how can i find out if my mobo can take a quad core?

[colincliff]

Hi,

I have a Dell Vostro slim tower pc which is running a E6550 core2duo. The motherboard has the intel G33 chipset.

Is there any way i can find out if it will support a quad core cpu upgrade without buying the cpu first?

[Neilsson]

you could ask the dell tech support dept, but that might not get you very far very quickly!

why not get a motherboard id tool from somewhere like motherboards.org then look up the spec on the manufacturer's website, or contact their tech support dept?

[iranu]

This answers your question. Intel® G33 Express Chipset Overview

1333/1066/800 MHz System Bus Supports the Intel® Core™2 Duo and Intel® Core™2 Quad processors with Intel® Virtualization Technology (Intel® VT)±, Dual-Core Intel® Pentium® processor, and Intel® Celeron® processor.

[Rosaline]

The G33 chipset certainly does support quad core

However, the bigger issue could well be the cooling provided by the case, which may not be happy with the increased heat output of a quad core

[twicksisted]

just get a G0 stepping Q6600... mine runs about 2c hotter than my E6600 and both were on the retail cooler...

the new quads coming out in january will be 45nm aswell and are bound to run cooler still

[colincliff]

This answers your question. Intel® G33 Express Chipset Overview

That looks like good news. I was pretty sure the the G33 chipset supported it, i was just unsure if that also meant that all G33 motherboards would also automatically support.

I have tried emailing Dell but i cant see it being high up their list of priorities to answer questions like this