Replacing Intel E5200 with D 950

[Nullfecta]

I have an HP desktop computer that is several years old, but it still works well enough and performs the tasks I need it to. The CPU it came with was an Intel Pentium E5200 Dual Core @ 2.5 Ghz, I believe the motherboard is an Intel G33/G31 Express Chipset Family.

Recently I decided maybe I could 'upgrade' the CPU a little, and I found a refurbished Pentium D 950 Dual Core 3.4 ghz CPU online for $30 and thought why not? It is also a Socket LGA 775, which is what the board apparently takes. I just want to make sure that I shouldn't have any issues dropping the D 950 chip into this board.

I realized that while the socket type is the same, the 'lithography' on the D 950 is 65 nm according to some websites while the E5200s is 45 nm... will this be a problem?

Is there anything else I need to consider when\if replacing with the D 950 (besides re-applying thermal paste and the heatsink)? BIOS is up to date.

 

[rolli59]

It is not an upgrade http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/93?vs=66

 

[Blahman11]

The Pentium D is a far slower CPU than what you have. Ever heard of the megahertz myth? Well this is a prime example of this. Intel for the Pentium 4/D used the netburst microarchitecture. It basically meant clock speed but no actual speed. It's all about efficiency per clock, and the Pentium E5200 uses the core architecture which is more efficient per clock. The E5200 can do more each cycle than the Pentium D, meaning that the E5200 is quicker although the Pentium D is clocked faster.

The Pentium D also uses more juice and although it's the die shrunk version of the original 90nm Pentium D the Pentium D still runs hot.

If you want an upgrade get something like a core 2 quad Q6600, or anything with 'Core 2' in it that uses LGA775.

 

[Nullfecta]

Thanks for that. I am aware clock speed isn't everything, but I guess I thought that the D 950 was closer to the one I currently have in there (2 core, 64 bit)... didn't realize it actually predates the E5200 by nearly a few years.

Any suggestions where I might be able to find a Core 2 Quad?

 

[rolli59]

Ebay!

 

[Nullfecta]

would instead adding a pci graphics card improve performance
...like a geforce gt430?

 

[Nullfecta]

I ask because there's currently no dedicated gfx, I don't do any gaming on the machine. The most intensive tasks are HD video viewing, light media editing, audio and video encoding. A tech associate at staples recommended an AMD/ATI card instead.
Currently Running Windows 7 or Vista with 6 Gb of memory.

 

[rolli59]

Yep a modern card will help with HD video even HD4350 or HD5450.

 

[Nullfecta]

Great. Thinking of this Gigabyte GV-R667D3-1GI Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1. It would be nice if I could also overclock the E5200 a bit but those settings seem locked.

 

[rolli59]

HP bios would not allow overclocking.

 

[Nullfecta]

Best answer selected by Nullfecta.