BIOS update

[Jimany]

Cool! That sounds great.

Is there any point in upgrading my CPU?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

I'm not much into upgrading the CPU, because every time I have tried to update a CPU with a LGA socket I can never get the thermal paste application right, and the fan sounds like a jet airplane taking off.

So, I have given up on that.

Anyway, here is the link to the quickspecs for your PC.

If that is not a concern for you then one of those quad core processors should beef up the performance quite a bit.

The supported processors can be found on page 8.

https://images10.newegg.com/UploadFilesForNewegg/itemintelligence/HP/12863_ca1400297343039.pdf

[Jimany]

I looked at the dc5800 Info you gave.

If I were to install this processor...Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 Processor (3.0-GHz, 12 MB L2 cache, 1333-MHz FSB)

would I have to get faster DDR2? Mine are only 800MHz.

Does a different processor still use my same old BIOS?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

The memory is the same no matter what.

That is one of the drawbacks to the dc5800 and dc7800/7900 PC's.

The memory only runs at 800 MHz so that is a bottleneck for the 1333 MHz processors.

If you want to upgrade the processor, most likely you would have to run the microcode update from the W7 driver page and it is very complicated to do that.

I can make it easy for you if you decide to upgrade.

I am not 100% sure the Q9650 will work, even though the specs state it will.

The specs for the dc7800 state the max processor is the Q9550.

And the dc7800 has a slightly better Intel series 3 chipset than your model has

http://www.nordykassociates.com/pdf/dc7800%20QuickSpecs.pdf

So, if you want to go that route, I would not exceed the Q9400, or you could take a gamble on the Q9550.

[Jimany]

Thanks much Paul!

I've finally received my 250GB SSD. At this time I think would be best for me to not clone the old hard drive

and do fresh install. Is it necessary to partition new SSD before clean install?

I have USB installation media for both Windows 10 and also Linux Mint.

I thought I could install Windows first.

But would I need to partion before installation or will that be taken care of during install?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Yes, I would install W10 first, and you don't need to partition the HDD beforehand.

[Jimany]

Okay sounds good.

I plan to remove old HDD from PC then installnew SSD.

Then plug in USB installation media and then power up PC.

Will set BIOS to "Boot from USB". Windows 10 should then install

onto the new SSD. If all goes well with new SSD and Windows install, can I put my old HDD

back in the PC and have both drives available?

Would there be some way to select which drive to boot into on startup?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

I don't know how that works.

I think if you install your old HDD back, you can only use it as a data drive.