Gaming New CPU

[Joey Ravn]

Hey, guys. For a time I've been thinking about changing my good ol' Pentium 4HT 3.06GHz processor for something newer. It is fairly new and works well still, but I'd like to upgrade it to, at least, a Core 2 Duo, since they are dirty cheap right now. My only problem is the mobo: I don't know whether a new CPU will be supported or not. I cleaned my PC's insides just a moment ago (tons and tons of dust

) and, while doing it, saw that it's really easy to take the main processor out and replace it with something else. This has encouraged me to try and change it, but I'd like to know if I'll have to buy both the new CPU and a new motherboard, or just the CPU. Is there any tool that allows me to see what kind of mobo I have and what it works with?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Lee79]

Everest Ulitimate will tell you what motherboard you have and what processor socket it has on it. Doing a quick google of "Pentium 4HT 3.06GHz" brings up a lot of Socket 478 Pentium 4's If that is the case that your processor is this type you will have upgrade the Motherboard, CPU most likely the RAM and also the graphics card if it is AGP to use a Core 2 Duo.

 

[sweenish]

cpu-z will also tell you about your computer, and is the de-facto program that many hardware sites use.

 

[Lee79]

cpu-z will also tell you about your computer, and is the de-facto program that many hardware sites use.

Oh yeah forgot about that one smaller to download also.

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

 

[Joey Ravn]

Everest Ulitimate will tell you what motherboard you have and what processor socket it has on it. Doing a quick google of "Pentium 4HT 3.06GHz" brings up a lot of Socket 478 Pentium 4's If that is the case that your processor is this type you will have upgrade the Motherboard, CPU most likely the RAM and also the graphics card if it is AGP to use a Core 2 Duo.

Argh, vade retro! That's what I'm fearing, that my mainboard works with socket 478. My GPU is PCI-E and my RAM is DDR2 Kingston (x2), so I guess I won't have to change them, luckily. This is what CPU-Z shows for my system:

Please, PLEASE tell me that red square is what I'm wanting to hear: socket 775. That will mean at least €150 less to spend on this upgrade! I will, eventually, upgrade my mobo, but I want to stress that "eventually"...

Since I'm asking about upgrading, I'd like some feedback on the options I'm considering.

~ INTEL CORE DUO E5200 2.5 GHz SK775 800 MHz 2MB DUAL CORE = €68
~ INTEL CORE DUO E5300 2.6 GHz SK775 800 MHz 2MB DUAL CORE = €82
~ INTEL CORE DUO E5400 2.7 GHz SK775 800 MHz 2MB DUAL CORE = €100

I'm leaning towards the first one. Is paying €30 more justified to get the third one? Unless I'm mistaken, and I'm pretty illiterate when it comes to hardware, there's a difference of only 0.2GHz between the cheapest and the most expensive ones.

Thanks again for the info given ^^

 

[xJonny]

You'll need to tell us what motherboard you've got for that: look in the Mainboard tab. Old 775 motherboards don't support Core 2s but yours might.

For the processor, you might like to get the cheaper one and overclock it (if you've got adequate cooling/motherboard features)

 

[Joey Ravn]

Right away!

 

[playallday]

You should be able to get a cheap-o motherboard that'll work for like $60 in the case that yours doesn't work.

Off topic but I had a Intel Pentium 4 540 3.2 GHz with Hyper-Threading Technology three and a half years ago! 3.2 GHz! Boy it cost a lot back then...

 

[xJonny]

It looks like I've found the motherboard's specs here:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/documen...cname=c00590356

and unfortunately it seems that it is not compatible with Core 2s, Pentium Dual Cores etc.

If you're looking for a new motherboard, you probably don't need to get an expensive one. Keep in mind the form factor (which from that specification seems to be MicroATX.)

 

[Joey Ravn]

Oh, that's crappy. I guess I'll have to wait and save for a new mobo too. Can you recommend me one from this list? There are some fairly cheap ones, but I don't want to buy something too cheap.

 

[Scorpei]

Hewlert Packard, juch!
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/documen...product=1845098
Anyway, no core 2 duo for you my friend if that is your motherboard. The best you can get would be a pentium D900 series, which is essentially 2 pentium 4's slapped together on one die. If you can get one for cheap it would be a nice upgrade. Else a cheaper motherboard could do the trick too (you have PCI-E) but I'm not such a fan of cheap mobos in systems I use (rather then using them in specific systems that won't change occupation).

 

[xJonny]

Oh, that's crappy. I guess I'll have to wait and save for a new mobo too. Can you recommend me one from this list? There are some fairly cheap ones, but I don't want to buy something too cheap.
That site asks me which province, don't know if it'd make a difference to the selection available.

QUOTELa página a la que intentas acceder no se encuentra disponible.
Es posible que hayas permanecido cierto tiempo inactivo y tu sesión haya caducado.
Pulsa sobre las provincias y selecciona el centro PCBox que quieras consultar.

 

[Joey Ravn]

Oh, that's crappy. I guess I'll have to wait and save for a new mobo too. Can you recommend me one from this list? There are some fairly cheap ones, but I don't want to buy something too cheap.
That site asks me which province, don't know if it'd make a difference to the selection available.

QUOTELa página a la que intentas acceder no se encuentra disponible.
Es posible que hayas permanecido cierto tiempo inactivo y tu sesión haya caducado.
Pulsa sobre las provincias y selecciona el centro PCBox que quieras consultar.

Oh, I thought that with the link I gave you, you could bypass the province selection. I could post the list as a screenshot, but I guess that would be much more trouble in the end, because everything is in Spanish. I'll check in a Spanish forum to further reduce the possibilities and then post them here.

Thanks a bunch for the replies.

 

[playallday]

Go look at newegg.com. You might find something that'll work.