Help with upgrade

[ericaction]

Okay I know I have this lame sony vaio desktop (it was bought super cheap form a store going out of business).

I am hoping that I can upgrade the processor but of course sony can't release the mobo information. This is my son's computer and he wants better game performance, I installed a 8800gt and it is working well but the processor is a

Processor Intel Pentium 4 Processor 540 withIntel Hyper-Threading Technology 3.20E GHz1, 1MB L2 Cache.

I have 2gigs of ram on it for him and wanted to knwo can I put a duo or quad with this is it s 775 socket I believe, am I getting into some voltage or bios issues though> I can update the bios if needed.

PLease don't flame for the computer, it was REAL cheap and at the time that was the top processor you could get and I couldn't buy a mobo and processor for the price of the computer and it is very quiet.
Eric

 

[lostandwandering]

It depends on the mobo. I don't think any Intel chipset lower than a 945 supports a dual core. Try downloading CPU-Z, it should be able to tell you what motherboard is in the system.

 

[ericaction]

OKay its a 915 chipset so I guess I need to wait for the next computer build for him.

Eric

 

[TechnologyCoordinator]

OKay its a 915 chipset so I guess I need to wait for the next computer build for him.

Eric

It's a 915 chipset, but probably LGA 775. Your upgrade is perhaps still possible. You need to let us know exactly what motherboard you have in there and what FSB and voltages it supports.

You may need to upgrade your BIOS and you may be limited by what FSB your motherboard uses, but an upgrade should still be possible.

 

[lostandwandering]

It's a 915 chipset, but probably LGA 775. Your upgrade is perhaps still possible. You need to let us know exactly what motherboard you have in there and what FSB and voltages it supports.

You may need to upgrade your BIOS and you may be limited by what FSB your motherboard uses, but an upgrade should still be possible.

I was looking at the compatibility charts on Intel's website and it didn't seem that any of the 915 mobos supported more than a P4/Celeron D, unless there is a BIOS revision I am missing.

 

[TechnologyCoordinator]

I was looking at the compatibility charts on Intel's website and it didn't seem that any of the 915 mobos supported more than a P4/Celeron D, unless there is a BIOS revision I am missing.

Looks like you're correct. You might, MIGHT, be able to drop in a Pentium M.

Looks like a new system board and processor for you!

 

[ericaction]

Thanks all, I will bite the bullet and get a new mobo and chip then.. thinking q6600 quad looks liek a great price/performance to match with the 8800GT and I think my 2gigs of ram will work with it.

Eric

 

[TechnologyCoordinator]

Thanks all, I will bite the bullet and get a new mobo and chip then.. thinking q6600 quad looks liek a great price/performance to match with the 8800GT and I think my 2gigs of ram will work with it.

Eric

Excellent idea! However, if you put Vista on that rig, get 3 gigs, if you use XP, 2 gigs will be sufficient.

Good luck!