ASUS M2N61-AX Motherboard

Right, my Dell Inspiron 531 has a ASUS M2N61-AX motherboard, as I just discovered. I am intrigued to know whether it will take a Phenom X4 straight off, and if I would need to buy a new PSU, fan or change the BIOS to get it to work properly. Anyone have any ideas?

 

As per Wikipedia, ASUS M2N61-AX mb is designed specifically for Dell. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_Inspiron#Inspiron_531

That means that only Dell can give you the specific answer. In general as it uses AM2 socket, I guess if you can upgrade the BIOS it should be able to run Phenom X4. But since TDP of Athlon X2 & Phenom differ, heat could be a factor [65w vs 95 w].

Since it already has a 300W PSU, I think you are covered on that front.

 

Four pages about it here:
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/18770978.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=&s=gen
More here:
http://search.dell.com/results.aspx...m&rf=all&cat=sup&s=gen&c=us&l=en&subcat=&evl=

 

****. Anyone have any ideas of a reasonably cheap motherboard that's AM2+ compatible? And will an Asus AM2+ nforce 630a ATX A L fit? (that's the cheapest one I've seen so far)

 

Lukeno1:

I admire your thinking and enthusiasm. Looking at your current system, it appears that you've already made several upgrades and improvements to your original Dell configuration. Instead of looking at additional upgrades to the CPU and motherboard, I'd like to suggest that you consider a different approach.

My first caution would be - even if it's possible to upgrade that CPU, you will find your current BIOS so limited that it's not adviseable. As to the motherboard, I would anticipate that a change here is also going to require other upgrades, including your PSU. Then, one might want to consider the limitations of your case itself. It would be very easy for you to get "nickel and dimed" to death and still wind up with a system that begs for yet another upgrade.

As an alternative, you may be better advised to look at building a whole new system without the restrictions of "will this fit ", "will that fit ", "will this work with" or "will that work with ". You probably could use several components from your current Dell and return it to more of an "original configuration" so as to not lose functionality of the Dell. The reasons I suggest this are basically twofold.

First, Dell and most other OEM machines are not good candidates for upgrading, especially in comparison to what you could build yourself. Secondly, you will get considerably more bang for your buck over the long term by building from scratch instead of continuing to pursue what else you could do to that Dell.

 

****. No idea where I'll get enough money to do that from.

So I'm looking at about £130 to get a Phenom to work?

Whereas I could drop an Athlon64 X2 6000+ in for £70. Oh dear.

I hate being overcharged!

Ah well, it would be worse if I had the 530 - Intel chips are way more expensive.

 

Sticking to Athlon X2 would be a good idea as there are not many multi thread applications out there which can make use of all 4 cores. You would save money as also associated headaches.