Core 2 Duo upgrade?

Lucas H,

The Core2 Duo E4300 (2-core @ 2.13Ghz is a modest performer, but not terrible- if on the right motherboard. On Passmark the highest CPU score is one overclocked to 3.2GHz and scoring 2267. That however is on an ASUS P5B Deluxe motherboard which apparently can get quite a lot out of that era of CPU. The highest CPU score at the standard speed of 1.8GHz on a contemporary motherboard is 1315 in a Dell Dimension E520.

There is a version of the p890t called the "-a" which can use the E6700 Core2 Duo 2.66GHz- quite good for that era, but you may limited to the E4700 Core2 Duo 2.6GHz:

http://ark.intel.com/products/34441/Intel-Core2-Duo-Processor-E4700-2M-Cache-2_60-GHz-800-MHz-FSB

> which scores 1829 at the 2.6 speed but again on an ASUS P5KPL-AM.

If however you find you can use the E6700 that is listed as compatible with the p890t-a, on Passmark at 2.66 on a contemporary HP board, the CPU score is 2038. I have a Dell Dimension E520 that I upgraded:

Dell Dimension E520 (2006)( Original): Pentium D 830 dual core @3.0GHz > 2GB DDR2 667 > GeForce 7300LE > 2X Dell 19" LCD > Windows XP Professional 32-bit
[Passmark system rating = 384, CPU = 613 / 2D= 248 / 3D=72 / Mem= 562 / Disk=521]

> with an expenditure of about $90 to:

Dell Dimension E520 (2006)( Revised): Core2 Duo E6700 dual core @2.66GHz > 4GB DDR2 667 > GeForce GT440 (1GB GDDR5) > 2X Dell 19" LCD > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
[Passmark system rating = 1219 , CPU = 2024 / 2D= 457 / 3D=978 / Mem= 828 / Disk=576]

So, if your board can use the E6700, add RAM, and an inexpensive GeForce GT- mine was $25, and you can see a nice boost in performance for a small cost.

However, at some point- if your upgrade budget can be $175 or so, I'd agree with KuroNanashi in suggesting a more forward-looking change. You could change the motherboard and CPU or sell the system and look into the world of systems like Dell Optiplex 780, 960's and so on. For example:

Dell Optiplex 780 Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.00GHz/4GB/250GB GE1793 > Sold for $127

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Optiplex-780-Intel-Core-2-Quad-Q9650-3-00GHz-4GB-250GB-GE1793-/181763152711?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a51ed9b47&nma=true&si=JxhOVb2tjQAxwLVF0LS45bHdepc%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

> And add a Geforce GT or GTX, with an eye on power consumption.

Dell Optiplex 960 SFF Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.00GHz/4GB/250GB GE1650 > Sold For $100

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Optiplex-960-SFF-Intel-Core-2-Quad-Q9650-3-00GHz-4GB-250GB-GE1650-/151695434692?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2351c0a3c4&nma=true&si=JxhOVb2tjQAxwLVF0LS45bHdepc%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

You can buy Dell Precision T3500's reasonably:

Dell Precision T3500 One Intel Xeon W3570 3.20ghz 4gb RAM > Sold For $108

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precision-T3500-One-Intel-Xeon-W3570-3-20ghz-4gb-RAM-/141622889283?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20f961cb43&nma=true&si=JxhOVb2tjQAxwLVF0LS45bHdepc%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

> and these can use 24GB DDR3 RAM, and up to Xeon W3690 6-core @ 3.47 /3.73GHz, and having healthy power supplies, quite fast GTX and Quadro GPU's

I bought a T5500 for $171:

Dell Precision T5500 (2011) (Original): Xeon E5620 quad core @ 2.4 / 2.6 GHz > 6GB DDR3 ECC Reg 1333 > Quadro FX 580 (512MB) > Dell PERC 6/i SAS /SATA controller > Seagate Cheetah 15K 146GB > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
[ Passmark system rating = 1479 / CPU = 4067 / 2D= 520 / 3D= 311 / Mem= 1473 / Disk= 1208]

> and after +$700:

Dell Precision T5500 (2011)(Revised) > Xeon X5680 six -core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz, 24GB DDR3 ECC 1333 > Quadro 4000 (2GB ) > Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card > Linksys WMP600N PCI WiFi > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3339 / CPU = 9347 / 2D= 684 / 3D= 2030 / Mem= 1871 / Disk= 2234]

Plus, the T5500 and T7500 can add a second CPU and use 96GB or 192GB of RAM.

So, there are lot of choices that can extend the usefulness for quite awhile.

I'm all for getting older systems going as well as possible, and if the budget is very strict, changing the CPU and GPU and adding RAM or the motherboard , CPU, and GPU plus RAM will go a quite a ways, but there is a tipping point in favour of moving a generation or two forward and that system will be more versatile and useful longer.

Cheers,

BamibBoom

HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 six-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz > 32GB DDR3 ECC 1866 RAM > Quadro K2200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > Logitech z2300 > Linksys AE3000 USB WiFi > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) > Windows 7 Professional 64 > [ Passmark Rating = 4968 > CPU= 13950 / 2D= 830 / 3D=3481 / Mem= 2767 / Disk= 4716] 6.20.15

Lucas H,

While looking around, I could not find direct reference to the P890T-PM version, only -A, which was also the only version with test results in Passmark. I did however find a useful list of compatible CPU's for the P890T-A:

http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-ECS/PT890T-A(V1.0).html

> in which the E6700 is listed as the fastest supported CPU. There are other CPU's listed supporting higher clock speeds, but the CPU ratings for Celerons and Pentium D are far below Core2 Duo. Note the latest BIOS listings and update your BIOS if it's obsolete.

The information concerning overclocking the ECS PT890T-A suggests it's not possible or unstable on that board, so my supposition without further information is that the E6700 at the stock 2.66GHz provides the highest performance on that motherboard. The E6700 though is quite a good performer and must have a very good architecture- there's a system using an ASUS P5G41T-M LX motherboard with an E6700 overclocked to 3962Mhz and Passmark CPU score of 2846.

You haven't mentioned your use of this system or budget for upgrade, but I've upgraded three systems from the Core2 Duo era- two Dell Precision 390's and the E520 and with the faster CPU, updated BIOS, maximum RAM, and a good graphics card, the results are completely usable. A lot of the performance experience, especially with anything 3D, will derive from the graphics card.

Cheers,

BambiBoom