2.0 ghz to 2.8 ghz upgrade?

[imported_DZ]

I've had my dell dim4500 for about 4 years. I maxed out the memory with 1gb of corsair valueselect. I upgraded the video card to ati aiw x800xt. Now I feel like I should upgrade my cpu.

The fastest cpu that my dim4500 would support is a pentium4 2.8ghz 533mhz w/ 512kb cache. The cheapest place I could find it is at newegg for $88 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116215)

Is this the correct processor? Does the fact that it is OEM matter? Is the change in performance worth the money? Will the price drop any lower than this (With the new Core duo coming out and all)?

Please let me know what you guys think! thx

 

[broly8877]

You're gonna go from crap to poop.

Save your cash, do a complete overhaul

 

[imported_DZ]

Originally posted by: broly8877
You're gonna go from crap to poop.

Save your cash, do a complete overhaul

haha i wish i could...but im just a poor college student (that enjoys gaming)...so basically ur saying $88 isnt worth the difference in speed =\

 

[bobsmith1492]

A "complete overhaul" might not be as expensive as you think...

You already have a nice video card, a hard drive, a monitor, RAM, and... hm, CD drive and floppy or whatever.

All you'd really need to replace would be the processor and motherboard assuming you got one that could use the same RAM.

That, of course, might necessitate a new case and power supply (I don't know if your Dell is a standard form factor; probably not, from what I hear about Dells).

So, buy a case, power supply, motherboard, and processor and you've got a very nice overhaul.

 

[imported_DZ]

hmmm...thats true...but i heard that the windows xp pro reinstall cd that came with my dell would not work if i changed motherboards. is this true?

 

[Elfear]

It would work as long as it's just the WinXp Pro cd and not a recovery disk or some such garbage. Technically it would be a no-no according to M$ though as the license has to stay with the original computer. Load of crud IMO but I don't make the rules. There may be ways of getting around that legally, like using the original Dell case with new internals, but I'm not for sure on that.

 

[imported_DZ]

if i were to do an overhaul, i'd like to buy either the Athlon64 X2 5000 or Conroe...a motherboard (probably new ddr2 ram)...a nice case (at least $80)...that's well over my budget. I'm definitely gonna build a new system when I get a job...but for now its just a dream. so it seems if u guys were in my shoes, u wouldnt spend the $88 for the processor =\

 

[dexvx]

Well, its actually less money.

Pick a northwood 2.8 off eBay for cheaper. Sell your 2.0 for $25ish. Net cost of upgrade is like $25-50, not that bad at all.

 

[imported_DZ]

hmm good idea, thx!

 

[Zap]

There is the possibility that your 2GHz can run at 2.66GHz using a pin mod. That's kind of iffy to just try out of the blue - best bet would be to find someone local to you that has an overclockable setup that he can pop your CPU into for testing.

 

[imported_DZ]

i think someone told me dell systems cant be overclocked...

 

[dexvx]

No, he's talking about a hardware pin mod. However, there are a lot of variables with that. If you got a crappy stepping/chip, you'd get pwned.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: dexvx
No, he's talking about a hardware pin mod. However, there are a lot of variables with that. If you got a crappy stepping/chip, you'd get pwned.

Yes, pin mod. That's why I suggested "pretesting" the CPU in an overclockable board. I've done that with a 2GHz Celeron and pin modded it for use in a Toshiba socket 478 notebook at 2.66GHz and it ran great - but then again I already knew that.

 

[imported_DZ]

hmmm...ill look into it n see if anyone around me knows how to do it. thx guys