Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 not working in Dell Inspiron 530

[MarDaA]

I have been using Dell Inspiron 530 and it was working well with the Pentium Dual Core 2.0GHz without any issue but then I was willing to updated the CPU to a Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 and I bought the same yesterday but then now when I installed the same then I am not getting display on the screen butt then the DVD R/W and the HDD is appearing to be working fine, I have checked out the Pentium Dual Core 2.0GHz and even it is working without any issues, is there anyone who has an idea about this issue and can help me in resolving the same??

[Arun K]

I have been using Dell Inspiron 530 and it was working well with the Pentium Dual Core 2.0GHz without any issue but then I was willing to updated the CPU to a Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 and I bought the same yesterday but then now when I installed the same then I am not getting display on the screen butt then the DVD R/W and the HDD is appearing to be working fine, I have checked out the Pentium Dual Core 2.0GHz and even it is working without any issues, is there anyone who has an idea about this issue and can help me in resolving the same??

I am not very sure but then I have found that the Pentium Dual Core 2.0GHz used to require 300 watt PS where as the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600n needs 350 watt PS at least, I think that the problem here might be that the 300 watt power supply might not be providing the required power, just check it out if you are having the same case, other than this also make sure that you have updated the bios as well.

[MarDaA]

I have updated the bios previously so I don’t think that there is any problem with it, on the other hand I am having 450W PSU sop I don’t think that there will be any such issue that you have pointed out, is there any other solution that I can try out to get rid of this issue??

[Arun K]

In that case just go in to the BIOS and see if it is recognizing the Q6600 CPU or not, actually this is to be checked after installing a new processor but then if you have checked out the same as well then there are possibilities that you have received a faulty processor and you will have to get it replaced.

[MarDaA]

Actually I am not getting display at all, only the fans and the power button is staying orange and nothing happens, so how will I check the bios to see if it recognizing the Q6600 CPU or not??? Is there any other workaround that I can try out?? Any further help for the same will be appreciated.

[Arun K]

Are you able to hear any beep in pattern during the boot?? If yes then the it is a alert that the cpu is faulty or non-existant, if you are not getting any beeps then there are possibilities that the power supply is not able to provide the required power for the Q6600, even though you are having a better one, I will suggest you to better get a digital volt meter and then test the voltages from the Power Supply when the system is under a load and see what you are getting.

[Quasim]

If I am not wrong then you are not allowed to upgrade form a dual core to a quad in a 530 and this is so because the 530 system having a quad core has a different motherboard and so and there is difference between the required voltages as well, I think that you would have not faced any such issue if you had switched from the originally quad to a bigger one but then the 530 is not accepting the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600.

[MarDaA]

I will answer you both
I don’t think that it is not supported and all as I have checked out on the Foxconn website and they have mentioned the G33M motherboard to be supporting Core 2 Quad so I don’t think that there is anything like you have specified.
Other than this I am not having a voltage meter so won’t be able to check it out today. I will try to sort this out for one more day and if I don’t get a working result then I will be throwing out the dell and will get some other motherboard, I really did not expected this to happen with the update, I am very sure that there is nothing wrong with the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 that I am having and it is not faulty as well but then I am not able to track out the cause of the same.
Is there any other thing that can be tried out???

[Cain]

I think that the above user saying that you are not allowed to use a quad in a 530 is right, I have checked out for the same and I have found that Inspiron 530 is having the below 2 different motherboards:

• G33M02 which is for the Core 2 Duo
• G33M03 which is for the Core 2 Quad

So here you are having the G33M02 which is for the Core 2 Duo and that is the reason it won’t be supporting quad and if you are willing to build your own system then you will have to get a copy of Windows operating system as the recovery CD that you might have got with the Dell is just tied for the Dell motherboard that you have. I think that it will be a better choice if you return the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 and get the latest Core 2 Duo which might be available and suitable for your computer. Hope that helps.