Can i upgrade my PC to core2Duo/Quad-core ?

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varunmehta11

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May 7, 2009
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I have a Lenovo Desktop PC. I want to upgrade its Pentium 4 Processor to a Core 2 Duo or a Quad-core. Will there be any improvement in gaming and other software performance by this upgrade? If yes, then suggest me a budget CPU with decent performance in gaming (complimenting my Geforce 8400 GS) and other tasks and could survive for 2 to 3 years decently. I can?t upgrade anything apart from the CPU (b?coz of just 300W PSU Oem fitted which has a special power slot for my Lenovo LCD Monitor therefore can?t upgrade the PSU).
Also I have few other queries:
Does the Core 2 Duo or Quad-core consume more power than a P4 cpu ?
Also I get the details about the Motherboard name and Model as ?To be set by O.E.M? in the CPU-Z and EVEREST Ultimate software. So how can I know if my motherboard is upgradeable to a Core 2 Duo and so I can?t even get the BIOS update, (I?m just getting a Chipset Driver update from the Lenovo Support webpage). I just have the following System Details of my PC :
Chipset : Intel 945G
Motherboard : ?To be set by O.E.M? (in CPU-Z) but in Everest it shows ?Intel i945G?
Socket : LGA 775
Processor : Intel Pentium 4 3.06 Ghz HT with EM64T
GPU : XFX Geforce 8400 GS 256 MB
RAM : 2 GB DDR2 Dual-Channel
 
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Candymancan21

Senior member
Jun 8, 2009
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Yes you will see a huge improvement over a Pentium 4, altho without knowing what exact motherboard you have i dunno if you would be able to upgrade to a C2D. You might have to upgrade the bios but it is S775 945g so it should be fine because it support Core 2 Duo's.

As for getting a quad with a 300watt powersupply i highely would advice against that, a quad would be overkill for that system in its current state (2gb of memory, and 8400gs,300war psu) and probably wouldnt even work correctly.

For Budget Cpu's there is a wide range . What is your price range ? E7400's are pretty cheap $120, but then so are E5200's $69. But then so is the speed differance the E7400 is much faster then the E5200. Personally if it were me i would buy the E7400 on newegg.com.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115206


EDIT: on a side note, the E5200 probably wouldnt last for your 2-3 years range the E7400 could tho, but with that 8400GS eh i dunno i would upgrade that also. Video card's are pretty cheap nowadays and can go along way with your gaming experiance. For example The Ati 4830 $89 and its probably 2-3 times faster then that 8400gs. So if you have $210 I would get the E7400 and the ATI 4830. Thats a very nice upgrade over what you currently have

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102822
 
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Candymancan21

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Jun 8, 2009
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Candymancan21

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Jun 8, 2009
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What PSU issue ? Your telling me your monitor has to use something from the powersupply? I have never heared of that before. What exactly does it need ? What are you talking about ?>
 
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varunmehta11

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May 7, 2009
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Actually there is a two pin power slot on the back side of the PSU where the LCD Monitor's 2-pin power plug needs to be inserted i.e. it draws power from the PSU.
 
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Candymancan21

Senior member
Jun 8, 2009
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Thats a bunch of boloney. That is holding you back from getting a new powersupply? Get a extention cord for your monitor or a surge protector..... I know what your talking about some older powersupplys had extra outlets. Just use a wall outlet, when you buy a powersupply it will have a black cable like the cable your power supply uses. Just use that for your monitor.


Here look at these cables
 
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polarbear6

Golden Member
Jul 14, 2008
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hey candymancan!! HOW THE HELL DID YOU OVERCLOCK A E8400 TO 4.4ghz AND THAT ALSO AT 1.368v !!!

THREAD TROLLING OR NOT I DONT CARE I NEED TO KNOW THAT !!ARE YOU USING WATER COOLING ??

IS IT STABLE?? HOW LONG DID YOU RUN THE STRESS TEST ??
 
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Candymancan21

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Jun 8, 2009
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This is the standard cable every LCD that i know off uses.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/...8ms%20%20LCD%20Monitor

Ganash, i am using watercooling. 4.4ghz 1.368v (1.26vfsb) is stable up to 2hours on orthos, 4.3ghz is stable 24/7 1,33v (1.20vfsb). I keep it on 4.2ghz 1.296v (1.10vfsb) for temps and voltage reasons tho, no point in going to 100-200mhz higher for higher temps. I can reach 4ghz on the stock cooler on stock voltage 1.20v

Here is my work log, i modified a Maze 3 block from the athlon XP days you know the 1800-2000+ cpu's, to work with a E8400 :p This is a CO rev also not a EO so i find myself lucky i am able to get higher overclocks then most EO cpu's do let alone CO.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...=203741&highlight=maze

Pics


http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/5641/4400mhzvx5.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/alb...dymancan/400mhznew.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/alb...andymancan/4300mhz.jpg



EDIT: The main problem i have is my cpu can probably go higher but i am limited by my motherboard, this board just does not want to work above 490FSB, so 4400mhz is on the borderline of being stable iv tried lowering the multi and raising fsb and confirmed i am FSB limited by this motherboard. Or it could be my memory controller doesnt like 500fsb. My highest overclock posted tho was 4510mhz
 
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Candymancan21

Senior member
Jun 8, 2009
278
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What mode #l is your Lenova monitor so i can look it up


EDIT: is this what your monitor uses ? I know you said its not detachable but is that plug what it uses ? http://www.bixnet.com/acpowcabcorf.html.


Have you looked in the back of the monitor to see if it had another A/C plug, wish you had pictures or something, i cant find anything online about a LCD with a non-detachable 2 pin power cable
 
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Candymancan21

Senior member
Jun 8, 2009
278
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Well in the meantime, those cpu's i listed are the only things you can upgrade too in your price range.

E7400 $120
E6300 $89
E5300 $79


This whole monitor with 2 power plug is giving me a headache, i found one thing where another guy said he had a 300w psu but the monitor needed the powersupply. I think thats pretty shitty how a company would do something like that. There has to be an adapter or something to get you off the 300w psu. I just need to know what cable its using or what it looks like. When you get home post back
 
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varunmehta11

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May 7, 2009
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So, i've made up my mind i'll go with one of the 3 cpus mentioned above.
I think i'm taking a huge risk. There are chances that the mobo might not recognise the C2D(Also since i'm upgrading the CPU without the BIOS update).
Should i take the risk ?
 
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elconejito

Senior member
Dec 19, 2007
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www.harvsworld.com
Originally posted by: varunmehta11
Originally posted by: Candymancan21
What mode #l is your Lenova monitor so i can look it up

Have you looked in the back of the monitor to see if it had another A/C plug, wish you had pictures or something, i cant find anything online about a LCD with a non-detachable 2 pin power cable
Click to expand...

Lenovo LCD Model No : LXH-GJ17L3
Here are the pics of the power plug of the LCD :http://img19.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=dscn0050n.jpg
Click to expand...

Shame on Lenovo for doing something like that! I have never seen a cable like that before, definitely some proprietary crap. Lenovo might have an adapter they would sell you. Worth a shot if you ever wanted to upgrade that PSU.

You never mentioned the computer model# did you? Or maybe I missed it...

The motherboard chipset may support C2D, but that doesn't mean the manufacturer will allow it. OEM manufacturers are generally notorious for limiting your upgrade options. They don't want you to upgrade, they want you to buy a whole new computer. So definitely check and see if your computer will accept newer chips. You can google the model number, post it here maybe someone here has experience with it, or actually call Lenovo support and see if they know.

Returning the CPU because it didnt work isn't the end of the world, but it's definitely a headache.

You might be able to get a boost by buying more RAM or a new hard drive. What are your other system specs?
 
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varunmehta11

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May 7, 2009
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My PC model Details : Lenovo 3000 series Q100 8822 11Q

My PC Config Now(I've done RAM,GPU,OS Upgrades):

Intel Pentium 4 524 3.06 Ghz HT
80 gb hard disk
2 Gb dual channel ddr2 ram
XFX Geforce 8400 GS 256 MB
300W PSU
Intel 945G chipset
Windows Vista ultimate SP1
 
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varunmehta11

Member
May 7, 2009
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Originally posted by: tcsenter
Let me save you some trouble, there is NO chance that your motherboard VRM will support any Core 2 processor. The BIOS date is 2005, which means it was the first generation of Intel Lakeport 945G boards.

Nearly all motherboards designed more than four or five months prior to the launch of Core 2 Duo in June 2006 were unable to support the new VRM requirements of Core 2 processors. There were vanishingly few exceptions. Even Intel had to revise all of its own motherboard VRM designs in order to support Core 2 Duo.
Click to expand...

So i think i should not take the risk to upgrade the cpu to C2Duo in my current pc config now.
 
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Eureka1

Junior Member
Jun 10, 2009
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Originally posted by: varunmehta11
Originally posted by: tcsenter
Let me save you some trouble, there is NO chance that your motherboard VRM will support any Core 2 processor. The BIOS date is 2005, which means it was the first generation of Intel Lakeport 945G boards.

Nearly all motherboards designed more than four or five months prior to the launch of Core 2 Duo in June 2006 were unable to support the new VRM requirements of Core 2 processors. There were vanishingly few exceptions. Even Intel had to revise all of its own motherboard VRM designs in order to support Core 2 Duo.
Click to expand...

So i think i should not take the risk to upgrade the cpu to C2Duo in my current pc config now.
Click to expand...

That's probably the best idea. It sounds like you have one hell of a proprietary machine on your hands, if the monitor doesn't support a standard PSU. I would push through with just this machine and just upgrade your whole setup when the time comes.
 
brandonwh64

brandonwh64

Golden Member
Mar 26, 2009
1,543
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That mobo will only support Pentium D series CPU's. I just upgraded some ram in my friends Emachines with that same motherboard and the specs on the intel website were up to the pentium D CPUs and nothing higher. now the pentium D proccessors are good too for mid gaming but they are 65nm CPUs and get alittle hotter.
NOW
I have a motherboard and CPU if you interested in for sale.

MOTHERBOARD
XFX 680I LT SLI Motherboard 75$ shipped

CPU
Intel Dual Core E5200 + Thermaltake 775 HSF asking 60$ shipped

The specs on this combo are pretty good i have this clocked at 3.3ghz from 2.6 and its stable all the way!
 
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Candymancan21

Senior member
Jun 8, 2009
278
3
81
Originally posted by: Eureka
Originally posted by: varunmehta11
Originally posted by: tcsenter
Let me save you some trouble, there is NO chance that your motherboard VRM will support any Core 2 processor. The BIOS date is 2005, which means it was the first generation of Intel Lakeport 945G boards.

Nearly all motherboards designed more than four or five months prior to the launch of Core 2 Duo in June 2006 were unable to support the new VRM requirements of Core 2 processors. There were vanishingly few exceptions. Even Intel had to revise all of its own motherboard VRM designs in order to support Core 2 Duo.
Click to expand...

So i think i should not take the risk to upgrade the cpu to C2Duo in my current pc config now.
Click to expand...

That's probably the best idea. It sounds like you have one hell of a proprietary machine on your hands, if the monitor doesn't support a standard PSU. I would push through with just this machine and just upgrade your whole setup when the time comes.
Click to expand...


Yea im going to have to agree, that power cable on the monitor anger's me for one thats absolutetly stupid how a company would do that to force you from being able to upgrade ... The stupid thing is you probably wont be able to upgrade your cpu, and because of the powersupply you limited on the graphics cards, AND if you decide to buy a whole new budget computer you wont be able to use your LCD monitor so on top of that you have to buy a new monitor.

If it were me honestly tho i would rip that peice of crap powersupply out and Jury rig it by sticking a wire in the green and a black wire on the ATX cable in order to keep it running that way you can keep your monitor and buy a new computer
 
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