Compatible CPU worth it?

Aropto

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Feb 26, 2014
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I have a fairly old PC, and not alot of money. I was looking at upgrade info and CPUS to replace my Pentium 4 3.2(._.). The info on my motherboard says it can upgrade to Core 2 Duo E6x00
Core 2 Duo E4x00 and some other older ones. What I wasn't too sure about was whether or not E6x00 included E6550 since its not 00. Since aApparently those are $20 atm, I thought that seemed like a great deal.

My motherboard is
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00864946&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&lc=en&product=3380263#N121

And this is what I was wondering if I should get to replace it
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Processor-2-33GHz-1333MHz-LGA775/dp/B0015L7EZM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393278758&sr=8-1&keywords=core+2+duo+e6550

I didn't know if the 3.2 to 2.3 mattered since the core 2 duo seemed a lot newer. I was going by passmark benchmarks which listed my pentium 4 at 300, and the E6550 at 1500.
 
Solution
The big issue would be whether the processor really feels faster than your Pentium. An efficient processor, like the Core 2 series, can feel faster than a less efficient processor at the same (or lower) speed, but the increased efficiency can only do so much. Expecting a Core 2 running at 2 GHz to feel faster than a Pentium 4 at 3.2 GHz (an almost 66% faster clock) may be a bit too much.

The E6700 would be a better choice, in my opinion. The 1066 FSB is more likely to work than the 1333 FSB of the E6550, and you should be able to run the E6700 at full speed. The higher clock would be a bonus.

Casey

cklaubur

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I'd say that your choice of processor is not compatible. Your motherboard can use a processor with a Front Side Bus speed of up to 1066 MHz, while the E6550 has a Front Side Bus speed of 1333 MHz. If it does work, the bus speed will be limited to 1066 MHz, which will not run the processor at full speed. If it does run, it would be about 2.00 GHz.

The Core 2 processors are a large step up from the Pentium 4, however it may be better to save up and replace the entire computer. Overall, you'd get a better improvement in performance.

Casey
 

Aropto

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Feb 26, 2014
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cklaubur

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The big issue would be whether the processor really feels faster than your Pentium. An efficient processor, like the Core 2 series, can feel faster than a less efficient processor at the same (or lower) speed, but the increased efficiency can only do so much. Expecting a Core 2 running at 2 GHz to feel faster than a Pentium 4 at 3.2 GHz (an almost 66% faster clock) may be a bit too much.

The E6700 would be a better choice, in my opinion. The 1066 FSB is more likely to work than the 1333 FSB of the E6550, and you should be able to run the E6700 at full speed. The higher clock would be a bonus.

Casey
 
Solution