madnoh Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 Hi everyone! I have 10.4.9 (semthex Kernel 8.8.1) running beautifully on a Dell Optiplex GX620 and I'm wondering if I could upgrade it to a Core 2 Duo. The processor and mobo specs are as follows: Intel Pentium 4 3GHz E Processor with Hyper Threading Technology L2 Cache 2MB / 800FSB / SSE3/ EM64T & Execution Bit Technology / LGA775 Intel 945GM Chipset Intel GMA950 DX9 PCI-Express Media Accelerator Intel SoundMax High Definition Audio Codec BroadCom NetXtreme 5751 Gigabit LAN Controller (Everest Home Edition lists my mobo brand and model as Dell Optiplex GX620, if that's any help.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guilliamo Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 AFAIK, no Intel "945" based boards support Core 2 Duo chips. You need an Intel "965" or "975" based board in addition to the new processor. A microATX board something like <http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/DG965OT/index.htm> will PROBABLY fit just fine in most, if not all, of the GX620 case sizes. If you do go that route, you can upgrade to Core 2 Duo and/or to the Core 2 Quad when those prices come down. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madnoh Posted June 6, 2007 Author Share Posted June 6, 2007 Thanks very much for the reply, guilliamo. I'm just confused by by reading too many different mobo sites LOL! I'm such a noob at hardware stuff. By the way, at <http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/945g/index.htm> it says "Platforms based on the Intel® 945G Express Chipset, combined with the Intel® Core™2 Duo processor, deliver innovative features and new benefits for both home and business." So, I'm not so sure about your statement there. Am I missing something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asap18 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 Many 945's can support Core 2 Duo, but it is dependent on the motherboard manufacturer whether they issued a BIOS update to allow the processors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guilliamo Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 asap18, you are very right. The Intel Board D946GZIS (mATX) and D946GZTS (mBTX) DO support Core 2 Duo, but not Core 2 Quad. I THINK the Dell Optiplex GX620 case will take an mATX board, but have never been close enough to one to be sure. I like Intel boards...they are not easy to overclock, but are solid boards that in general are close to what Apple uses, so strike a good balance between Vista and OSX86 (and Linux or ??) compatibility. Were I to go to the trouble of replacing the motherboard in MY Dell, I'd still go for a board that would support the Core 2 Quad to provide the longest lived potential upgrade path. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madnoh Posted June 7, 2007 Author Share Posted June 7, 2007 Thanks guys, I think it's clear now. Either I check for BIOS updates or I play it safe and do a mATX mobo upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asap18 Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 If you do decide to upgrade the motherboard, I would recommend a P35 board since they will support the soon to be release penryn processors, or the G33 chipset motherboards if you prefer integrated graphics. I bough a P5K-E, and am loving it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madnoh Posted June 7, 2007 Author Share Posted June 7, 2007 I've had no luck with BIOS updates. I found this link but it's only to " Improve OROM shadowing into BIOS." (whatever that means LOL) Thanks for the recommendation asap18, I'll keep that in mind when I build my next system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theodric Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Hiya, Dell employee here: I can guarantee you that the GX620's board is not the same as a mATX. The PSU sticks to the standard, but the mounting holes are totally different & will require some serious drill+fill. Also, the board is BTX-layout with the PCI slots at the opposite end of the board. Most Dells made these days are BTX, actually. It's also definitely not going to support Core2 chips (a business decision, not an inherent technical limitation-- if you're any good at patching Phoenix BIOSes it's totally possible and, in fact, already done). The Optiplex 745 is the first system to support Netburst+Conroe, and the 755 is a Conroe-only platform. Might amuse you to know that there's a 620 happily running OS X 10.4.9 somewhere in Dell, however. And it's a lovely Mac. I've run into a few problems with consistent kernel panics on virtualisation software (Parallels, VMWare) but qemu works quite well, aside from obvious speed limitations due to a lack of a kernel plugin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlitoes Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 so no on upgrading the 620 to core2duo? drats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strangedaze Posted December 22, 2007 Share Posted December 22, 2007 You can upgrade that thing. BTW ALOT if not almost all 945 support C2D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugzy Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 Anyone know if 10.5.2 or 10.5.4 will work on a GX620? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synaesthesia Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 Way to bump up an old thread! But yeah, you can run 10.5.2 - 10.5.4 on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theodric Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 It doesn't just run. With a patch to the sound and ethernet drivers and the SetMAC script, and if you can afford it an nVidia graphcs card (running an 8600GT in mine), it's 100% functional. I was considering buying a MacPro but...there's just no reason to! For reference, I'm running the iATKOS release of 10.5.4 with the ToS 9.2.0 kernel. Couldn't get it to work with the one from 10.5.4 (it might be possible, but the ToS kernel works perfectly well). Don't bother with EFI emulation; it's not really worth the headache, especially since you're stuck with NetBurst CPUs in these babies. SMP fully working (which is to say, both cores are active) on the installed Pentium D 945 and I cured my virtualisation kernel panics by switching from embedded graphics to a discrete card (a strange, but verified and repeatable fix, using either the 'tearing' or 'fixed' GMA drivers). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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