What processor should I upgrade to?

[JD Jackson]

The processor I have right now is an Intel Pentium 4 (516), 2.9GHz, socket 775. My motherboard's front side bus speed is 533 MHz, which according to this article means I have these options for upgrading:

Celeron D: All socket 775 models, available up to 3.2 GHz (”351“ model).
Pentium 4: All socket 775 models up to 2.66 GHz, and 2.80 GHz, 2.93 GHz and 3.06 GHz models.
Pentium D: 2.66 GHz model (”805“ model).

I've done a search at Newegg for socket 775 CPUs (link), but from there I'm at a loss. What's different between Celeron D, Pentium 4, or Pentium D? Which processor is going to be the best upgrade for me? The fastest processor I can get seems to be the Celeron D 3.2GHz, is a .3Ghz boost going to make a noticeable difference? I appreciate any help you give me.

 

[jay_nar2012]

Celeron Ds are single core (the D doesn't mean dual core), it has less cache and is clocked higher than the P4, the lower cache makes them slower even though they have a high clock speed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celeron


P4s are single core, Most had Hyper threading, have more cache therefor perform better than the Celeron Ds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_4

Pentium Ds are dual core, they are basically 2 P4 dies in one package minus hyperthreading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_D

Pentium 4 or Pentium Ds will be a upgrade for you, you can find them on ebay.

EDIT: Also there are limitations to CPU upgrades, if the BIOS and Chipset both support a CPU it will work, if the chipset supports it and the BIOS doesn't then it won't work, vice versa.

 

[InvalidError]

If your LGA775 board cannot use Core2Duo or Core2Quad CPUs, your best upgrade would be to save until you can afford the jump to LGA1155.

Netburst turned out to be Intel's worst architecture ever, not worth sidegrading to.

 

[JD Jackson]

If your LGA775 board cannot use Core2Duo or Core2Quad CPUs, your best upgrade would be to save until you can afford the jump to LGA1155.

Netburst turned out to be Intel's worst architecture ever, not worth sidegrading to.

I'd like to, it's just for my girlfriend's computer though and she doesn't want to spend much. She only uses it for things like Facebook, watching movies, and playing hidden object games anyway, so I'm just wanting to improve it a little bit for her.

 

[jay_nar2012]

What computer?

 

[JD Jackson]

Celeron Ds are single core (the D doesn't mean dual core), it has less cache and is clocked higher than the P4, the lower cache makes them slower even though they have a high clock speed.

[...]

Pentium Ds are dual core, they are basically 2 P4 dies in one package minus hyperthreading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_D

Pentium 4 or Pentium Ds will be a upgrade for you, you can find them on ebay.

EDIT: Also there are limitations to CPU upgrades, if the BIOS and Chipset both support a CPU it will work, if the chipset supports it and the BIOS doesn't then it won't work, vice versa.

So if I get this Pentium D 2.66GHZ, should it be a big improvement over the Pentium 4 2.9GHz currently in there? Sorry if that's a stupid question, but I don't exactly understand the differences between them.

Also, I found my motherboard manufacturer's website, and does the information on this page mean that the processor I linked to should be compatible with my motherboard?

Thanks again.

 

[jay_nar2012]

When you have lots of programs open yes.

 

[JD Jackson]

What computer?

I'm not sure of the exact model since it doesn't say on the casing, but it's a Packard Bell B.V. computer that's somewhere around 4-6 years old. This is the motherboard it has in it: http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_Detail.aspx?DetailID=509&CategoryID=1&MenuID=16&LanID=9

 

[jay_nar2012]

Bad news , your mobo doesn't support Pentium Ds, only P4s and Celeron Ds.

Your CPU is already one of the best you can get.

You could upgrade other thing like get a dedicated GPU or more RAM.

http://www.amazon.com/Komputerbay-Memory-Upgrade-Dimension-DDR-400/dp/B006QNR62K/ref=sr_1_9?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1346764763&sr=1-9&keywords=ddr+400+ram

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nvidia-Geforce-videocard-memory-TV-OUT/dp/B004QO78WY/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1346764795&sr=1-2

 

[JD Jackson]

Are you positive? Not that I don't trust you, it's just depressing news so I want to be sure. Doesn't this CPU tab here show that it supports Pentium D? http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_Detail.aspx?DetailID=509&CategoryID=1&MenuID=16&LanID=9

 

[jay_nar2012]

It says for Pentium 4/Celeron, no sign of Pentium D.

Not even in the CPU support list.

 

[JD Jackson]

If you scroll down the page about halfway, there are tabs labelled 'features', 'specification', 'download', and 'cpu'.

If you click on the 'cpu' tab, it has a list of Pentium 4 processors and list of Pentium D processors. Am I looking at the wrong thing there?

 

[jay_nar2012]

I only see Celeron Ds and Pentium 4.

 

[JD Jackson]

Oh yeah, I was seeing Celeron D and thinking Pentium D. FML.

 

[jay_nar2012]

So are you going to upgrade the RAM or anything else?

 

[JD Jackson]

Already upgraded the RAM and gave it a dedicated graphics card earlier this year, they both gave it a good boost. I was just hoping to give it a little something extra.

 

[JD Jackson]

I'm thinking about upgrading the motherboard altogether I guess, since I can't really upgrade the processor. Isn't it going to be an incredible amount of hassle, though, making sure everything works with the new motherboard, getting one that fits properly in the case, etc.? I've never done an upgrade that big before.

 

[jay_nar2012]

And the computer being OEM, you could run into connector issues and mounting issues.

You can buy this board but that means a new version of windows if you haven't put a new copy on the hard drive anyway.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gigabyte-SKT-775-G41MT-S2PT-Motherboard-Rev/dp/B005RG96T8/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1346768130&sr=1-1