible 256MB to upgrade. (2) Size of BATTERY can be key esp when taking to lecture classes etc or in bookstore/library. (3) Wireless WiFi Internal Card is absolute must (4) Get the biggest Hard Disk you can afford and don't settle for anything smaller than 60GB. (4) CPU if buying new Intel Duo Core should be fast enough but if buying used, then I would recommend Penitum M Centrino as your minimum and never waste your minety on Pentium III no matter how cheap bec you will be disappointed buying something worthless that might give you trouble trying to unload.

Best of Luck and Hope the Above Info Helps!

Answer 4

No, the mother board or the main chip is built for a certain type of processor and will not accept any others. Your laptop will most likely not work with P4. And its almost impossible to replace the processor and its really hard on a laptop. Even if your motherboard accepts the proccessor you won't really be happy with it because it will never be the same as a computer built for pentium 4. My recommendation is to get more RAM. This solves most people's problem with slow computer.
For RAM:
www.crucial.com Run the System Scanner. See how much you can add and then add it.

Answer 5

Give that idea up, you can't just put a new chip in a notebook so easily. About the only thing you can upgrade is RAM, and that's probably one thing your notebook needs more than anything at this point.

To go from pent3 to pent4 you need a new notebook.

Answer 6

P3 is totally different from P4, you will need a new board, may be even new memory, new powersupply etc.. in the end, I would say its cheaper and better (in speed term) to ditch the P3 altogether.