Upgrading my socket 478 CPU

OVERCLOCK!!!!!!!!!!

and please dont post your email

Yeah man, he may have forgotten the risk of spams if doing such things, or maybe he has a lot of e-mail accounts that doesn't make him worry that much   ..

There have been quite some questions on socket 478 upgrade recently but the hard truth is that an upgrade is not worth the money any more there. So just add some extra money for a dirt cheap X2 3600+ and mobo combination or overclock.

those lower end amds are a bargain and intel atm cant touch em for efficency and price

true be that actually

He has a P4 2.4G; an E4300 is a bit pricy for the performance and even a PentiumD 820 would make sense for him at the moment, waiting for some price drops. But then, a 512MB stick of DDR2 is not that expensive to begin with a X2 3600+.

Thanks for the feedback.
I know I'm working with an antiquated system - but then again I'm not a full-up power user so I'm okay with that. I can upgrade my processor and buy 2 sticks of 512 meg RAM for around $200. That and some overclocking will get me by for a year. If I buy a new CPU and mobo I'll have to buy 3 gig of new RAM and a new video card as well. I can afford to pump $200-250 into my existing computer now and start to save about $2500-3000 to build my next computer a year from now and not have to buy a cheap CPU and mobo (or cheap anything for that matter).
So I'm just wondering which 478 CPU will be best for me and if I'll have to update my BIOS for the P4 Extreme?
Thanks guys!
CJ

wouldn't he be better off with a socket 478 P4 3.2GHz with his current 2gigs than with a 3600+ and 512megs?

The P4 3.2 or 3.4 (no need for "extreme" version) will extend the life of his current setup for maybe a year (with moderate gaming) or two years (if not gaming, or only playing older/easier games).

I have a S478 P4 3.0GHz system and with the X800XL it still played CSS fine. FEAR was an issue though. There wouldn't have been a benefit going from P4 3.0 to P4 3.2 or 3.4, but for him, going from 2.4 there will be a noticeable performance increase.

If the OP has a bit more budget, he could consider using a dual-vsta motherboard. he could then keep his DDR1 memory and his AGP card, and buy a 4300 core 2 duo. I recall seing a report showing that there was just a little difference in performance between DDR2 and DDR1 ram on that motherboard.

If you can find a Gallatin (3.4Ghz 478 P4 EE) for $125 it would actually be a decent deal for that particular chip, and it is rather fast...

...but a 3600+ or E4300, especially if overclocked, would end it right then and there.

Simply not; even with 512M of RAM the X2 3600+ would kill a 3.2G P4 in almost everything.
to CptCeeJay:
A P4 extreme would cost you at least a large portion of all the X2 3600+ / mobo / RAM stuff and still perform worse than that and give you no upgrade paths while with the former, you can put at least an Agena quad when they come out.

Dude! You have a 2.4C, you can overclock that thing to at least 3.0Ghz. I know this because my other system is a 2.4C and it runs at 3.2. I have heard people refer to the 2.4C as the "legendary 2.4C", because of it's overclocking potential. That processor wants to be overclocked! If you want to extend it's life a little longer then that is the solution that I suggest.

Valid point. Those things do OC like beasts. Just keep that voltage beneath 1.65-1.7 volts!

Thanks for the advice.
I think overclocking it is a good place to start.
CJ

Good luck! And don't forget a good HSF to make it run cool and safe. Something like these options:
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=FAN-PDU22S
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...