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March 2nd, 2025 00:35
Inspiron 530
Hello everyone, doe anyone have a Insprion 530 Desktop? It an older model, from 2007.
I just bought this for a hobby project. I have been wanting to find me an older PC and completely update, upgrade, and refurbish it. If you do have this model, what have you done with it? What are you running for the OS? I plan to try and run either Ubuntu, ChromeOS Flex, or Windows 8.1
My system current is as follows
Motherboard G33M02
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 2.2 Ghz
2GB RAM 667
300 watt power supply
stock cooling fans
integrated VGA video
BIOS 1.0.18
I am planning to get the maximum and the latest of just about anything it can support. I have found that there are two motherboards - G33M02 and G33M03. The G33M03 can run the Quad Core Series CPU, and have up to 8GB of RAM.
I also want to get a DVI video card. Would 1GB or 2GB be enough? Nvidia or AMD?
I need to get a 350 Watt Power Supply to run any Quad Core CPU.
Any input would help. I've doe researching, and I want to reach out to anyone who has this same model and see what has actually be done.
Chino de Oro
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March 2nd, 2025 01:50
The famous Dell Rockstar @redxps630 is currently working on one. Check around the forum and you will find his posts. I also tagged the username and red will participate when available.
A while back, I had helped someone and worked on a couple of the 530. For performance, on one system, I performed a BSEL mod to overclock Q6600 to 3.0 GHz, FSB to 1333 MHz. Replace stock cooler to an aftermarket tower cooler that could resolved the known overheating of the chipset temps.
The number one improvement is SATA SSD for boot drive. For network, add a PCI or PCIe gigabit network card. Graphics was GT 640 and the other with RX550, both can play 4K video from internet.
For OS, Windows 11 23H2 was installed as the latest at the time and they work decently well. This is also apply to Core 2 Duo with E series.
dbeusmc
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March 2nd, 2025 02:00
I somehow posted this in the Alienware forum? I re-posted it the Insprion Forum
redxps630
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March 2nd, 2025 02:29
Re: If you do have this model, what have you done with it?
I moved the mobo to an Alienware case just for a build experiment, and I moved OP post to inspiron board
I installed Win 10 and Win 11 21H2 on my G33M02 board core 2 duo.
It would not run Win 11 24H2.
530 case has a permanent back IO shield which makes the case hard to repurpose.
the board itself is ok using all standard 9 pin front IO and standard USB 2.0 and audio headers.
incidentally the 02 board is identical to Vostro 200 with only difference in BIOS.
it is a good sturdy board for retro project. I had one from Vostro 200 and it just would not die no matter how much abuse it took.
dbeusmc
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March 3rd, 2025 00:10
@redxps630
I haven't done anything to it yet. I just bought it off eBay and it arrived the other day. I did order 8GB of RAM. Its still on its way
redxps630
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March 3rd, 2025 00:41
besides those gpu recommended by chino, a GTX750 Ti is a good match for core2 quad cpu